Pre-event outreach

Pre-event outreach works when the event gives prospects a reason to talk before they arrive. An event that lets prospects meet people in similar roles can provide that reason.¹ Most success at in-person events comes from prospecting that sets meetings at the event.² There is a brief window before meetings fill prospects' calendars, so work the list while attendance is still useful context.³

Choose the people first

Start with a list you can work carefully. Each contact should have a clear connection to the event and a reason to receive a personal invitation.

Identify the event attendees in your territory and begin outreach.⁴ Review historical interactions, find priority accounts, personalize the invitation, and handwrite a note when you have a mailing address.⁵ Give your highest-quality prospects early attention by inviting them to a conference-adjacent event or asking which events they plan to attend so you can join them there.⁶

Once you know why each person belongs on the list, decide what kind of meeting could make the event worth their time.

Give the event a job

What to explore in person

If issue, result, or question

Carry that thread

If only confirm attendance

Focus the meeting

What to explore in person

• If issue, result, or question, carry that thread
• If only confirm attendance, focus the meeting

Use the event as the reason for your message. Give the prospect something to consider before they arrive so the in-person conversation has a starting point.

Invite registered prospects to submit a good target-account email for scoring and feedback, then bring the results to the event. That made it easier to start a conversation and discuss the prospect's current state.⁷

Use the reply to decide what to explore in person. If the prospect gives you a real issue, result, or question, carry that thread into the meeting. If they only confirm attendance, focus the meeting on what they want to get from the event.

Work the calendar

Use a short sequence that becomes more urgent as the event approaches. Give the prospect time to decide, then follow up while a meeting is still easy to place on the calendar.

Start outreach two to three weeks before the event and increase it as the event gets closer.⁸ Follow up about a week before the event with people you already contacted.⁹ Build a pre-conference sequence¹⁰ that includes calls and email.¹¹

Advance contact can remind prospects of your plans to attend and create a time to meet during the event.¹² Use the first message to establish relevance, the follow-up to make the meeting concrete, and the final contact to confirm the time and place.

Stop when the prospect has accepted, declined, or clearly asked you to stop. An unanswered message is not a meeting.

Ask for a specific meeting

Keep the invitation casual and tie it to a real moment around the event. A prospect can answer a specific plan more easily than a vague request to connect sometime.

For contacts already in the city or region, invite them for coffee a few days beforehand and do not offer a meeting after the conference.¹³ Keep the wording casual: "Hey, I'm going to be in town. I'm going to this conference. I don't know if you're going to go. We'd love to have a coffee with you a couple of days beforehand" keeps the event as the reason for contact.

A dinner invitation can follow the same structure: "Hey, I'm going to this. We want to host a dinner before the event. Are you going to be in town for this?"¹⁴

Once the prospect accepts, put the time and purpose in writing. Ask what they want to cover and use the answer to shape the conversation. If they decline the slot but will attend, leave the door open for a brief introduction onsite.

Prepare the onsite conversation

Use the advance exchange to decide what you need to learn, while leaving room for the prospect to change the direction once you meet.

Pre-meeting work and introductions give the salesperson room for intentional discovery during the onsite meeting.¹⁵ Careful prospecting and homework before a trade show made the introduction and later conversation easier than at past events.¹⁶

If you will miss the event, send prepared results and feedback beforehand and mention the peer who will attend so the prospect has an easier way to start a conversation.¹⁷ Give that person the context behind the invitation, the prospect's response, and the question you want answered.

The person attending needs enough context to continue the conversation without making the prospect repeat the pre-event exchange.

What not to do

Avoid mistakes that turn the event into a broadcast or leave the meeting until the event is already underway.

• Do not rely on a general announcement when you can send a personal invitation. Personal invitations matter because people may otherwise say they did not know the event was happening.¹⁸
• Do not offer the meeting after the conference when the purpose is to arrange contact before it.¹³