Creating the perfect networking follow-up email

Networking remains a critical component of business is an important factor in all types of businesses. In fact, 70% of jobs are found through personal relationships! Whether you;re attending events, expos or seminars, you're given the chance to develop your personal career or forge new business relationships. This is networking. 
We have some insider tips to make post-networking less painful and to create real value for our connections so we can develop meaningful relationships. As a business owner, marketer or salesperson, sending a response-worthy and notable email to your newly-found acquaintance is a good way to keep the conversation going.

But how exactly do you craft a follow-up email that people will actually respond to? See our 8 tips below that breakdown a perfect follow-up email. 

Image source: Hubspot Blog (The anatomy of a perfect networking follow-up email)

1. The greeting

While it's important to keep an air of professionalism, writing the person's full name creates a more formal tone. You're sending this email as a friendly follow-up conversation from your initial meeting so we'd recommend using the contact's first name which will often work best to establish a friendlier tone. 

2. Manners, please

When writing any email – whether it’s for a client, for someone you just met or for someone who you’ve known for ages – always mind your manners. A bit of courtesy towards the person you’re trying to connect with will go a long way. In this case, the follow-up email that you’re sending to your acquaintance should include a ‘nice to meet you’ for someone you've just met or ‘nice to see you again’ for someone whom you got re-acquainted with.

3. Remind them where and when you met

If you first met your new acquaintance at a big event or at an expo, remind them exactly when during the event you got acquainted. Industry events and expos tend to be large in scale, so the person you’re trying to reach out to might have talked to a lot of people. That’s why it's a good idea to remind them exactly when and where during the event or expo you met each other. 

4. Give them a recap of your conversation

It might be easier for the email recipient to place you if you include a snippet of the conversation you shared. Focus a little bit more on what they were telling you and reference a specific insight they gave. This is also the part of the email where you can insert a genuine complement about your conversation if applicable. 

5. Conversation is key

Keep the conversation flowing by adding a relevant piece of content you’d like them to read or see, recommend them a social media group that they would be interested in joining or refer to them a few of your connections who might have the same interest as they do. Offer something that’s relevant to your initial conversation as this will set the tone for your relationship and, at the same time, let your acquaintance know that you will not waste their time.

6. Give them room to respond by asking them a question

Asking a question of them will keep the conversation rolling since a question often compels someone to respond.  When asking a question, remember that you are still in the beginning stages of the relationship, so avoid asking grand scale queries from them. Ask questions that will keep the communication between you two open, since this may set the stage for a prospective sales conversation in the future.

7. Offer them your help

Each of your acquaintances is a prospect – prospects for sales or prospects for a referral source. They want to engage with people who will sell to them and help them. Establish ties with your prospects. Where you can, act as a resource for them, and vice versa.

8. Include your contact information

This is the most basic part of your email. Each of your contacts might prefer different means of communication – some might choose to send an email rather than make a call – so it's a good idea to include an active email address, your phone and mobile number, and even your social media pages where they can easily speak with you. 

Follow-up emails are vital to your networking efforts. These types of emails will continue the conversation you first had with your new contact, as well as help further your relationship with them. Your clients are also part of your network and in a lot of cases, email is a primary means of communication. Make sure that you are sending them the appropriate response to emails to get results. We've created 9 emails templates to help you convert a lead - and all you have to do is click the button below!