You came home from the event with a stack of business cards and a few new names in your phone. That was three days ago. The cards are still sitting on your desk, you paid for the ticket and gave up an evening, and none of it has turned into work yet. So who do you write to first? What do you say that is not "great meeting you"? And how long is too long before the whole thing gets awkward?
Write within two days, name one thing you actually talked about, give them something before you ask for anything, and end with one clear next step that has a day on it.
- Only write to the people you spoke with for more than a minute. The rest of the cards can go in a drawer.
- Say the specific thing. "The permit story" works. "Our conversation" does not.
- Send something useful first: a name, an introduction, a heads-up about a job.
- Ask for one thing, and put a day on it. "Coffee Tuesday or Thursday?" beats "let's connect sometime."
This is the other half of your 60-second introduction. A good minute gets you the name. The next two days decide whether it turns into work.
Why two days: the U.S. Small Business Administration put the same window in writing back in November 2018, telling owners to follow up on new contacts "within 48 hours after each event."
I am Dr. Michael Wendrow. I have run a chiropractic office in North Miami for more than 30 years, and I started Prime Time Business Network in 2012. I have watched a lot of good conversations die in the parking lot, and plain, slightly boring notes turn into years of work. The difference is almost never charm. It is what you write down and how fast you send it. By the end of this post you will know what to send in the first two days, why most follow-ups get ignored, what to ask for when the person cannot hire you, the five things to write down before you drive home, and what to do when nobody answers.
- Two days is the window. After that you are a stranger with a business card again.
- Most people you meet cannot buy from you. They know somebody who can, so ask a different question.
- The detail you name in the first line is what proves you were listening.
- Write your notes before you leave the parking lot. By the next morning half of it is gone.
- Adding someone to your email list is not follow-up, and federal law treats it as advertising.
What to Send in the First 48 Hours
Keep it to about four sentences. A long note reads like work, and a busy owner puts work off until later, which usually means never. Open by naming the person and the thing you talked about. Then hand them something. Then ask for one next step with a real day attached.
Here is the shape I use, and you can steal it as it is. "Hi Maria, good to meet you Wednesday at the Aventura breakfast. You mentioned you are looking for a bookkeeper who understands contractors. I sent your name to Dave, who does exactly that, and told him you might call. Could we grab coffee Tuesday or Thursday morning so I can hear more about the new location?"
Four sentences: one thing given, one thing asked for, one day named. Nothing clever, and nothing about what I sell.
Why "Great Meeting You" Gets Ignored
A note that could have been sent to anyone in the room reads as a form letter, because that is what it is. The person met eleven people that night. If your first line does not remind them which one you were, most of them will not bother working it out.
Before they open anything, they see three things: who it is from, what the subject line says, and the first few words of the message. That is your whole audition.
So put the reminder in the subject line, not in the third paragraph. "Aventura breakfast, the bookkeeper you needed" tells her who you are and why she should care in six words. Send it from your own name rather than your company name, because she met you, not your logo.
The Person You Met Is Probably Not Your Customer
Almost every article about networking follow-up is written for somebody looking for a job. The advice tells you to restate your interest in the role and attach your resume. That is fine if you are job hunting. It is useless if you own a business, because you are not trying to get hired by the person across the table. You are trying to get into a conversation they will have next week with somebody else.
Think about the last ten people you met at an event. Maybe one of them needed what you sell. The other nine know somebody who does. That is where your work actually comes from, and it is the whole idea behind why referrals convert better than paid ads: the introduction arrives with trust already on it.
So the sentence changes. Instead of "would you like a quote," you write "who do you usually send people to when they ask you about this?" It is easy to answer, it costs them nothing, and it tells you whether somebody is already in that seat. If nobody is, you just found an opening.
The same logic runs the other way. Ask yourself who you would send to them, and say that name out loud in the note. People remember being helped much longer than they remember being pitched.
5 Things to Write Down Before You Leave the Parking Lot
This habit changed my results more than anything else, and it takes four minutes. Sit in your car before you drive off and write these down while the evening is fresh. By Monday you will be looking at a card and drawing a blank.
