On-site event prospecting

Treat a conference as a live qualification route. Find people already close to a problem, give them a reason to answer, learn enough to judge fit, and earn a better conversation after the event. Most good prospects do not appear on the trade show floor.¹ Qualified prospects are most likely to be found in sessions focused on your firm's area of software interest.² Plan around those sessions, then use the floor for deliberate conversations and let the session plan sort where you spend time.

Before you arrive

Use preparation to make the first question specific. Give each target a reason to approach and a point you want to learn. Decide what would make a second conversation worthwhile.

Careful prospecting and pre-event homework made the introduction and later conversation easier than at past events.³ Where possible, book several meetings before the conference starts.⁴ Study each prospect's background, industry context, challenges and specific needs before you arrive.⁵ Write down the problem you expect to hear and the question that will test whether it is real.

Choose where to work

Spend time where relevant people gather. Use breaks to turn proximity into a conversation, and plan a route through sessions, entrances and quieter spaces so you can seek people out deliberately.

Attend speaker sessions to meet the people there and seek prospects out at the event.^{6, 7} Speakers, organizers and panelists are often available before an event begins, giving you a chance to speak with well-informed and well-connected people.⁸ Start with the context, then ask about the reason they came.

Start the conversation

Open by showing why you chose that person. Keep the first question short and let the answer guide the conversation.

Refer to a recent LinkedIn post and the problem it addresses when you have that context.⁹ Without that trigger, ask, "Why did you personally want to attend this conference?"¹⁰ People asked this question usually bring up their company and why the conference fits it.¹¹ Follow that answer instead of switching to your own pitch.

If a demo is scheduled, ask to talk before it starts to build a mini relationship and use that time for mini discovery.^{12, 13}

Run mini-discovery

When someone gives you a real answer, stay with their situation long enough to decide whether a deeper conversation makes sense. Learn how they think about the problem and whether there is a reason to continue.

Ask questions, let people discuss themselves and their businesses, and assess whether they could be a good customer.¹⁴ Use their answer to judge whether the problem is high priority and whether your solution is a good fit.¹⁵ At each stage, work out what they need to believe before they will continue the buying process.¹⁶

In a first meeting, they probably need to believe you may solve a high-priority problem and that you and your company are credible people to discuss it with.¹⁷ Listen for a problem they recognize, why it matters, and enough interest to keep talking. Move on when you have those signals or when the conversation shows there is no useful fit.

Turn fit into a next step

End every promising exchange with a decision. Leave the event knowing whether the person wants a deeper conversation and what that conversation should cover.

If the person looks like a good fit, make a later appointment for a more detailed discussion.¹⁸ For a planned onsite meeting, use the pre-meeting work and introductions to add intentional discovery during the meeting.¹⁹ Make the in-person connection before sending sales outreach.²⁰ When you agree on the next step, state the problem you heard and the reason for continuing so the follow-up has a clear starting point.

What not to do

Short gaps between sessions leave little time to waste. Keep each interaction focused on whether there is a real reason to continue.

• Do not call attending a networking event prospecting simply to avoid doing prospecting.²¹
• Do not make the interaction look like a sale, because people who are pitched throughout the day may shut down.²²
• Do not treat the first meeting as a solution-selling exercise.²³
• Do not package surface observations as insights. Observations presented that way often fall short.²⁴
• Do not mention industry experience without going far enough to demonstrate it.²⁵