Networking Memory Tricks to Facilitate Follow-Up

Ever come back from a conference or networking event and have trouble remembering who's who as you start to wade through that stack of business cards you brought home?

What if you're not sure whether it was Bob Jones, CEO of Best Darn Widgets, or Bill Sanchez, marketing director at Toothpaste for Men, who had a golfing buddy at the very company where your boss has been asking you to get a sales meeting for the last month? And what if you can't recall whether it was Bill's daughter or Bob's who just accepted a new job to work abroad in London?

Oops.

It means you're in a tough spot when you want to send that follow-up email a couple of days after the event (and you do always follow up, right?). So, your options are to 1) send nonspecific messages to Bob or Bill and hope they remember who you are and decide you're worth replying to, even though you didn't -- or couldn't -- personalize your note in any way, or 2) not write anything at all and chalk up the experience as a missed opportunity.

There's a way to avoid this whole mess, of course: After you've spoken with someone, make a quick note on the back of their card that will help jog your memory when it comes time to follow up. At a couple of conferences I attended earlier this month, I wrote simple things like "sat with at lunch on first day of conference," "was introduced to by Simon" and "potential vendor." And from those few words, I could craft a personal message of a paragraph or two that will help keep the relationship going after the conference.

Another friend of mine tells me he puts the cards of the people he intends to follow up with in one pocket and the cards of those he doesn't in another. And then, he says, "I jot down notes that night, before I go to bed. Usually a specific action to take [with each person]: promo list, info share, contact, proposal, collaborate."

What about you? What's your system of following up with the people you meet at business events?

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