- What they actually do, in their words. Not "insurance." Write "commercial policies for restaurants, mostly Broward." That detail is what lets you refer them later.
- One personal thing. The daughter starting at the University of Florida, the boat, the knee surgery. This is what makes your first line sound like a person wrote it.
- What they said they need. The problem they mentioned, even in passing. This is your gift in the follow-up note.
- Who you already thought of. If a name popped into your head while they were talking, write it down before it disappears.
- Whether you actually want a second conversation. Be honest. Some cards go in the drawer, and that is fine. Writing to everyone is how follow-up becomes a chore you quit.
Keep it in your phone notes or on the back of the card. Nobody is grading the handwriting.
Do Not Add Them to Your Email List
Here is the one that gets business owners in trouble, and I have watched it end relationships that had barely started. Somebody hands you a card, and it goes straight into the newsletter. From their side, they had a nice chat with you on Wednesday and started getting your monthly promotions on Friday. They did not ask for that, and now you are a person who takes without asking.
There is a legal side too, and most owners assume it does not apply to them. It does. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the CAN-SPAM Act "doesn't apply just to bulk email" and covers all commercial messages. The agency also says the law "makes no exception for business-to-business email." Once a message is mainly there to advertise what you sell, it has to give the reader a way to stop it, and you have to honor that request within 10 business days.
A personal note to one person you met is not marketing, so none of this touches the follow-up in this article. The rule matters the moment you paste a card into a list. If you want them on the newsletter, ask in the second or third conversation and let them say yes.
What to Do When They Do Not Answer
Most of the time nothing is wrong. The message came in on a Thursday, they were on a job, and it slid down the screen. Wait about a week and send one short note that gives them something new rather than repeating the first message. Forwarding an article about their industry works. So does telling them you mentioned their name to somebody.
If the second note gets nothing, stop writing and let the room do the work instead. A group with a fixed schedule helps here, because you will see the person again on a normal Tuesday without either of you making it a thing. The Small Business Administration describes how these groups are built: members "must commit to attending all meetings and arriving promptly," and membership is usually held to one person per profession. That structure is a real difference between a category-exclusive group and an open networking event, where you may never cross paths with somebody twice.
Keep some perspective about the numbers too. Two people out of ten writing back is a good night, not a failure. The nine who cannot use you are still nine people who now know what you do.
FAQ
What if I never got their card?
Write to them anyway. Search the name of the business, find the general contact address, and put the person's name in the subject line. If the event had a host or an organizer, ask them for the introduction instead. Neither one is awkward, and both beat losing the contact because you were embarrassed to ask twice.
Should I email first or connect on LinkedIn first?
Email first, then send the LinkedIn request a day or two later. The SBA suggests following up with an invitation to connect on social platforms as part of the same effort, and it works better as a second touch than a first one. A connection request on its own carries no message and gives the person nothing to reply to.
Is it alright to text somebody I met at an event?
Yes, if they gave you a mobile number and the conversation was warm. Keep it to one message, say who you are in the first four words, and do not send a text at 9 p.m. If the card only has an office line, use email.
What do I do with the card of somebody whose category is already taken in my chapter?
Follow up anyway. A seat being filled does not make the person useless to you, and it does not make you useless to them. Refer work to them when it fits, stay friendly, and keep them in mind if the seat ever opens.
How is the follow-up different after a meeting on Zoom?
The ten minutes of small talk after an in-person meeting does not exist on video, so the follow-up has to carry more weight and it has to be booked before the call ends. I wrote about that in more detail in this post on networking on Zoom and in hybrid meetings.
Bring Your Cards Somewhere You Will See the Same People Again
Prime Time Business Network is a category-exclusive networking group in South Florida. We started in 2012, and we now have more than 400 members across 15 chapters in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. One seat per business category means the people you follow up with are the same people you will sit with in two weeks, which takes most of the pressure off the first note. The calendar picks back up after Labor Day and runs through the winter, so now is a good time to visit. Pick a chapter near you, read what our members say, or get in touch to come as a guest.