The Secret to Picking Up Tons of Leads at An Event

Do You Really Think Prospects Enter Your Card Info Into Their “Contacts Database” When They Return From Trade Shows and Sales Events? Stop Kidding Yourself.

I just returned from a week long marketing workshop in San Antonio. 1000 business owners all gathered together with one goal. Get more prospects.

As you can imagine, there were lots of vendors. People trying to sell us everything you can imagine to automate our marketing systems. CRMs, funnel software, planning software, consulting services…the list goes on.

Through the week I made lots of connections. I made connections with people running the event, peers, peers who are way ahead of me and who might be able to provide some insight, and vendors (both good and bad). But this morning as I sit down to sift through my bag of information, cards, and notes (and lots of dirty laundry), it’s hard to know where to start.

The worst part of it is, there’s also 100s of email to follow up on after being out of the office or so long. I find myself thrashing…but I have wisely carved out the morning to focus on reviewing my notes, with my email application closed!

What Will I do With All of These Cards?

So, to start, I have all of these cards. Last night as I was drifting off to sleep I remembered that the last speaker had promised he would send me his slides when I filled out his landing page. I filled it out, but did not get the slides. Funny how that one guy kept me awake thinking about it, until I finally got up and wrote myself a note.

Then, this morning first thing…before running or breakfast, or anything, I found him on LinkedIn and requested the slides. I couldn’t wait!

Here’s the thing. I have a pile of cards in front of me, but I don’t really remember anyone…there just cards. Will I enter them into my CRM? Probably not. They’re meaningless at this point. But the guy who spoke yesterday, his session was so compelling, I followed up with him!

How many IT directors, CIOs, or Business Owners do you think will actually take time to enter your contact info into their system when they get home with a pile like I have? Probably none of them.

Stop Handing Out Cards

The speaker has an advantage, but not all of the speakers did their job. Two of them gave me a text number right in their presentation – right at the height of their talk, to Opt-In. I responded both times! If you’re speaking…think about conversion using something other than a card.

What if you’re not speaking? You need an offer they can’t resist. Something no one else has. In my last event I gave everyone a 3 by 5 card with an offer to get my book for $1. That’s my new business card for events. No sense in handing them a card that looks like every other card. Instead, use a larger card that offers them something so compelling, it’s at the top of their list when they get home. And make sure you hand it to them…if it goes in a bag of stuff, they may never find it…