Leveraging Contacts After the Convention Is Over

January 2008 Franchising World

The best method to leveraging contacts after the convention is over is to start before the convention begins.

By Karen Spencer

The thing that is so great about the International Franchise Association’s annual convention is the opportunity for networking that results in long-term contacts, both personally and professionally. And the IFA convention gets better and better each year on many levels.

So, how does one go about increasing a contact base in the franchise community? Consider these three recommended phases:
• Planning
• Recording
• Action

Planning
First, the individual should determine what he wants to accomplish during the convention. Most commonly, the reasons are to obtain more contacts for business and to increase franchise and business education. This may seem simple, but this can become confusing if one does not implement an actual process. One may be saying to himself, “An actual process? You must be crazy. I am great at networking.”   But, planning never hurt anyone. Putting one’s thoughts into categories will help define who the individual wants to talk with and why, such as potential mentors, alliances, business connections and friends.

Make a list for each category. Then one can begin with the previous year’s convention registration list to help make an initial list.

Call or e-mail each contact ahead of time to schedule a coffee meeting or spending time over a drink. Why should one schedule a coffee meeting or a drink versus dinner or just meeting outside one of the convention rooms? Because the individual will find that this environment puts more people at ease. Also, keeping the meetings short will help in organizing your time efficiently. After all, there are a lot of people to connect with.

Now some of the contacts will require a dinner meeting. Remember that with all of the valuable night-time IFA activities, one will want to schedule these later in the evening and remember to book reservations ahead of time. Review the convention hotel’s Web site for restaurant choices and make reservations before going to the convention. Dining in the hotel is easier; however, everyone will be trying to get into the same restaurants. Mark your calendar two weeks before the convention to schedule a coffee meeting, a time for drinks, as well as your dinner reservations in a particular area of the hotel.

Review the educational sessions and determine which ones might be the most beneficial, but also which ones potential contacts might be attending (planned and unplanned contacts).

As mentioned earlier, all of this scheduling can get confusing. To help, make sure to enter all meetings, the choice of sessions, other events and recording times on the calendar. In addition, make sure to block a few days on the calendar after returning to the office to ensure that follow-up is timely with all of the new contacts and the old ones that require any follow-up.

An important part of planning is researching the company, understanding the background of the person one will be meeting with, what services a group offers and determining other information to assist with making and maintaining the connection. It is fortunate because today’s Web sites are such a great source of information; this makes this part of the process so much easier.

Recording
The best time to record thoughts about each meeting and connection is during the convention. This will help to capture the information that will be needed to follow-up and to remain focused. If an individual is so busy meeting people, recording all of his thoughts and ideas may be tough after each meeting. Consider waiting until the end of the day and reserve time on a calendar to make all of the notes. This will also allow for uninterrupted time to write notes about the unplanned connections that were made.

No follow-up should be done with any contacts at the convention because everyone has a lot to do and has many events to attend. This becomes frustrating for both sides.

One step that many people fail to do is to go through the registration bag. Let’s be honest, we go through the bag for cool trinkets to take back home, but how many times do you really read all of the information inside? Since there is a lot of information, read one stack each night while reviewing and writing notes. Sometimes this will spur new ideas for your own business and illuminate new contacts.

Action
The first thing is to take action. Many people do not follow-up with the contacts that they make for two main reasons: they cannot remember the person on the business card and what happened when they met (admit to yourself that this has happened) and they are too busy once they return home and did not block the time. Also, do not follow-up too soon. As I mentioned above, block a few days after your return. Realistically, the first day back will be a catch-up day, but that is just the way it is. Also, remember, it is everyone else’s time to catch up that day. Giving yourself and the other people a few days is a more effective to the follow-up communication and results.

Don’t forget to take home the new registration list. This will help next year and will also identify more contacts that may have been missed, met briefly or lost their business cards.

The most important part of this process is to get started before going to the convention not when it is over. Thoughtful planning will allow one to achieve the best results. This process may sound a little “geeky,” but it will enable those who try it to develop life-long mentors, friends and business contacts.

Karen Spencer is president and chief executive officer of Fran-Systems LLC. She can be reached at karen@fransystems.com.