Virtual Coffee Chats + Following Up After Networking Events and Conferences

The ROI of events is in your follow up!

In this episode of the Power Table podcast, Taylor discusses the importance of following up after networking events to build meaningful relationships. She shares practical strategies for maintaining connections, such as using social media for follow-ups, inviting contacts to virtual coffee chats, and being intentional about relationship-building efforts. Taylor emphasizes the need for genuine interactions and the importance of understanding when to make requests within these relationships.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Events open the door, but follow-ups are what build relationships that turn into clients, cash, and opportunities. Hi, welcome back to the Power Table Podcast. I'm your host, Taylor Smith, and today's episode is basically a follow-up to the previous one, which was all about how to use my kind of secret unspoken networking strategies that actually work, which should open the door for you and generate more conversations and more relationships, which means you now need this episode, which is how to use my virtual coffee chat plan to turn those connections you met at networking events, conferences into real relationships. So the value of connections cannot be understated, but events are not enough to build those relationships. You've got to go beyond that one-time meeting and truly begin to build long-term relationships with people. So I wanted to share with you the strategies that I use to follow up with intention, to build trust, to generate sales, and stay top of mind for people without it being pushy or weird. So let's get into some really easy strategies that you can use. And I'll just kind of walk you through my process. So I mentioned in the previous episode that one of the things that I do is when I meet people, I ask for their Instagram or LinkedIn and I will screenshot it. I'll hit follow and I'll screenshot it so that at the end of the day or at the end of the event, I now have in my phone a set of screenshots of people to follow up with. This is just for me the easiest way to stay organized in the follow-up. You can do definitely your own thing. Maybe use a CRM. Maybe you do collect business cards and you go from there. But I'm not a business card person. Like I have the digital one. I just prefer to have those on social. And then I will continue the conversation in the DMs on the platform that they gave me because that indicates to me what their preferred preference is. And this is another reason why I don't think really we should be using business cards, is because someone hands you a business card, you have no idea where they actually hang out. Maybe it's an email, maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's somewhere else entirely. That business card doesn't give you that indication. Whatever they tell you, like, hey, what's your preferred social media platform? Whatever they give you, that's where I know I'm most likely to get a response from them. Okay, second thing. I mentioned this in the past episode, but DMing them a photo from the event is great. Like, hey, here's the picture we took together, love chatting with you, or it was so great to meet you. Here's the selfie we snapped, love chatting with you today. Optional, but it definitely helps with building the conversation and having people remember you. So, really, our goal, the very first thing that I do is make sure to establish a follow-up within a few days. I like 48 hours for the just that initial DM. So building in time in your calendar to make sure you're doing that after the event is incredibly valuable. And then the next thing is figuring out, you know, what do I want from this relationship? And it I don't mean that in a manipulative or transactional kind of way, but like quite legitimately, how do you want that relationship to go? Are they more of a cheerleader? They don't have a lot in common, they're not likely to buy from you. So it's just somebody you want to stay friendly with. In that case, just the occasional comment or thoughtful DM is probably all you need to do. But if it's a potential client, a potential collaborator, someone whose show or stage you want to be on, we need to move forward with a little bit more of an effort and intention. From there, I love to invite in the next two to four weeks the people I want to build a relationship with to a virtual coffee chat. 15 to 20 minutes, that's all I need. So I'll just say, like, hey, I would love to get to know you a little bit better and hear more about your goals and what you have going on in your business. Um, would you be open to a 15 to 20 minute virtual coffee chat? You can also say, like, there's absolutely no pitch here. I just want to hear about what you're working on. That often helps. People don't. I've heard a lot of bad stories recently about people saying, I thought I was going to a coffee chat and it turned out to be a discovery call or sales pitch. That's really gross. Don't do that to someone. And if you want more of a success rate, tell them it's not a pitch. On that coffee chat, listen, exchange ideas, ask what you might have in common or pay attention to what you might have in common with them, and personalize with any notes from your conversation at the networking event. So let's say someone at the event told you that their kid had a sports tournament coming up or they were really excited about their vacation or something like that. Then when you get on the virtual coffee chat, do your best to remember this. That's why I mentioned taking notes in your phone if you need them, but do your best to bring that back up. Like, how was your vacation? Right. Building those personal touches really goes a long way. And then at the end of the coffee chat, I always try to say, like, hey, so is there any support I can give you right