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Are you a B2B business owner or leader who attends conferences and networking events, but struggles to translate those opportunities into meaningful connections and qualified referrals? Do you wish you could genuinely expand your professional network without feeling transactional or overwhelmed?
Welcome to Mastering Conference Networking, hosted by Catherine Brown, founder of the Good Humans Growth Network. Catherine, an accomplished entrepreneur, community facilitator, and author of How Good Humans Sell™, is here to transform the way you approach in-person events.
Move beyond collecting business cards and discover how to truly engage, create reciprocal value, and make your time at any business event incredibly productive. If you're ready to master the art of strategic networking and elevate your business development through genuine human connection, this podcast is for you.
Kelly_Sjol
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[00:00:00]
Catherine Brown: Welcome back. Please meet my friend Kelly Sjol. In this series, we are interviewing business owners who run their own sales as well as business development leaders who talk about how to make the most of the conferences they attend. Kelly, would you introduce yourself to our audience so that they understand a little bit about.
[00:01:00] Who you are and therefore what kinds of events you tend to go to.
Kelly's Background and Role
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Kelly Sjol: Yes, absolutely. So, hi, I'm Kelly Shoal and I am a fractional CMO. I work with B2B Tech founders. So these would be enterprise SaaS and tech founders that are looking to get to that next stage of growth. But they've got a very complex solution and they're having a hard time um, connecting with their buyers.
So we come up with compelling stories that. Move them into that position of that category leader.
Types of Events Attended
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Kelly Sjol: So as a fractional leader I do attend a lot of events. Networking is a big part of what I do. I do tend to attend networking events, but I'm also being very strategic about the types of events that I'm, I'm attending.
like industry events, but also not simply just networking, but opportunities to really learn from and grow. Being in the room with leaders, experts people who kind of do similar things to [00:02:00] what I do or work with a similar client to me.
Catherine Brown: Kelly, when you're saying that my connector brain is thinking, that mean. Other consultants who are positioned to refer business and then that persona you're selling to that would also be tech conferences or what are examples of some of the kinds of things, not just events in the Good Humans Growth Network.
I'm, I'm, I'm not fishing just for that, but we want people to, we want people to think about these lessons that we're talking about, how broadly they apply to different kinds of events.
Kelly Sjol: Yes, yes.
Importance of Industry Events
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Kelly Sjol: So I do want to attend industry events. So these would be events where my target, where my client, prospective client is going to be in the room. So this might be a trade show. And that's the important distinction is that it is an event that's put on for the industry, not the industry that I work in, but the one that my clients are, are in, because a big part of working in tech and the value that I bring is [00:03:00] domain expertise. So I come in already having a really good understanding of the industry, of the challenges of the language that you speak to one another and most often I'm gonna be the only marketer in the room. we have a lot of conversations about why we. Dislike marketing, which is not gonna happen in an event that has a lot of other marketers in the room. So yeah, I like to be at industry events. And then on the flip side of that, my business development hat I'm looking to be in the room with, yes, other leaders, other entrepreneurs, fractional leaders other consultants who work with my target client ideally and are in a different functional area from me.
Distinguishing Between Referral Partners and Buyers
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Catherine Brown: Thank you so much for the distinctions that you made there. I think that although some of our listeners, industry they sell to might be different than yours, what I want our friends in the audience to hear is that we always have a couple of different pipelines that we're working on. [00:04:00] We're working on who do we want to know, who is perfectly positioned as a trusted advisor, may be a service provider or product company that sells to the same company that you wanna sell to.
They are positioned to literally just. Open the door and say, you should work with my friend Kelly. And they do, and people close that business relatively easily because it's just all teed up with this trusted source. Then we have where we go and how we position a value proposition to potential buyers.
So we have that referer. Pipeline and that buyer pipeline. I think what happens that makes events less successful is when people don't understand what to expect about who's gonna be in the room, and then they don't prepare accordingly.
