Follow-up templates

Message after a trade show or event: templates and tool

After a trade show or a business event, you are left with a pile of business cards and phone contacts, and they all look the same. The follow-up is what separates the contacts that turn into conversations from the ones forgotten in a drawer.

In an online business round the path is shorter, because meetings are suggested by business fit and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. But at any event, the next message is up to you.

In short

When to send: Within three business days
Priority: First, whoever asked for something
First line: The event and the topic
Request: Just one, tailored to each contact

Write my message

How to write it

Sort your contacts before writing

Split your contacts into three groups: those who asked for something concrete (a quote, a sample, a visit), those who showed interest without a request and those who just stopped by. The first group gets a message the same day or the next; the second, in the following days; the third, if anything, gets something useful, not a proposal.

At the event itself, write down one detail from each conversation, on the back of the card or in a phone note. That detail is what goes in the first line.

The first line

Anyone who went to a trade show talked to a lot of people. So the first line needs to name the event, where you talked and the topic. "We spoke at your booth, on the second day of the show, about the vacuum packaging line" jogs the memory; "It was a pleasure meeting you" does not.

The timing

Within three business days after the event ends. In the week after a trade show, inboxes fill up with exhibitors' messages, and yours needs to arrive earlier or be far more specific than the rest.

If you waited longer, open with the event and a detail from the conversation: the detail makes up for the delay.

What to avoid

Sending the same message to the whole stack of business cards you collected.
Adding event contacts to an email marketing list without asking for permission.
Opening with "It was a pleasure meeting you at the event", without saying which conversation.
Waiting the whole following week to start writing.
Sending the full catalog to someone who asked for one specific piece of information.

Ready-to-copy templates

Fictional people and companies, to show the structure. Swap the names and the conversation detail for your own, or ask the generator for a message based on your conversation.

For someone who asked for a quote at the booth

By email, the day after the show ends.

Subject: Quote for the labels you asked about at the show

Hello Regina,

We spoke at our booth, on the second day of the show, about freezer-resistant labels for your ice cream line.

Attached is the quote for the three sizes you showed me in the photo. The delivery time starts from artwork approval.

Would you like me to also send a sample of each size so you can test them in your freezer?

Best regards,

Wagner Lopes, Firm Label Co.

For someone who visited the booth with interest

On WhatsApp, when the person left their number.

Hi Sergio, it's Daniela from High Mill Flour. You stopped by our booth at the bakery show and said you are looking for flour for long-fermentation bread.

Can I send you two samples to test at the bakery?

For an exhibitor you visited

When you went to the show as a buyer.

Fabio, it was good to visit the Practical Steel booth at Thursday's show. Your folding hand trucks solve a problem we have in our warehouse.

Could you send me the spec sheet for the medium model and the lead time for twelve units? With that, I can take it for approval here.

After an online business round

On the same day, when both sides marked interest.

Hi Amanda, Peter from Living Ledger Consulting. We spoke today at the business round about cash flow at your furniture store.

Since we both marked interest, I am writing here. Would a 20-minute call on Thursday work, so I can see how you track it today?

A week after the event

When the ideal window has passed, but the conversation was good.

Subject: Following up on our talk at the show: warehouse lighting

Hello Christian,

It took me a few extra days to write after the show, but I have not forgotten our conversation about replacing the lighting in your two warehouses.

I prepared a simple estimate of how much the change cuts energy use, based on the floor area you mentioned. Could I present it in 20 minutes next week, Tuesday or Wednesday morning?

Best regards,

Natalie Freire, Efficient Light Projects

Write yours from your own conversation

Tell us who you spoke with and what the next step is. The generator writes the message for WhatsApp, LinkedIn or email, suggests when to send it and drafts the second message too. Free, no sign-up.

Open the follow-up generator

Frequently asked questions

How soon after the trade show should I send the follow-up?

Within three business days after the event ends, starting with those who asked for something concrete, such as a quote, a sample or a visit. Those contacts can get the message the same day or the next.

How do I make people remember me after a trade show?

Say in the first line the name of the event, where you talked and one detail of the topic. That is why it pays to note, while still at the event, one piece of information from each conversation on the back of the card or on your phone.

Can I add trade show contacts to my email marketing list?

Only with permission. Receiving a business card is not the same as agreeing to receive a newsletter, and data protection laws require a legal basis to use personal data. An individual follow-up, about the conversation you had, is a different matter.

What is the difference between following up after a trade show and after a business round?

At a trade show, you filter afterwards: you talked to a lot of people and need to find out who is interested. In an online business round, meetings are already suggested by business fit, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. The follow-up is still yours, but it starts from a conversation both sides wanted to have.

Need people to follow up with?

In an online business round you have several short meetings in one afternoon, with companies looking for what you offer. Your company's first round is on us, with just your CNPJ (Brazilian company tax ID).

Choose my first round How it works