From Conference Attendee to Buying Customer

I wanted to reach more prospects so in addition to purchasing a vendor table at a conference, I submitted a proposal to do a workshop. When the conference committee accepted my proposal and I asked the young lady what the compensation for speaking was, she said it was nothing. But I did it anyway and it resulted in what I really wanted... sales!

At the conclusion of my workshop, I raffled off a few of my products to collect their business cards. In the days before I had products, I use to raffle off a gift basket of fun items. Then I returned to my office and did two things: I invited each person to connect on LinkedIn (if they had a profile) and asked them for a recommendation, and I sent them all an email, simply to thank them for attending my workshop. I also included a link to a PDF version of my presentation on my website that they could download and review.

Then after about a week or two, I called each one of them to

thank them again and to set up a phone meeting to discuss their business challenges related to my services. It allowed me to strengthen my relationship with them. Some even referred me to the person in their organization who may be more interested in my services.

Over the next few months I continued to contact all of my attendees until they either asked for a proposal, referred me, or told me they were not interested in my services. From the nearly 50 participants that attended my session that day, a solid 8 were still prospects with either proposals now in their hands or still considering hiring me when the conditions are right.

I've learned that it may take 5 or 6 contacts with a prospect before they turn into a paying customer. And in addition, people change, prospects get new positions, prospects move to other companies, and even a prospects conditions or needs change over time. I'm learning to keep myself in front of them until they are ready to buy.

Bill Corbett is the founder and organizer of the HARTFORD SPRINGFIELD SPEAKER'S NETWORK and an award winning professional speaker who has been speaking since 1995. He has been on stages across the U.S. for everything from brief lectures to keynote speeches to multi-day training events, and will be the featured speaker at a conference in The Netherlands this Fall. He is a regular contributor to network television affiliates and provides one-on-one speaker coaching for business professionals. Learn more about him and his top-selling Amazon books.