ConventionGrid

For exhibitors

Exhibit ROI & Break-even Calculator

How many leads does this show have to produce before it pays for itself? Put in your own quotes and close rates — the calculator does the rest and gives you a per-show-day target your booth team can work to.

1. What the show costs you

Enter your own quotes and estimates. Leave anything you don't have blank — it counts as zero.

Booth space
Exhibit space / stand rental
$
Booth build, rental & graphics
Display, furniture, AV, install & dismantle
$
Shipping, drayage & material handling
Freight to advance warehouse or show site, drayage, empties
$
Show services
Electrical, internet, cleaning, lead retrieval, rigging
$
Travel & lodging
Flights, hotel nights, ground transport, meals
$
Marketing, collateral & giveaways
Pre-show campaigns, printed material, promo items, sponsorships
$
Other
Registration fees, insurance, contingency
$
Staff time (the cost most teams leave out)
$

2. What a lead is worth to you

Use your own historical numbers. Qualified rate and margin are optional refinements.

%
%
$
%

How the math works

Total show cost is the sum of your direct line items plus staff time (people × days × loaded daily cost). Staff time is the number most teams leave out and the one that most often flips a "good" show to a marginal one.

Value per captured lead = qualified rate × close rate × average deal value × gross margin. If you leave qualified rate or margin blank they are treated as 100%, which means you are measuring on revenue rather than contribution — fine for a first pass, optimistic for a budget decision.

Break-even leads = total show cost ÷ value per lead. Divide by show days to get the daily target. Projected ROI = (expected contribution − total cost) ÷ total cost, using the number of leads you expect to capture.

Where to get the inputs

  • Costs — the organizer's exhibitor prospectus and exhibitor kit (space, services, freight rules), your fabricator's quote, and last year's expense report for travel. We don't pre-fill prices: every show, hall and booth size is different, and a number that isn't yours will mislead you.
  • Close rate and deal value — your CRM, using leads from past shows if you have them. If you don't, use your inbound close rate and discount it.
  • Show days — picking a show from the list fills this in from the organizer-verified dates on its ConventionGrid page.

Reading the result

If the break-even target per day is more conversations than a booth of your size can realistically hold, the fix is usually one of: a smaller footprint, fewer travelling staff, a pre-show meeting campaign that raises the qualified share, or a different show. Re-run the scenario and copy the link into the budget discussion.

Background reading: Trade Show ROI: how to measure it · What it costs to exhibit · Booth sizes · Plan the timeline with the Show Countdown Planner, build the cost number line-by-line with the budget template, and rank the shows worth these costs with the Show Selection Scorer.