now? Is there any way I can help you or support you? Sometimes they'll say, Yeah, I have a launch coming up, um, or I could really use advice on this, or I'm looking for this kind of connection. And then I might actually be able to support them or do that thing. Sometimes it's not something I can help with, in which case I'll say, Hey, I'm not really sure that I can help with that. Um I will keep an ear out. And if I uh hear of something that might help you in that way, I will let you know or connect them to someone if you know someone who can help. Even just being willing to honestly say, Hey, I'm not sure if I can help you, shows that you're paying attention and that you genuinely care about them. And in that case, they're far more likely to stick around for a long-term relationship. And after the coffee chat, it's still your job to keep this relationship going. So a few things you can do are listen to their podcast or read their blog. Something I love to do is I'll listen to podcasts. I will leave a review for their podcast, screenshot that review that I wrote and DM it to them because a review is great, but Apple doesn't send notifications. So I want to screenshot it and DM it to them and say, hey, I just left you a review. Episode 17 on, you know, burnout strategies was phenomenal. I really just wanted to take a minute and let you know that I really enjoyed this episode. Really getting specific and letting them know that you reviewed and you took time out of your day to do that can really set the stage for a good relationship. Also tagging them in comments when other people are saying, hey, I'm looking for a guest expert in this. Does anyone know a service provider who could help with this? I'm looking to hire, actively tagging them on platforms such as Threads or Instagram or LinkedIn is also a good way to strengthen that relationship, is you know, continuing to recommend them if you can. And then finally, just recognizing when it's appropriate to make an ask yourself. Maybe you want to do an affiliate partnership with them or you want to be on their stage or you want to um sell to them. Maybe they would be a great potential client. Recognizing when that is appropriate is so valuable. Maybe it's appropriate right away. Maybe it's not, maybe it's two months or six months. But what is important is you will know. If it feels gross and inauthentic, it's probably not appropriate because it's not time. Maybe one of you is not aligned, maybe you don't know each other well enough. If it feels easy and natural and good, then it's probably okay to make an ask. But also recognize like it is okay for them to say no. And the no might not mean anything about you. It might mean they still value the relationship. It's just in alignment with their goals or their time or their opportunities. So I'll explain that because I actually get asked for things a lot, which is so cool. And I can't say yes to all of them. So, for example, I often get asked to help promote things because of my the size of my community. And I genuinely want to do that. However, there are times of the year and certain months where we are already stacked and locked into affiliate partnerships with other people. So I can't share your event or I can't help help you promote something or be an affiliate because I'm already locked into another partnership. And that actually has nothing to do with the person asking me. And it doesn't mean that I don't value their relationship and aren't willing to share. It's just the timing isn't right. There are other people who might ask me for something, and I genuinely want to see them succeed, but what they're asking is not appropriate for the level they're at. So, for example, I've had people ask if they could come in and host an event activation at our conference, Power Table Live, and they hadn't even hosted their first one themselves for their own brand. I've been coaching them through the marketing and plan for it, and they were really excited about it and I was excited for them. I think it's a great idea, but it's not gonna be possible for me to say yes to an ask to host an event activation at my conference with something that is untested and something that has no content yet, no testimonials, no proof of concept. Doesn't mean that I don't want to, but it means it's premature. It also, even though I'm saying no, actually doesn't mean anything negative about that person. In fact, I incredibly value that relationship, even though I had to say no. So just recognizing, like really thinking through, have you put in the time to build that relationship to even make the ask? And then is the ask actually gonna be easy for the other person to say yes to because it's appropriate. So I hope that helps in understanding how to build a successful follow-up, continue your relationships beyond meeting people in person in rooms and what you can do to deepen those connections over time because it's exactly what I do. And I also want to challenge you because lately I've been ending these episodes with a little bit of homework or an action to encourage you and challenge you to do. But think about your last event, pick two or three people you met from that event and send them a thoughtful follow-up today. And if you haven't already, invite them to a coffee chat to get to know them a little bit better. This doesn't have to be big, it just has to be intentional. So that's it for this episode. And if you have not gotten your ticket yet to the number one visibility and personal branding conference of the year for female founders, that's our conference, Power Table Live, April 22nd and 23rd. We don't have that many tickets left. Go ahead and grab your ticket now. Come meet the connections that are gonna change your life, the women who are gonna hire you, refer you, and become your peers and mentors and best friends in the space. And we will see you in April in Florida. Talk soon.