Networking is critical to growing your events or wedding business; however, oftentimes, people need a little help with how to successfully follow up with prospective clients after an event.
How many business cards have you given out, or conversations have you had at networking events? And how many of those people have you followed up with? It's imperative that you show initiative and take the first step to continue the conversation. Email is usually the best way to do this as it makes it easy for clients to respond when it is convenient for them. If, by chance, you did not receive their email address, you can always connect with them on Facebook. Always make this initial contact sooner rather than later. Within 24 hours after leaving the event space is ideal, and you certainly don't want to wait more than a week, as they may forget the conversation you had or another venue has already reached out and piqued their interest.
Mention where you met them right off the bat so the planners remember who you are and which venue you represent within the first line of your email. Better yet, make a personal connection and refer to a topic the two of you had previously discussed during your initial contact. As a tip, take notes at the networking event on who each person is so you can use the notes to make an authentic follow-up connection afterward. Refrain from being generic or re-stating your pitch, as it can turn people off as it shows that you were not paying attention during the initial conversation.
Next, explain to the event planners why you want to continue the conversation. Do you have some ideas that you think could help make their party or event exactly what they were dreaming of? Do you have an events packet to help explain all the wonderful things your venue can accommodate? Do you have inspirational videos and photography to share? Add those to the email items to the email so the planners can review at their leisure.
Now that you have their attention via email, and have provided extra materials for them to review of all that your venue has to offer for events, parties, or weddings, the next step it set a call or a visit with the planners. Offer up both a call or an in-person visit as options so the planner can select what works with their schedule and where in the decision-making process they are in.
No one wants to hear a one-sided sales pitch. It's important to let the planners or couples know that you want to have a conversation with them to get to know them and their ideal event ideas better, but also so they can get to know your venue's offerings as well. By angling it this way, your prospective clients will feel more at ease knowing you are trying to learn about their events needs to support their plans best.
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