Kelly Sjol: Yes, yes. No, you're right. That's so important just to obviously have very clear intentions and clear goals going into every event, and that's gonna shift whether it's gonna be with your prospect, or your potential partner.
Preparation for Different Types of Events
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Catherine Brown: So Kelly, talking about [00:05:00] preparation, can you think of how would the preparation be different when you think about your marketing resources you take, the way you introduce yourself, any kind of prep that might fall in that pre-conference category? Is the prep the same if you're going to an event where you expect to mostly have future referral partners versus the buyers?
Is it the same? Is it different? What do you see there?
Kelly Sjol: Oh, it's very, very different different value propositions for both. Obviously your value proposition to your prospects is going to be around the specific problem that you solve, the expertise that you deliver that's going to meet their challenges and be very resonant to them. But when you're attending an event with your potential partners you also have to have a value proposition that really centers around making it stupid easy for them to refer you because everyone's busy, they're all trying to run their own business.
So the idea here is to really a very simple [00:06:00] way of explaining, of presenting to people. What it is you do, who it is you serve, who it is you don't serve. And you know how, again, to take that next step so that ideally you're getting referrals at the event if not immediately after. So very different approaches depending on event it is.
And it requires some intention on your part and a lot of preparation to make sure that you have the language exactly right.
Creating a Simple Value Proposition
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Catherine Brown: Kelly, I think that phrase stupid easy is wonderful and funny. And one of the things that I found from my sales training days is that people think they have a singular value proposition. So I like that you highlighted. No, there's a different value proposition depending on whether I'm talking about. A referral partner or I'm talking about a buyer, and so a person ends up actually having multiple value propositions and they don't always realize when they're new to selling that that's going [00:07:00] to be the case.
So could you give an example of, based on your role as a fractional CMO, who is a good type of referral partner for you, and what does a quote, stupid easy value prop for them sound like?
Kelly Sjol: Absolutely. So, you know, in terms of the value, what I lead with it is going to be the same for my perspective client versus a respective referral partner. 'cause it needs to be very clear what it is I do. You know, both of those parties really need to understand that. But I think where the stupid easy comes in is like, basically.
Effective Referral Strategies
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Kelly Sjol: Understanding where they are positioned, who they work with on a regular basis, really having a good, solid understanding of what they do day to day so that you can insert yourself in so that they can understand where you fit inside of their world versus just talking about your own world. And them scrambling to try to figure out where they fit into it.
know, they're busy, they're [00:08:00] running a business. They've got clients they're running up against challenges every day to try to get everything done. And so making it stupid easy is all about making it so easy for them to refer you by being clear, you know, what is the situation in which you would refer me?
What is the exact thing that your client says that should trigger you to say, talk to Kelly. Using actual words because I realize that when I do that, that's when the light bulb turns on. Oh, I just heard that the other day from someone. Yes. The next time you hear your client say that, then you know, to tell them to talk to Kelly.
And in that case, that's all they've done. They've just said, talk to Kelly. They don't need to do anything else beyond that. That's all they need to say.
Catherine Brown: I love that example because you can hear that we have a very experienced marketer on the line because what she's saying is. She's saying, by being more specific, you're helping them know you. And I wanna just give a testimony and [00:09:00] say that my own experience is that when I give those words at first, in the back of my brain, I'm thinking, oh no, I mean I can do much more than this.
And what if they don't hear the phrase exactly like that? What if it Doesn't sound like that. But the truth is that you're just looking for that first opportunity together that builds trust. So you have a shared client, and then what happens is they become so much better at thinking of you, but in the beginning, you're kind of fighting for space in their brain because that referral partner has their own life and their own busyness.
So I can give an example from my side. When I was full-time sales training, I was looking for marketing agencies that built websites that book people to the sales rep's calendar. And I started to get a lot of traction when I said. When you've finished this website and you get close to the end and the owner or the VP of sales or the CRO, if they make a joke and they say, well, I sure hope my rep does a good job after we built this big website, [00:10:00] they better not mess up the call.
