When it comes to summertime, we tend to think of it as a “work-free zone.” Sure, we show up, but in the back of our minds, we expect the summer slump—prospects on vacation, budgets firmly fixed from the January prior, decreased traffic, and, ultimately, not too much going on. And yeah, sure, we could accept that. Or we could use it to our advantage.
After all, if everyone expects to work less, then we have less competition. And less competition means more opportunity, right? Right.
Unfortunately, when everyone else has vacation brain, the prospecting tactics utilized during the rest of the year tend to fall a bit short. Emails are deleted, contact management drill is sidetracked, demos are ignored, and social tends to be a wasteland of bot-likes and Inc. articles (no offense, Inc.). So rather than using our go-tos to bring people from us, we take a page from advertising—we meet them where they are.
At those summer meetups and conferences.
After all, we’re all a bit more social in the summer. We like to get out. And if we can hit up AMPlify (June 15th in Boston, MA) or MozCon 2017 (July 17-19 in Seattle, WA), or Affiliate Summit East 2017 Conference and Tradeshow (July 30-August 1 in New York), we do it. Even local meetups are well attended in the summer because, frankly, people want something to do. They want to connect. They want to have drinks. And that’s where you win.
How?
A little old-fashioned schmoozing.
Use the trickle-in/trickle-out time well
Showing up early and staying late creates an interesting advantage for you. You’re able to catch people before they’ve met up with people they know, and you may even catch an event organizer or two looking to chat.
Use the unstructured-time wisely
You can use the restroom when you’re at home. Instead of wasting the short breaks between sessions, use them to warm up the people around you.
Connect with unfamiliar faces
This may seem like a no-brainer, but your goal here is to connect with people you aren’t already connected to. Spend time meeting new people, regardless of whether you’ve identified them as plausible targets. You never know who you’ll meet.
Exchange Business Cards
It’s important to exchange business cards and instantly feed the contact information right into your devices for timely follow-up. And CircleBack mobile app does just that. With its simple business card scanning api, and near real-time contact updating, you can easily keep in touch with your important contacts.
And remember—these people are still in the midst of what they consider to be the summer slump. Don’t come at them with end-of-Q3 intensity. Instead, focus on building the relationship and earning trust, and you’ll set yourself up for solid wins down the line.
Happy networking!