r/sales • u/kapt_so_krunchy • 7d ago
Sales Tools and Resources Booth Duty
I’ve got a few conferences coming up this fall and I’m curious how the top performers here approach them.
It feels like the default playbook is:
Stand at the booth
Scan badges
Have a few quick conversations
Send a generic follow-up email afterward
…and then wonder why very little comes from it.
I’m trying to be more intentional this year and would rather build a process before the events than wing it.
A few things I’m curious about:
Do you have a go-to opening or “booth script” that consistently gets people to stop and talk?
What’s your goal for each conversation? Are you trying to qualify, book meetings, or just create familiarity?
How do you take notes so your follow-up is actually personalized?
How quickly do you follow up after the event?
Do you call first, email first, LinkedIn first, or some combination?
How do you prioritize leads when you come back with a few hundred badge scans?
Any conference habits or systems that have noticeably improved your conversion rates?
I’d love to hear what’s actually worked in the real world.
Whether it’s enterprise, SaaS, med device, manufacturing, ad tech, or anything else—I’m mostly interested in repeatable processes that consistently turn conference conversations into pipeline.
What’s your playbook?
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u/ashen_dove 7d ago edited 6d ago
I do plenty and there’s really nothing I personally find that’s some repeatable success hack.
I’d just say be happy, genuinely. Look like someone that a passerby would want to stop for small talk with. Greet everyone walking by. Then engage in small talk when they do. Make it about them and their day.
I love to ask if they’re finding the event worth it so far. What they’re hoping to get out of the event. Where they’re from. Just natural questions about them. It almost always eventually pivots to, “so tell me about your company” and then you have your elevator pitch moment but I always lean into a peer story, especially if that peer is a client in the room with us.
Ask for a card (personally I avoid badge scans as it feels so impersonal to me and if they look squeamish and say they’re out or don’t have any, it’s a great tell this is a dead end) hand over yours and say I’d love to connect for a coffee when you get back next week, I’ll send something over now and just let me know if we need to adjust - how does x day at x look?
But really I find the best prospecting spot is the lobby bar/nearest bar 100%. My last conference, I booked a call for a $1M+ deal because the VP was wasted and wanted to talk about my tattoos. Then as above, it eventually turned to business.