Event lead capture app checklist: 14 questions to ask before you buy

The short answer: Before you buy an event lead capture app, ask 14 questions: which badges and cards it reads, if it works offline, how leads are qualified, what data it adds, how it fills CRM fields, how it handles duplicates, where data is stored, how it is priced and how fast your team can start. Test the answers on real badges.

A lead capture app for events looks simple in a demo. At a busy booth, with weak wifi and a queue of visitors, the differences show. Use this checklist when you compare vendors for trade show lead capture. Each question has a reason and a good answer, so you can take it to your next vendor call. If you want a list of tools first, read our best lead retrieval apps guide. If you want the full booth process, read how to capture leads at a trade show.

The 14 questions at a glance

What to look for in each answer

Badges, cards and languages (questions 1 to 3)

Ask for a live test, not a slide. Bring a real badge from your last show, a paper business card in a language you meet often, and a LinkedIn QR code. Watch what the app reads and how long it takes. Some badge QR codes hold the full contact, and some hold only an ID number. A good app can also read the printed name and company. For offline mode, put a phone in flight mode and scan again.

Qualifying and notes (questions 4 and 5)

Your follow up is only as good as the note you take at the booth. Look for a way to tag the lead as hot, warm or cold and to write what the visitor asked for. Keep questions short, because long forms are skipped at a busy booth. If your team wants voice notes or photos of a product sample, ask for them now, because not every app has them.

Data and CRM fields (questions 6 to 8)

This is where apps differ most. Ask the vendor to show one lead from scan to CRM record. Check that the fields are real CRM fields, for example email, phone, job title and company, and not one long note. Check that the event name is attached, so you can report on each show later. Ask what happens when the same person is scanned twice, and when the person is already in your CRM. For background on the data step, see lead enrichment for event leads and scan event badges into your CRM.

Team view and security (questions 9 to 11)

A booth manager should see who scanned what during the show, not a week later. For security, ask about hosting location and the data processing agreement. Under the GDPR, Article 28 says processing by a processor must be governed by a contract. If you work in the EU, this is not optional. Ask for the agreement before you sign, and ask your data protection contact to read it.

Price, set up and export (questions 12 to 14)

Work out the total for your real team and your real number of events in a year. Our lead retrieval cost guide has published prices from real shows and a worked example. Then ask about set up time. If the vendor needs weeks to connect your CRM, plan for it before the show and not during it.

How to run a fair test

1. 1

   Step 1: Pick 10 real contacts

   Use 4 badges, 4 paper cards in different languages and 2 QR codes. Real inputs show real problems.

2. 2

   Step 2: Scan them with every tool on your shortlist

   Use the same phone, the same room and a timer. Try one scan in flight mode.

3. 3

   Step 3: Check what came back

   Count how many fields are correct and how many are empty. Check every email against the company website.

4. 4

   Step 4: Send the leads to a test CRM

   Look at the record. Are the fields native? Is the event name there? Did a duplicate appear?

5. 5

   Step 5: Ask for the price in writing

   Include the number of users, events and any extra fees for export or enrichment.

Red flags

• The vendor will not let you test a real badge or business card before you buy.
• The CRM connection is a CSV file you upload yourself.
• There is no data processing agreement, or data is stored outside the EU without a clear reason.
• You cannot download all your data at any time.

How this works in Swopi

Here is how we answer the same questions. We only list what we can state as fact. Where a question is not in the list, ask us and test it, as you would with any vendor.

• Badges and cards (1). The iPhone and Android app scans event badges (printed name, company and QR code), paper business cards in any language and any QR code, including LinkedIn and vCard codes. It does not need the organiser's rented scanner. See the badge scanner and card scanner.
• Languages (3). The app is available in 32 languages.
• Qualifying and notes (4 and 5). You add notes to each lead. Swopi AI writes a personal follow up email for each lead from your notes, the company and the event. See AI follow up.
• Data added (6). Swopi AI adds a verified business email, direct phone, job title, seniority and LinkedIn profile, plus company details and a buying intent score. A waterfall of 20+ data providers and official business registries plus AI search checks the data. It is verified, not guessed. See AI enrichment.
• CRM (7 and 12). Leads sync in seconds, in native fields, with the event name. Native connections: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, monday.com, Raynet, eWay-CRM, SugarCRM, Odoo, Outlook and Slack, plus Zapier. Another CRM is connected on request within 24 hours. See CRM sync.
• Team view (9). Event Mode shows the booth manager every lead live, per person, hot leads first.
• GDPR and security (10 and 11). Data is hosted in the EU, GDPR applies and a DPA is available. Teams plans have SSO (Microsoft Entra ID) and SCIM. See security.
• Pricing (12). Free plan with 5 scans with Swopi AI. Pro €6.99 per month. Event Intelligence €18.99 per month or €179.99 per year. Teams €6.99 per user per month, minimum 5 users. One company licence with unlimited users and scans, priced on request. All paid plans have a 14 day free trial in the app. See pricing.
• Export (14). CSV, Excel and vCard export.

On duplicates: when Swopi syncs to HubSpot, Pipedrive or Dynamics 365, it looks for the contact by email first and updates it instead of creating a second record. Test all of this with your own badges, the same way you would test any other tool.