There’s Gold In Those Empty Chairs

You’re booked as the speaker at an event (live or virtual). The organizer gives you a list of the Registrants. You speak, get good feedback. I always make sure I get a list with contact info of the actual Attendees.

Either I get it from the organizer, or have participants put their cards into a basket for a drawing. I give away 2 or 3 books or other products (this also gives me a way to show off my products without being too “salesy”).

Then I contact everyone who came, by phone or email, to see if they’re a potential client. I establish valuable relationships and learn a lot.

Sometimes, only 20 or 25% of the Registrants actually show up.

But what about the “no shows”? Who are they? Why did they sign up? What problems or challenges were they having? Did your expertise offer a solution?

I contact every one of them.

In one case, the Registrant who didn’t make it was a CEO of a big technology company. He was called out of town at the last minute so he couldn’t make the talk. He had purchased my book and had almost finished reading it.

When I contacted him, he thanked me for getting in touch. He invited me to see him, and after two meetings with his team, I was hired for a large consulting and training project.

More recently, I was the guest speaker for Sales and Marketing Magazine/Training Magazine Network. I did get the list of Registrants and Attendees. There were about 105 people on the call (almost) 700 had registered.

With the laws regarding email privacy, you are allowed to email the non-Attendees once by email. I usually offer them something, an informative booklet, white paper, article. If they opt in for that, (and provide their email) I can then add them to my mailing list. If they don’t respond at all, I shouldn’t (and don’t) email them again.

But, there was one person who didn’t attend the live program, but listened to the replay a few days later. He is the head of a successful consulting company in Mexico City. He sent me a personal note, saying flattering things about the program; “a good investment of my time” etc. I personally thanked him, requested a virtual meeting and now, he’s considering becoming our exclusive licensee for the “Secrets of Influence ?” program in all of Mexico.

Did everyone greet my call or email with open arms? Of course not!

Most were polite, some were icy, others indifferent, one or two a little nasty. But so what? You’re panning for gold here, so you must sift through plenty of “stuff” before you get to the priceless ore.

I don’t know if these valuable contacts would have reached out and contacted me if I hadn’t been pro-active.

So the lesson is – leave no stone unturned — there could be gold in those no-shows!

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