How Jeonbuk Technopark Lined Up 40 CES 2025 Meetings for 9 Exhibitors Before the Show Opened

Client: Jeonbuk Technopark
Project: Pre-show sales outreach for exhibitors in the Jeonbuk pavilion and individual booths at CES 2025
Scope: 9 exhibiting companies
Results: 3,200 emails sent before the show, 6% reply rate, 40 on-site business meetings booked

Trade show results are decided before the doors open

CES, held every January in Las Vegas, is the world's largest technology show. Foot traffic is enormous, but picking out the people who will actually buy, invest, or write about your product from the crowd walking past your booth is hard. Most decision makers decide which booths to visit and whom to meet before they ever get on the plane.

That means much of a trade show's outcome is settled weeks before opening day. Companies that reach the right people early and lock in meetings spend the show talking deals and funding. Companies that don't spend it waiting for whoever happens to walk by.

To close that gap for the 9 companies exhibiting in the Jeonbuk pavilion and individual booths at CES 2025, Jeonbuk Technopark brought in DeepSales to handle pre-show buyer discovery and meeting setup.

The challenge: 9 companies, 9 different targets

Pavilion exhibitors share a home region and not much else. Their products and target markets differ. For one company the most important contact is a U.S. distributor; for another it is a venture capital firm or a tech reporter. Splitting a single buyer list across all 9 companies would not produce meetings worth having.

So DeepSales worked from a simple rule: analyze each company separately, choose its targets separately, and write its messages separately.

The approach: five steps from analysis to confirmed meetings

1. Exhibitor analysis

For each company, we mapped product and service features, target markets, price range, production capacity, export history, and current marketing. This step also defined who each company most needed to meet at CES: buyers, investors, or media.

2. Target discovery per company

Using DeepSales' own data, including CES attendee and exhibitor data, we selected 300 to 400 U.S. buyers, investors, and media contacts for each company. Instead of collecting companies in the right industry, we narrowed the list down to the individuals in a position to evaluate that exhibitor's product.

3. Personalized outreach

We sent personalized emails written for each exhibitor and followed up by phone where needed. Every message was built so the recipient could tell in the first paragraph why this company was worth meeting at CES.

4. On-site meeting coordination

For contacts who replied, we coordinated meeting times at CES. Schedules during the show are tight, so aligning booth locations and time slots in advance has a direct effect on how many meetings actually happen.

5. Reporting per company

Finally, we delivered a tracking report for each company covering lead history, emails sent, reply rate, meeting status, and follow-up actions, so every exhibitor could keep conversations going after the show.

Results

• 300 to 400 targets selected for each of the 9 exhibitors
• 3,200 personalized emails sent
• 6% reply rate, 190 replies
• 40 business meetings booked at CES 2025

Three takeaways for companies heading to a trade show

Target people, not companies

"U.S. distributors" is a category, not a target. Meetings are booked with people, not companies, so narrow your list down to the roles and seniority levels that actually evaluate your product.

Start outreach before travel plans are set

By the week before a show, most decision makers have already filled their calendars. The later you start, the less likely the same message is to turn into a meeting.

Plan the follow-up before the show ends

An on-site meeting is a starting point. Without a record of who responded and how, post-show follow-up tends to fall apart.

Preparing for your next trade show?

DeepSales works with exhibitors and the organizations that support them on the full overseas sales process, from buyer discovery to personalized outreach and meeting setup. If you want your next show to start with a calendar of meetings instead of hoping the right people walk by, talk to DeepSales.