Exhibition return on spend.

Trade show ROI = (customers won × customer value - total show cost) ÷ show cost. Total cost includes: booth rental, design/build, travel, accommodation, shipping, giveaways, staff time. Most exhibitors undercount cost by 30-50% because staff time and opportunity cost aren't included. Average B2B trade show costs 15-50k all-in for a mid-sized booth.

25k total cost, 200 leads generated, 10% lead-to-customer conversion = 20 customers × 5,000 value = 100k revenue. ROI = 300%. Healthy. Most trade shows deliver 200-500% ROI when properly measured. Below 100% ROI signals wrong show, wrong booth, or wrong follow-up.

Lead follow-up is 80% of trade show success. Companies that contact leads within 48 hours convert 3-5x better than those waiting 2+ weeks. Most exhibitors waste trade show investment by slow follow-up - studies show 80% of trade show leads never get a single follow-up call.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using total show cost of 25,000, leads generated of 200, lead to customer of 10%, avg customer value of 5,000, the calculation works out to 300.00%. Nudge the inputs toward your own situation and the output recalculates instantly. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Total Show Cost, Leads Generated, Lead to Customer %, and Avg Customer Value — do not pull with equal force. Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

How the math works

Customers = leads × conversion %. Revenue = customers × value. ROI = (revenue - cost) ÷ cost × 100. The working is transparent — you can verify every step yourself in the formula section below. No black box, no opaque "proprietary model".

What to do with a low result

A disappointing result is information, not a judgement. Pick the single input that dragged the figure down most and focus the next quarter on that one factor. Breadth-first improvement rarely works; depth-first on the worst input usually does.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.