'cause people say things like that, like behind the scenes. If they say that to you, marketing partner, then you wanna say, does that happen? Then you ask and then you say, oh, I know someone who can help with that. that specificity is a gift to that potential referral partner.
Because even if they have a heart to help, they don't know what to do.
Kelly Sjol: Yeah. It's recognizing not that you need to dumb down what you do or dumb down the story because they can't understand it, or it's, I mean, they better be able to understand it. It better be so clear that you know that their fifth grader can understand it. What you're doing is, yeah, you're inserting yourself into their, what you understand to be their very, very busy day.
And so however you can do that, and that's brilliant. That's such a brilliant example of the role playing of the, because that gets inside of their day to day and that's gonna be the trigger. That story coming up is gonna be the trigger for them to just say those words. Well, you [00:11:00] should talk to my friend.
Catherine Brown: Exactly.
Conference Preparation Tips
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Catherine Brown: So one of the major takeaways here then would be part of your conference prep if you know you're gonna have potential referral partners there is to be thinking about what are examples of what their client might say. That is the clue to think of me
Kelly Sjol: Mm-hmm.
Catherine Brown: and literally write those out.
Practice saying those practice in front of mirror, practice on your dog, practice on your partner. You know, where you say, this is how I might explain that, because feels a little bit awkward if you've never done it. We're telling you it's magic because it gives them something to hold onto as opposed to just your job title, which they might be too nervous to admit that they don't actually know what it means completely.
Kelly Sjol: Yes, yes. And believe it or not, they're not going to consume their days thinking about what's the next, next chance that I can refer Catherine like. So [00:12:00] yeah, that's, it's all about making it stupid easy and using those talk triggers. It just. Triggers in your mind, like, oh, okay, you don't even have to listen for it.
You just all of a sudden hear it. And that triggers that thought in your head. Oh yeah, this is what I was told. This is what Catherine told me. I was gonna hear from my client and I did. So that means, yeah, this is a perfect time for them to talk with her.
Catherine Brown: And it means she knows what she's talking about because it keeps happening. Right? So she keeps, she told me, watch for this. 'cause it keeps happening. I love that. Let's stay on the theme of what else to do to get ready to go. So what do you like to bring with you and what other prep helps you make the most of any event that you do?
Kelly Sjol: Oh, that's such a good question. So I I actually, and I brought this to grow in February, the Grow Conference in February, I actually prepared a three by five card. So in addition to my business cards, I gave out a three by five card did all of the things that we're talking about. So it laid out my [00:13:00] value proposition very clearly.
It talked about who do I like to work with. For fun you could also throw in there who you. Don't like to work with or who you aren't a fit for. I previewed kind of what my core engagement is. Gave an idea of what it costs to work with me and what that first engagement looks like. And then on the other side of the card I talked about, you know, who's a good referral partner for me.
And then just talked about those triggers that we just said. So, you know, the. If you hear this, and I just basically talked about the situation that, you know, my founder might be in if it's, if they're a good fit to work with me some of the things that they are struggling with, so I didn't use actual, things they might say I just used situations they might be dealing with where it's a good time to.
Invite me in and I actually passed those cards out. So I didn't, it wasn't the kind of thing where I've been talking to you for two seconds and now you're gonna get my referral card. These only went to, you know, we've kind of advanced in the conversation. We've gotten to that point [00:14:00] where we're talking about those things.
I was able to pull that card out and hand that to them, and I got. Just incredible responses to that. I also had a QR code on there for people to scan to connect with me directly on LinkedIn, so made it really, really easy. We're not messing with our phones to try to connect with on LinkedIn, but I've handed them a card with a QR code already on it and they, they're able to do that um, there.
So, yeah.
Catherine Brown: amazing. I love that. So you just printed this up yourself, made it in Canvas, something like this. Right.
Kelly Sjol: Yeah, I printed it. Yeah, I put it on card stock.
Catherine Brown: Yeah, exactly. Amazing. Amazing. So I was hoping you'd say a QR code. I was thinking it could take you to LinkedIn. Another thing that would be kind of cool with that, just while we're brainstorming, is that you could, if you had an arrow or something that pointed and said, this QR code will take you to a place where you could lift this.
