Here's how you can effectively follow up with contacts after networking events in Sales Operations.

In the fast-paced world of Sales Operations, the art of follow-up is key. After networking events, swiftly organizing and inputting new contacts into your CRM streamlines the process and sets the stage for personalized communication. By noting down the nuances of each interaction, you're equipped to craft follow-up messages that resonate on a personal level, fostering relationships that could flourish into valuable partnerships. It's these meticulous details that often lead to successful collaborations and long-term business growth. Remember, in sales, the fortune is in the follow-up.

One thing I did after attending an event was to take all prospects on a journey to trust the brand I worked for. We had a unique offering which was new and exciting so we onboarded them into our brand and offered them weekly WhatsApp newsletter. That kept us on top of their mind and we were constantly showing how we were better than others they might have known in our industry. It helped us sell ourselves very strategically while helping them to perform better in their industry.

In my experience, building a genuine connection is key to effective follow-up after networking events. Beyond highlighting business benefits, I emphasize active listening during the event to understand their challenges and goals. In my follow-up, I reference these insights to show genuine interest and personalize my message. Offering something of value, like a relevant resource, further demonstrates my commitment to their success. This approach deepens the relationship and increases the likelihood of a meaningful collaboration.

First of all, when interacting with professionals for the first time, I always link the benefits of our interaction or subsequent transaction to how it benefits their personal life. E.g. "our collaboration might just earn you the ticket to working from the beach. Do you like the sound of that?" Next time I reach out to them, I will begin professionally and pitch them the benefits of my proposal, and end it briefly with the personal benefits I talked about. E.g. "Thank you so much for your time. I can't wait for the success. I'm almost certain that this project would not only earn you that ticket to the beach but an apartment high in the sky."

Yes, this is all true. Timing has a lot to do with when the idea is still clear, when the mind is still willing (can happen if it is a big gig or not) and when thr vibe is high. These are mind ingredients that propel life activities and decision making process. Now, making a sale to someone requires making that person to do these things states earlier. When the ingredients that propel them are present in high quantity inside the person, you expect to make the sale faster, you expect them to make good use of what you sold to them and you expect great results; even bringing about great testimonials for more great sales.

The best practice when following up on someone is to be of value to the person, but the question is what value does the person need? That is the value that you figure out and offer to the person. However, this value ought to be within your field. He or she might need values that are outside your field, but only offer it when your conversation tone allows you to offer such value. E.g. advising a prospect on how to manage their team. It could be very valuable, but it might not be professionally suitable. So only offer it when it is suitable with your conversation. Otherwise, stay true to offering professional value when you follow up and keep innovating new ways to help, at least every three follow-ups.

A juicy hack in the place of continuous engagement is to gradually build a personal relationship! However, never leave out the process of value in your engagement.

All of the above is great, but having worked in the b2b events game for years, it is clear that those who get ROI from events are those who prioriise phone channel before and after the event... to ensure the right people actually attend and then to follow-up in a personal / human-first way... channel is moneyball here... of course send them an email / Linkedin invite, but it is having those actual H2H conversations that moves the needle...