Choose an event based on the concentration of people you can reach, then identify the prospects before committing time. A crowded calendar entry is weak evidence by itself. The useful signal is in the program and the activity around it. Qualified prospects are most likely to be found in conference sessions focused specifically on the firm's software area.1 Think of the event as a map of access. If you cannot draw that map, leave the event off the outbound plan.
Run the selection
Use this sequence before committing attendance or building an outreach list. At each stage, continue only when you have something concrete to check at the next one.
| Stage | What you are trying to learn | Example question |
|---|---|---|
| Define the target | which accounts and people are worth finding | Which prospects would make this event worth attending? |
| Check attendance | whether members of the target market will attend2 | What tells us they will be there? |
| Find concentration | which sessions or nearby gatherings deserve attention | Where will those prospects spend their time? |
| Decide access | whether you have a plausible reason to meet them | What can we learn from each conversation? |
| Commit | whether the event earns a place in the outbound plan | What would make attendance worth the time? |
Define the target before the event
Start with the market you can reach and the kind of prospect you want to meet. An event belongs in the plan when it gives you a credible path to those people.
While building a target account list, consider upcoming industry events, conferences, and relevant milestones on the horizon.3 Choose events that can connect you with potential clients.4 Before inspecting the event itself, write down the accounts you expect to find and why each one matters. This keeps the event from setting your target for you.
Compare event types on fit
Let the audience and the setting where people are likely to engage guide the event format. Treat the format as a choice you can test, and record the result so future selections improve.
Some advisors find social events best for gaining new clients, while others find educational events more successful.5 Effectiveness depends on timing, market conditions, client interests, and personal strengths.6 When the fit is unclear, try several formats to see what works best for you.7 Make each format compelling and convenient to attend.8
Use the format to decide how you will work the event. An educational session may give you a shared topic to open with. A social gathering may give you more room to learn why someone came. Keep a format only when it creates a useful setting for the conversations you want.
Find the prospect pockets
After the event fits your market, map where prospects are likely to gather. The program, the schedule around it, and local activity can each give you a different route in.
Read the agenda for sessions that deal with the specific area your firm works in. Then search the conference hashtag on social sites, check meetup groups, review sponsor social sites, and follow industry influencers attending the conference to find nearby events.9 Target prospects may also gather at happy hours.10
Continue only when you can name a specific place or session where a target prospect may appear. A general event title is too loose to guide outreach. A specific context gives you a reason to contact someone and a subject to ask about when you meet.
Rank prospects before you attend
Turn the event map into a short list before you go. Decide who deserves attention first and what would make a conversation useful.
For each prospect, record the event context that makes the person worth prioritizing. Give preference to prospects connected to the sessions or gatherings you identified. Keep the reason specific enough to help you recognize a relevant conversation when it starts.
Use attendance signals to separate likely contacts from hopeful guesses. Look for stated participation, a session connection, or a nearby gathering that gives you a plausible route to the person. When the signal is weak, keep the account in reserve and spend your time on prospects with a clearer path.
Decide whether the event earns the time
Commit after the target, attendance, and access path line up. This protects outbound time from events that sound relevant but produce no usable prospect list.
Events require substantial time and money, and their return on investment is minimal when prospects do not become clients.11 Judge attendance against the conversations you can realistically create. If you cannot identify the target audience or a specific place to reach them, skip the event. If you can identify both, build the prospect list before attending and give each person a reason for contact.
What not to do
These mistakes turn event attendance into unplanned networking. Leave them out of the selection process.
- Do not assume one type of event works for everyone.12
- Do not rely on chance encounters at a large conference. Conferences can have anywhere from 200 to more than 1,000 attendees, so you are unlikely to meet the specific prospects you want by chance.13
- Do not treat a prospecting event as useful before checking whether it mainly brings together salespeople trying to sell to one another.14
- Do not look for one action that guarantees new clients from the next event.15