Working Women of Tampa Bay - 9 Things That Can Increase Your R-O-N after an Event or a Conference

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9 Things That Can Increase Your R-O-N after an Event or a Conference

08 Mar 2013 12:33 PM | Working Women (Administrator)

What’s your R-O-N or Return on Networking?

We spend a considerable amount of time networking in person because we know it’s still the most important way to meet the right people and build relationships with our colleagues, peers and potential new customers.

When you return from a networking event or conference, sorting it all out in an organized, systematic and timely way is the key to beginning the conversion from connection to relationship.

The National Association of Sales Professionals reports 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect and 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact. So, getting your follow up in motion as soon as possible and being in the 52% who follow up is smart. 

Set aside some time immediately to prioritize the contacts you made, think about your follow up strategy and make sure you follow up in a timely manner. You will want to get back to people while you are both fresh in each other’s minds.

Here are 9 things to do that can increase your R-O-N and accelerate converting connections into actionable relationships.
1) Sort through all the cards and contacts you made and prioritize them. Review all the cards and contacts from the people you owned a moment with, or had a meaningful exchange with. Tip: write notes on the back of the cards to remind you of what you talked about.

2) Prioritize who you need to follow up with first and why. Although we gather cards at these events, prioritizing the warmest connections and ones that make the most sense to follow up on should be followed up on first.

3) Review all the sessions you attended and notes you took. If you attended a conference, take the program and review all the sessions you attended and what was presented to remind yourself of the flow of how the content was presented. This will help you with your follow up strategy. Set aside time to go through all your notes and highlight the key ideas from the speakers and presenters and list the key take away you got from them. Think about and plan how can you implement the information or tactic immediately.

4) Review the handouts and information you took home. Review all the handouts, worksheets, post cards you took home and educate yourself for the follow up process. Visit blogs, websites and social media pages. Take advantage of any incentives offered to you by the speakers and conference presenters.

5) Draft a customized follow up letter or email to each person on your follow up list. Personalize and compose a thoughtful note to each person that shows them you paid attention to what they said and the commonality of your conversation.

6) Invite people to connect with you on social media. This is the bridge that can help you get into people’s communities, streams and conversations and get you noticed. Use the social media that they are most active on, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as engagement points. Get into their conversations and invite them to get into yours.

7)   Create a follow up phone call list to prospects you want to contact immediately. Don’t wait, pounce and be proactive with people you feel a strong intuition about. Qualify specifically, what you see as the synergy and prepare to lay out and discuss some collaborative ideas.

8) Plan on connecting and introducing people in your network immediately that can benefit from knowing each other. When you demonstrate your “give” first, you set the tone for your brand in the relationship.

9) Create a 30 day follow up plan. Relationships take time so plan on a 30 day custom follow up plan. Be specific, thoughtful, and consistent and interact with them as regularly as possible.

These 9 actions can demonstrate your professionalism, mutuality and genuine interest in developing relationships with people that you meet in person.
MarketingCharts.com, reports when planning your follow up strategy:
•   Facebook is the top driver of leads 54%, followed by Twitter 32% and LinkedIn 14%.
•   Twitter was best for generating leads that had the highest conversion rates.

A thoughtful, dedicated follow up strategy is essential for networking success. Get organized, make the plan and work the plan and watch your relationships grow!

What follow up strategy has worked best for you after a networking event or conference?

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