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Showing Sales Professionals and Leaders How to Leverage Digital Influence to Create More and Better Opportunities - Sales Hall of Fame Inductee, Speaker, & Author
What industry conferences are you going to in September? Do you want to know how LinkedIn and Sales Navigator can help you crush at those conferences? I can show you how to make friends with the speakers and workshop presenters so that you show up as an insider. The key is to get everything set up now (before summer vacations). You can easily set yourself apart from the people who are lined up to talk to a speaker after their session. It's really hard to grab their attention and focus right then. Here’s what you do right now: 💠 Grab the list of speakers from the event website, even the ones who are running sessions that you won’t have time to go to. 💠 Find them on LinkedIn and send them a connection request: “Hi _____, I’m looking forward to seeing you at (event). I hope to be able to attend your session on (topic) because it’s an important one in our industry right now. 💠 When they accept the connection request, send a quick note in reply thanking them for connecting on LinkedIn and that you’re excited to hear them present (if you can - and if you can’t make it work, it’s OK). 💲 Bonus move: add all of these individuals to a Lead list in Sales Navigator and use the Newsfeed filters to view their posts. Engage with them over the course of the summer to build some name recognition and do a little relationship building. 💲 💠 As the event comes up, reach out and see if it’s possible to connect onsite at some point. 💠 If you do go their session, see if you can grab a moment of their attention to congratulate them and share that you’ll send a follow up note with a question afterwards. Then let them get back to everyone else clamoring for their attention. 💠 Now you have a reason to follow up after the event…and they are expecting it. You can connect even if you won’t be able to attend their session. You never know who you will run into at lunch or the coffee stand. And having created that foundation before the event, you are starting from a place of recognition if you do run into the them at the event. And guess what, most of the speakers at industry events know or know of each other. So this is a shortcut for building your network (and introductions) with the people who are leading the conversations in your field. So pull out your conference agendas now and send some invites! #events #networking #socialselling #salesnavigator Marija Lind Reed Johnson David New Susan L. Brandi Brooks Davis Amari Gonzalez 💯Alexander Low Tom Latourette
In "Never Eat Alone" Keith Ferrazi gives a lot of good tips in connecting with conference speakers, even the keynote ones. One helpful tip is to reach out the week prior to the conference and offer to have dinner or breakfast with them. You'd be surprised how many speakers don't have engagements at meals, would be eating by themselves and might welcome company.
David J.P. Fisher this is an OG move, you are multiplying your reach and your time. A key that might be over looked in your post: "Find them on LinkedIn and send them a connection request: “Hi _____, I’m looking forward to seeing you at (event). I hope to be able to attend your session on (topic) because it’s an important one in our industry right now." You are showing interest in what they eat, sleep, and breath. You are not being pushy, more excited. You are enhancing that speakers relevance in industry. You will get a meeting if you ask for it, after that note.
This is such a practical approach to connecting with industry leaders and experts speaking at conferences, David! “You never know who you will run into at lunch or the coffee stand.” Can’t tell you how many times I’ve met the people I wanted to meet at the coffee stand, or while talking to someone else in the lobby of the conference hotel. Preparation and research !
This is a great strategy for meeting non-speakers who you know will be at an event as well!
Fantastic guidance. Go one better and snap a couple pics of them on stage and DM them to the speaker while their session is still going on. "Great session! Thought you might like to have these."
Erin Spreen and Scott Manea this relates to the convo we were having around the DIA conference. Thinking for future events for this fall, I know there are a few top of mind. Get everything rolling before the summer vacays start hitting!
Great tips David J.P. Fisher - and this can also be extended to delegates for those who have a delegate list (or the delegate list of last year's event). We've worked with various B2B firms and helped them turn up to Expos and conferences with lots of meetings with fellow delegates already pre-arranged. It's especially effective in the US, where events often span multiple days and so the scope to arrange breakfasts, dinners, etc. is significant for those who go the extra mile...
This is such a simple yet effective strategy. Building those relationships in advance of the conference makes you so memorable.
Beautiful great share David David J.P. Fisher thank you massively Sir also for EXPOs too Katarzyna Jarzebowska Kara Rowan Simon Mitchell & biggest global event fast approaching, utilise this share to the MAX Manuel Senn Will McStay Orit Sadeh Kara Rowan Dinah Cowles
Activating BD in Professional Services I LinkedIn & Sales Navigator Enablement I CRM & Key Client Strategy I Host of "The Death of a Salesman" Podcast
1moStorytime - I had a contact in the audience of SFDC world tour in London DM me on here, with some pictures of a law firm leader talking about our research on stage. We were not talking to them yet, I dmed said leader immediately, he connected and said are you in the audience, I said no, but someone I know is. Law firm leader and I are meeting in a few weeks.