Cost per meeting
Cost per meeting is an event’s total spend divided by the sales meetings it produced before, during, and after the show, a cost ratio that rests on buyer commitments.
A meeting is a buyer agreeing to more time with your sales team, so the ratio prices each show by the commitments it earned. It’s one of the ratios that turn event yield into a number your finance team can compare across shows.
How do you calculate it?
Divide the show’s full event spend by the meetings it produced. A single show typically runs $30K to $250K.
Count meetings from 3 places: booked before the show, booked at the booth, and booked in follow-up. For the stricter number, count meetings held.
How does it compare with other ratios?
| Ratio | Divides spend by | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per scan | Badges scanned | Foot traffic |
| Cost per meeting | Meetings booked or held | Buyer commitment |
| Cost per opportunity | Opportunities created | Pipeline creation |
A badge scan records a name, and a meeting records intent, so each ratio can rank your shows in a different order.
Where do you find it in FieldXM?
Your reps book meetings at the booth straight into HubSpot or Salesforce from the FieldXM mobile app, tied to the show. See meetings booked by event, rep, and team in FieldXM’s reporting. For the full set of event ratios, read the trade show ROI guide.
Related terms
- Event ROIEvent ROI is the return an event generated relative to its full cost, which teams usually express as pipeline or closed-won revenue per dollar spent on the show.
- Event yieldEvent yield is what an event produced, in meetings, pipeline, and closed-won revenue, as the connected record of the plan, the conversations, and the follow-up shows it.
- Event spendEvent spend is the all-in cost of a company's in-person programs, from sponsorship and booth space to travel, shipping, and staff time, and often among the largest discretionary lines in the marketing budget.
- Booth meeting bookingBooth meeting booking is the practice of scheduling a follow-up meeting with a prospect during the booth conversation itself, while interest is high and the rep can confirm a time face to face.
- Badge scanA badge scan reads an attendee's contact details from the printed badge or its barcode at an event and gives the rep a record of who stopped by in a few seconds.
- Cost per leadCost per lead is an event's total cost divided by the number of leads it produced, a common first measure of trade show efficiency.
See it in FieldXM
- ReportingSee each show’s cost, pipeline, revenue, and ROI. Know which shows earn next year’s budget, and forecast what the next one will bring.
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