Pub. 1 2018-2019 Issue 3

10 » Network with people. If you are networking, job-hunting, or looking for new customers: » Dress appropriately and make sure your appearance is as professional as possible. » Go to any social gatherings, such as happy hour, and start some conver- sations. If you want to find a new job or new customers, don’t limit yourself to the names on your list. You want to make a good impression on as many people as you can. That means restraining yourself when selling, because people don’t like a constant sales pitch. Instead, focus on finding out whether potential customers have problems you might be able to help them solve, and then gain an understanding of those problems. » Exchange business cards with people throughout the conference. You will have names and contact information, and so will they. That makes it easier to further develop a professional rela- tionship later. » Write down a few notes as soon as you can about the conversations you had with people. You want to remem- ber information they gave you about themselves, and you alsowant towrite down any promises they made about helping you. If you are looking for new customers, write downwhat they liked and what they didn’t about your pitch. This is part of good customer-relation- ship management (CRM). Sometimes youwill have an opportunity that means adjusting your schedule and maybe even skipping a session you had planned to attend. Anuninterrupted con- versation with an industry expert may be well worth your time, so be willing to trade up when you have the chance. After the Conference When the conference has ended: » Go over what you learned and decide on any action items for yourself or for others at your company. Some informa- tion may be interesting but not imme- diately useful. Other information will suggest specific areaswhere you should be concentrating your efforts right now. » If you wanted to generate content, use some of the quotations you gathered to get started. In addition, you could post on a follow-up blog or do a series of posts on social media. » Divide the business cards you collected into two or three categories: people you aregoingtocontactbecauseof aspecific, plannedaction item; peopleyouareglad to havemet andwant to include in your addressbook; andpeopleyouarehaving a hard time remembering after the fact. Wait a little while so you don’t acciden- tally throw away a card you would find valuable later, but get rid of any cards in the third category, if there are any, after it’s clear you don’t need them. » Contact the people who attended the conference with you and go over their thoughts and impressions in order to broaden your own understanding. » Share the information you gained with other people. You might want to present the information online in a blog post or during a meeting. If you are networking or job-hunting: » Contact all the people you met. In some cases, it might be as simple as a message on LinkedIn or Twitter. In other cases, you might want to send a handwritten thank-you note. Job hunters might want to do both. For example, use social media to connect again, and use the handwritten note to thank people for meeting and talking with you. » Tell team members at work about the people youmet andwhy you think they can help. You can do this by email or on an internal company Internet page. If you are looking for new customers, follow up with people by email as soon as possible after the conference. You don’t want them to forget about you. Send them information that would be helpful in solving their problems and, if applicable, industry case studies. Conferences are great places to build relationships, learn the latest and most important industry information available, andhave a great time. Find a balance: you can’t see and do everything, but you can still benefit from your time, especially if you can work with others as a team. By planning where to focus, adjusting your plans while you are there, and then following up, the conference will be a great success. 3 continued from page 9