You Met the Right People. Now What?
The event is over. You drove home with a stack of business cards, a few badge photos on your phone, and maybe some scribbled notes on a cocktail napkin. And now it's Monday morning, and that pile is just sitting there.
I see this all the time. Professionals walk out of a great event energized and full of intention… and then life kicks in, and the follow-up never happens. Or it happens two weeks late with a "sorry for the delay!" message that goes nowhere.
Let's change that. Here's exactly what I tell my networking coaching clients to do in the days after a big networking event.
Step 1: Gather everything.
Pull out the cards, the notes, the badge photos, whatever you used to capture people in the moment. Get it all in one place before you do anything else.
Step 2: Sort into three buckets.
Not every person you meet deserves the same follow-up, and that's okay. I use three categories with my clients:
Future Power Partners — People you genuinely connected with and can already see a real relationship forming. These people are your priority.
Great Networkers to Keep in Touch With — Good people, solid conversations, worth staying loosely connected to within the community.
Good to Know / Connect on LinkedIn — A brief chat, a friendly face. A LinkedIn connection is the right move here.
Step 3: Act on bucket one this week.
For bucket one, call, email, or send a LinkedIn message — whatever works best for how you connected. Do not open with an apology for the timing. Instead, lead with something specific you talked about and propose a concrete next step. Give them two dates. Don't leave it as, "We should grab coffee sometime." That phrasing is where good intentions go to die.
For bucket two, keep it warm and brief. Let them know you enjoyed the conversation and want to stay in touch. Suggest something within the quarter, again with actual proposed dates.
For bucket three, send the connection request this week while your face is still recognizable.
Step 4: Think about who you can connect forward.
Pick three to five people you met and ask yourself who else in your network they should know. Making an introduction for someone, with nothing to gain from it directly, is one of the fastest ways to build goodwill and deepen a new relationship. This is networking, not prospecting, and the difference matters.
Step 5: Build in the reminders.
Set a 30-day recurring reminder for your top contacts. The goal is to send something useful on a regular cadence, such as an article, a question, or an introduction. Two meaningful touchpoints within 60 days of meeting someone is what turns a contact into a real relationship.
And keep your CRM current. Utilize your system to record what you talked about, what they're working on, and what you've followed up with. The most connected people I know are also the most organized.
A great event gives you momentum. What you do with it is what separates professionals who grow their network from those who just collect contacts. Stay consistent, be generous with introductions, and treat follow-up like a business development activity (because that’s exactly what it is!) Give it 60 days of consistent, intentional outreach, and you'll be surprised how quickly a room full of strangers becomes a network that actually works for you.
Joy Poli is the Co-Founder of Inner Circle Network and a Networking Coach with Accelerate Successfully.
Want to build a networking strategy that actually works year-round?
Joy Poli offers Network Coaching through Accelerate Successfully, designed for professionals, business owners, and executives who are ready to stop prospecting and start building real relationships that generate opportunities over time.
Coaching is available in two formats: a 6-month Silver Package that includes a kickoff session plus five private coaching sessions, and a 12-month Platinum Package that goes deeper into Power Partnerships, influence-building, and expanding your strategic reach. Both packages include an Inner Circle Network membership. One-on-one on-demand sessions are also available for real-time guidance when you need it.
To get started, reach out to Joy directly at joypoli@acceleratesuccessfully.com.
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