Stop Winging It: A Simple System for Following Up After Networking Events
By April Adams Pertuis, Founding Member of The Prosper Network
If you’re a woman entrepreneur who’s investing time, energy, and maybe even money into networking—especially online—you need a good follow-up system.
Too often, we walk away from virtual summits, Zoom mixers, or mastermind sessions with a handful of exciting new contacts and zero next steps. Those promising new connections quickly get lost in the noise of everyday business tasks. Sound familiar?
I certainly have been there. In my 10+ years as an entrepreneur, I’ve joined many communities, masterminds, online summits, in-person conferences – only to throw my hands up in exasperation because I was meeting so many great people, but my follow-up game was sloppy.
If you can relate, it’s time to tidy up your process!
Why a Follow-Up System Matters for Women in Business
Networking isn’t just about exchanging contact info—it’s about cultivating relationships. And the real magic happens after the event, when you circle back to explore how you might collaborate, refer, or even work together.
But if you rely on memory or a pile of business cards, or if you’re like me and have a bunch of names scribbled onto a notepad, you're leaving potential clients, collaborators, and referral partners on the table.
And that means you’re losing money!
A system turns those “nice to meet you” moments into booked calls, strategic alliances, and actual revenue.
My Favorite Tool: A Trello Follow-Up Tracker
I use a simple Trello board to track every new connection I make.
Full disclosure: this may not appeal to my super high-tech friends who build automations in their sleep!
However, if you are a visual learner, and you enjoy the kinesthetic process of moving people across a timeline— this works brilliantly.
Here’s what my process flow looks like:
Whether I meet someone in a Facebook group, at a retreat, or on a LinkedIn coffee chat, they go into my “New Contact” column with a quick note about where we met and why the conversation sparked something.
From there, I move them through columns like:
Follow-Up Sent
Meeting Scheduled
Hot Lead
Collaborator/Referral Partner
Not a Fit (For Now)
This visual pipeline helps me stay intentional and organized, especially when I’m nurturing dozens of relationships at once. It also ensures potential new clients or referral partners don’t fall through my cracks. You can peek at my Trello system right here.
Best Practices for Meaningful Follow-Up
Follow Up Within 48 Hours
Strike while the connection is still warm. Send a quick note reminding them who you are, where you met, and one thing you appreciated from the conversation.Offer Value
Can you introduce them to someone? Share a resource? Give a compliment? Start with service, not a sales pitch.Log the Interaction
Use my Trello board (or a CRM or spreadsheet) to track your outreach so you don’t lose momentum.Schedule a Real Conversation
Invite them to a virtual coffee or 20-minute call. You’re not selling—you’re learning where the conversation might lead.
Intentional Networking = Bigger ROI
Let’s stop treating networking like a numbers game. With a little strategy, you can build a pipeline of aligned, authentic relationships that lead to real opportunities. Your time is too valuable for half-baked systems.
I spend a dedicated amount of time (about 30 minutes) each week looking through my contacts on Trello. From there, I’m able to make very intentional reach-outs and initiate follow-up conversations that keep people moving through my ‘pipeline’. As a result, I never lack for conversations to explore or new clients to welcome aboard. And this makes the time I spend Networking worth every second.
So go ahead—fill your pipeline with interesting people. Then use a system like this to keep the conversations going and see what unfolds.
Looking for a perfect place to Network?
It would be rude of me to share all of my follow-up secrets with you if I didn’t also share my favorite places to network. At the top of my list is The Prosper Network. I’ve been a member since The Prosper Network was founded, and I’m happy to report many people I’ve added to my follow-up system have come from a Prosper Speed Networking Event. If you are not already a member, I highly recommend it. Learn more about The Prosper Network here
**Would you like a downloadable template of my Trello board to customize for your business? I created a handy resource guide that includes my Trello board system for you – grab for FREE here
April Adams Pertuis is a Storytelling and Visibility Expert who ignites women leaders to use their story to build a wildly engaged audience.
Connect with April on LinkedIn.
Learn more about April’s work at www.lightbeamers.com