By Mitchell Schuckman, PCC | Executive Coach + Founder, The Schuckman Group LLC
I was speaking with someone recently who was very excited about the results of a conference they had attended. They had met something like 67 people, and even used an AI tool to upload all that information directly into Salesforce.
They were understandably pleased. It had been a productive few days, and the technology had made organizing all those new relationships remarkably easy.
I had one question. "What are you going to do with those 67 people now?"
Conference Season Is in Full Swing
From late September through early December, my LinkedIn feed seems to be filled with pictures of people attending conferences around the world. There are keynote speakers, panel discussions, networking receptions, dinners, and plenty of smiling group photographs.
It represents an enormous investment. Registration fees, airfare, hotels, meals, and, perhaps most importantly, several days away from client work and other responsibilities. Is it worth it?
I think conferences can be incredibly valuable, especially as more people work remotely and have fewer opportunities to develop relationships in person. There's something about spending time together, sharing a meal, or having an unexpected conversation in a hallway that simply cannot be replicated on a video call.
For service providers, conferences offer opportunities to meet prospective clients, reconnect with existing relationships, learn about industry developments, and establish credibility. For buyers, they offer an opportunity to understand the market, compare service providers, explore new ideas, and discover who might be worth getting to know.
But the real value of a conference often depends on what happens after everyone goes home.
A Contact Is Only the Beginning
I've spent much of my career helping professionals build relationships and win work. One thing I've learned is that people never become clients after one conversation.
You've probably seen the sales statistics suggesting that it takes five, ten, or even fifteen touchpoints to turn a prospect into a client. The exact number varies considerably depending on the business, the relationship, and the opportunity. But the underlying point is important. Relationships require sustained attention.
Yet many professionals make one or two attempts to reconnect and then move on. They send the obligatory "great meeting you" email, perhaps share an article a few weeks later, and eventually allow the contact to disappear into their CRM system. Sustained follow-up takes thought, creativity, and discipline.
Sometimes it's an email. Sometimes it's a phone call, a text message, or an invitation to lunch. Sometimes it's sharing an insight about something happening in the prospect's industry. And sometimes it's investing several hours helping someone think through a complicated problem, knowing there's no immediate opportunity to get paid.
The objective is to become someone the other person values hearing from. Someone who understands their business, remembers what's important to them, and is willing to help.
That takes considerably more effort than collecting a business card.
One Relationship Took Nearly Three Years
Earlier in my career, there was a company I very much wanted to work with. I had met someone there several years earlier, and I believed we could do some excellent work together. So I began investing in the relationship.
Over nearly three years, I stayed in touch through phone calls, emails, meetings, and occasional opportunities to provide advice. I shared ideas, answered questions, and looked for ways to be helpful, even when there was no immediate prospect of an engagement. There were certainly moments when I wondered whether anything would come of it. But I liked the people, respected their business, and believed my firm and I could make a difference. So I kept investing the time.
Eventually, the company issued an RFP to select an ongoing service provider.
By then, I had developed a meaningful understanding of the organization, its challenges, and the people who would be making the decision. More importantly, they knew me. They had seen how I thought, how I responded, and how much I cared about helping them succeed. We won the work. That organization became the best client relationship of my entire career.
I sometimes think about what would have happened if I had stopped after the second email, or decided that the relationship wasn't going anywhere after six months.
Technology Can Help, but It Can't Build Trust
I'm a big believer in using technology to make business development more effective.
AI can capture contact information, organize meeting notes, identify follow-up opportunities, research companies, and even suggest relevant topics for future conversations. A good CRM system can help ensure that promising relationships don't fall through the cracks.
But technology cannot make someone genuinely interested in another person's business. It cannot substitute for the judgment required to recognize when someone needs advice, when to make an introduction, or when to invest time without expecting anything in return. And it certainly cannot build trust simply by scheduling another automated email.
The most successful business developers I have known are disciplined about maintaining relationships, but they're also thoughtful about how they do it. They remember conversations. They follow developments in their clients' businesses. They find reasons to reconnect that matter to the other person. They make the investment long before there's an RFP.
The Conference Isn't Over When You Leave
If you're attending a conference this season, think about what success should look like three months from now. Perhaps you met ten people with whom you'd genuinely like to build relationships. What did you learn about each of them? What challenges are they facing? What could you share that might be useful? Is there someone you could introduce them to? And perhaps most importantly, are you prepared to keep investing in those relationships even when nothing happens immediately?
For buyers, the same principle applies. The people you meet at conferences can become valuable sources of ideas, advice, and perspective. Pay attention to who takes the time to understand your business and who demonstrates value before asking for work.
The number of people you meet at a conference is easy to measure. The value of the relationships you develop afterward is much harder. Three years from now, you probably won't remember how many business cards you collected.
But you may remember the one relationship that changed your career.
Mitchell Schuckman is the Founder and CEO of The Schuckman Group LLC. He is a Professional Certified Coach credentialed by the International Coaching Federation and the author of I'll Tell You a Great Story. theschuckmangroup.com
Note on privacy: Names and identifying details have been changed. The experiences described are drawn from multiple client engagements and do not represent any single individual.