Don't Let Them Go: 9 Tips for Following up With Prospects After Events

Once you've met a potential customer at an event, meeting, conference, or other location, what do you do? Do you get their phone number or email address? Do you contact them the next day or the following week?

These are important questions to think about when you're trying to turn a prospect into a lead, but do you know what your answers should be?

Figuring out how to navigate a new prospect can be difficult, but you shouldn't worry. You've come to the right place.

We have the best tips and tricks for following up with a prospect after an event. Just keep reading and you'll have all of the answers in no time.

1. Pick the Best Contact Method

The first thing you need to do is figure out how you're going to contact the prospect again. Are they a modern texter or an old-fashioned emailer?

You can typically tell which kind of communicator the person is based on body language and conversation, but you could just ask if you aren't sure which is the best way to reach them. 

Once you've figured out how you're going to contact them, you should make sure that you have that information and verify it.

2. Be Accessible

No matter which communication method they've chosen, you should make sure that you match it. Even if the method isn't your preference, you need to adjust to what your prospect wants.

Once you've nailed down a channel of communication, you need to keep yourself accessible. This means that you need to check your phone and email often.

Don't assume that the prospect won't reach out to you first, and don't assume that they won't get back to you soon after you've contacted them. You need to check because time does matter when it comes to generating leads.

3. Bring Up Something New

It's likely true that you and your potential customer already discussed many things about your company and what it has to offer. If so, you don't want to keep talking about that subject.

Bring up something new. Otherwise, your potential customer is going to get bored.

Talk about another service that you offer or a new update that your software is getting that you'll think the prospect will love. Just bring up something new.

4. Do Your Research

Make sure that you know your prospect well. Be sure to know the prospect personally, but don't skip out on doing some research on the business that your prospect is working with as well.

You need to understand the person (and the business) you're speaking to if you want to convince them that your product is going to be useful to them.

The more information you can take in, the more reasons you can give your prospect. In fact, your knowledge may be what pushes the sale through. Many people are impressed when a salesperson takes the time to do the research.

5. Give the Prospect a Time Limit

If you're looking to save yourself (and your prospect) time, you need to set a time limit on your offer. You shouldn't expect your prospect to respond tomorrow, but you should make sure to give a somewhat alarming limit.

For example, you could give the prospect a week to answer. This will give them enough time to interact with you and ask questions if they need to.

For more complicated deals, you could extend the time. It really depends on how fast you both are responding to one another and how many questions the prospect seems to have.

6. Schedule an Appointment

Going back and forth with your prospect can be somewhat disorganized if both of you aren't answering emails or text messages around the same time. The best way to fix this problem is by scheduling a time to talk.

By scheduling a set time, you can make sure that you and the prospect are sitting down and discussing your product(s) and/or service(s) exclusively.

Make sure that you also take the time to ask questions about them and how your company can help theirs. Don't waste this time. Keep a lively conversation and keep the prospect interested.

7. Take Your Time

You don't have to make the sale today, so don't put too much pressure on your prospect.

You shouldn't try to push them into buying too soon. It'll make you look too eager.

Just take it slow. Give the prospect more time to ask questions about your product and make an informed decision. More likely, they'll be happy with their purchase in the long run.

8. Don't Reach Out Too Often

In addition to not pushing your prospect, you also don't want to talk to them too often. You don't want to overwhelm them.

If you talk to your prospect too often, you'll find that you'll only annoy them more. They're less likely to answer if they're receiving too many messages from you.

Your prospect doesn't want to see a million messages when they get back from lunch break. However, they may appreciate one short message about a great service that will help their business.

9. Make a Plan

When you've contacted your prospect, you need to make a plan.

This could be a follow-up meeting or something similar. Speak with your prospect and find out what's best for both of you.

Whatever plan you come up with, stick to it. Keep your plans and show them how great your product is.

Making the Best Sales Team

Once you've followed up with your prospects using our tips, it's time to make a sale. You need to have a great, goal-oriented sales team if you're looking to sell to your prospects.

Here at ProSales Connection, we help our clients make the best sales team and convert more leads into customers. You'll have plenty of help with our variety of services. We also have resources to get you excited and prepared for those sales opportunities.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We're here to help your business reach its goals and exceed your expectations.