Business trips and conferences can either bring forth a sense of joy or despair. That moment when your boss comes in and informs you that you’ll be heading to Super Fun Business Conference in Townsville, you might be excited to get on the road and out of the office. Or, it could mean that you’re going to have to miss your trivia out on Tuesday.
Whatever it is, it means you’ve got to start preparing. It’s time to wake up every day and do 100 practice handshakes with your dog. See how long you can hold a smile. Do a makeup speedrun in the bathroom.
Just kidding, but there are still a few steps you need to go through in order to make sure you’re prepared for the upcoming conference.
Prepare Your Office
As a quick reminder, remember to set an “out of office” alert on your email and make sure that your department won’t miss a beat when you’re gone for a few days.
Change your voicemail and make sure that any loose ends are tied up before you embark on the conference. You don’t want to have to be pulling double duty, working at the office and the conference at the same time.
Bring Plenty of Literature
While it might be nice to bring your favorite nightstand companion, you’re going to want to have plenty of fliers, business cards, and any other documents that might be important when you’re getting ready to head out.
You’re going to be doing plenty of networking, and this is going to help you get your foot in the door and give people something to take with them. Plenty of businesses also hand out extra promotional items to serve as a little bit of a reminder.
Printed marketing materials can still be quite effective!
Have a Realistic Goal
Why are you going to the conference? Is it to network with other like-minded businesses, connect with other clients, or hire new employees?
If you’re running the shindig yourself then you might already have the perfect answer to that question. You’ll want to sit down with your boss or team and discuss what the goals are. If you’re looking to hire more employees, what kind are you looking for and how many do you need to hire?
Doing as much pre planning will help you tremendously and make everything a bit more clear.
Practice Your Opening Pitch
While we were joking about practicing your handshakes with your dog (unless you’re trying to teach them a new trick), you do need to be practicing your opening pitch. Often called the “cold pitch” or “elevator pitch”, this is the first thing you’re going to be greeting people with.
You want your pitch and opening message to be simple and concise. The worst thing that can happen is someone says, “wait, what do you do?”
Run through it a few times with some colleagues to make sure you have it down pat before setting up.
Check the Schedule
You’re likely not going to be standing around at the booth all day, so look at the schedule and think of events that could be beneficial for you and your business. There could be networking events, workshops, or keynote speakers.
You don’t want to run around and head to all of them, but it’s going to be a good idea to make sure you’re at a few. When you’re there, be as much of an active participant as possible. Ask questions and be ready to network with everyone around. You never know who could be a great connection.
Think of unique questions you could ask that could work well with your pitch.
Have Follow Up Plans
What good is all that networking, handshaking, pitching, and passing out materials going to be if you don’t make it a point to follow up after the conference?
While you may be handing out plenty of contact information, you also need to be sure you’re getting other people’s business cards in order to follow up with them after the conference is over.
Give it a few days and then reach out, offering to take them to lunch in order to continue your conversation or see how you both can work together.