Conference follow-up - Westfair Communications

I had great ideas for follow-up to a recent conference. Then I got busy, so nothing went out. Now I think it”™s too late. Any suggestions?

Fall conference season is here and so is fall selling season. The connections you make can get your company rolling. Learn to make the most of the opportunities that come from attending.

Conference follow-up cements relationships, can turn into future work and keeps your hand in the game. Build a system to ensure follow-up goes smoothly and quickly. Know that it”™s never too late to follow up. Don”™t waste dollars and time attending a conference by letting things drop now that you”™re home.

Think through the kind of connections you”™re going to make at the conference. Are you going there to open doors with new prospects? How important is it to strengthen links to existing clients? What educational contacts are you hoping to make? Will there be opportunity to reach out and network with peers and associates?

Most conference attendees are looking to cover a lot of ground quickly, gathering information and connecting with as many people as possible. Build a plan to be efficient with your time. Start before the conference by setting appointments with key people for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Pick out seminars and events to attend.

At the conference exchange as many business cards as you can. Create a short script to gather information:

What does your company do?
What is your role in the company?
What brings you to this conference?
What makes a good contact for you?
Make notes on the back of each business card so you”™ll remember later on who you met and what to do.
Initials of the conference.
Date you met.
Type of contact: S=Suspect, P=Prospect, N=Networking, C=Client, V=Vendor and X=Competitor.
Type of follow-up: P=Phone call, E=Email, A=Appointment and L=Literature.
Any special needs or interests.

Have your follow-up ready to roll, planned out before you leave home. Get a business card scanner. At the end of each day scan cards into a database, noting the type of contact and follow-up. If the conference supplies a listing of attendees, match cards to that database and check off who you met. Make notes on who you still want to meet.

Prepare emails ahead of time: one each for suspects or prospects, clients, vendors and networking contacts. Send emails out the same day you make contact, using the database you created with your business card scanner or attendee checklist. If you have administrative support back in the office, send the list updates home daily, with follow-up instructions worked out before you leave home.

Have an online copy of sales literature available to send as an attachment. Make sure each email has intention: what you want to have happen next, as a result of making this connection. Schedule additional follow-up once you get home.

Now to our reader”™s problem: It”™s been awhile and no follow-up action has been taken. Time to fix that!

Lay out a simple campaign. A call script, explaining why you”™re making contact, backed up with a voice-mail script is a good start. State the obvious, “We met awhile ago at the xyz conference, and I”™m calling to reconnect.” Have a good reason why the person would want to take your call, “We started to explore the possibilities of working together and I”™d like to continue that dialog.” Send an email: “Follow-up from the xyz conference, looking to reconnect.” Repeat the phone call and email several times until you get through.

You know that marketing is important for the future of your business ”“ that”™s why you went to the conference in the first place. Now just send the email and make the phone call. No matter how long it”™s been, most people at conferences are looking to make connections. They”™ll appreciate the opportunity to re-connect, no matter how long it”™s been. Remind yourself how much you spent to make that connection. Now put it to work.

Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Questions may be emailed to her at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or mailed to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Phone: 877-238-3535. Visit www.AskAndi.com for archived Ask Andi articles.