Many sales teams sheepishly admit they’re not the greatest when it comes to following up with trade show leads.

I get it, believe me. When you attend an industry trade show, your time there is a whirlwind of introductions, conversations, and contact info exchanges. You come back with an overwhelming stack of business cards, set of notes, and host of new LinkedIn connection requests. Not to mention the stack of unopened emails in your inbox and other work that has piled up while you've been out of the office.

To be clear, highly-qualified leads that are ready to make a purchase right away are not usually a problem. Where many sales teams fall short, though, is in the follow-up, management, and nurturing of qualified trade show leads who are not ready to buy just yet.

Luckily, this is an area where marketing automation tools like HubSpot can really shine. Here’s how sales, marketing and technology can work together to master the art of trade show lead follow-up and turn trade show leads into customers.

INBOUND, HubSpot’s annual conference and the epicenter of all things inbound marketing and sales, is approaching fast. This year’s conference is September 4-7 in Boston.

This will be our fifth year in attendance, and every indication is that that this will be the biggest, baddest INBOUND yet.

With over 21,000 expected attendees and more than 250 educational sessions, there’s something at INBOUND for every marketing and sales pro serious about stepping up their game.

Here are our top six reasons we’re super excited about heading to INBOUND 2018.