Kelly Sjol: Yep.
Catherine Brown: Or lift this copy. Right. Anything we can do, we know that inside the Good Humans Growth Network, you'll see [00:15:00] people do all kinds of things. But I know examples of people who have a hidden page that's just for referrers.
Kelly Sjol: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Catherine Brown: actually allowed to share that or they have some of the referral groups we have, part of the member directory will be that it takes you to.
Again, pieces where you can lift, where like, make it easy for me to introduce someone else. How would you like to be positioned so that we do anything we can to reduce the friction of making it hard to introduce me?
Kelly Sjol: Yes. I'm taking notes. Those are great ideas.
Catherine Brown: Yeah. I love it. I've, I've even seen QR codes on the business card to, on the back business card to leave it actually to a video or to one of your favorite pieces of content. It might be something that would normally sit under the featured section on LinkedIn. Something
Kelly Sjol: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Catherine Brown: cool. Cool. Great. Well, let's, let's cover, I think we have time for one more.
Engaging Conversations at Events
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Catherine Brown: Let's cover what [00:16:00] do we do at the event that you think is a best practice that maybe not everybody knows? Right. We have to, we're using a lot of energy. We're trying to work a room. Not everybody listening to this is an extroverted person. This might be particularly onerous for some. What would you say that's worked that's made you particularly successful during an event?
Kelly Sjol: Yeah, I think it's being prepared with one question that's gonna be a little bit disruptive that's going to really zone in on something really unique about that person. It's not the standard question that they're used to being asked. know, I've encountered a lot of people who've done this really, really well.
it's that question that gets to the heart of, you know, what? What's something interesting that you've, worked on lately? Or what's a challenge that you face this week? Like, being very specific with that first question? Not leading with hi, what you do. know, where are you from?
[00:17:00] Those, those standard, you, you know, you, you can get to that, but when you ask, when you open with a question that really. Activates that different part of their brain all of a sudden they're gonna be so much more engaged with you from the beginning and you can advance the conversation so much faster.
So some, and there's, you know, there's all sorts of ways you can take it or it's completely up to you what you wanna do. But for me, I found that something along those lines of, what's something that has challenged you lately or what's the most interesting thing you're working on right now with a client?
Or, you know, you could go in a completely different direction and make it, you know, just again, if, in the moment, let's say you forget what's, I forgot my question. You know, it could be something like, what are you doing here? I, I mean, I've asked that, you know, and in times when I've just had to think of something really quick, it's like, what brought you here?
Why are you here? I've had people take that the wrong way and just like, be aware of this and just like, what do you mean? Do you think I'm not supposed to be here? But I feel like that's probably more their problem than mine. Um. [00:18:00] But it's like that, all of a sudden they get defensive like, well, I have every right to be here, you know?
But it's just, it's something that's a little bit disruptive. It just gets them to, again, I don't understand the psychology behind it, but it does activate a different place in the brain where now all of a sudden they're engaged. They're thinking about. That question Well. And now all of a sudden they're a whole lot more interested in talking to you.
So it's, it's just kind of being comfortable with, with your opening question and making it, just making it different.
Catherine Brown: I like that. I'll wrap up with this. I think that. When you can ask a question that could be answered from a personal or a professional standpoint, what I have found too is that if there are people in the room who are less experienced, let's say that they had a long career in corporate, but they've retired and they're fairly new entrepreneurs they're nervous about that.
doesn't matter that they know their domain brilliantly, but they're just nervous about their new identity. I think what you modeled are great examples [00:19:00] of that. And also things like what's a project you're working on right now that you're excited about? Or what's a big date coming up for you?
They can take it either way. Like some might say, well, I have a kid getting married. I say it's about to be, it's about to be my wedding anniversary.
Kelly Sjol: Yeah.
Catherine Brown: can volunteer what they want. And again, you're starting into a little bit deeper level of conversation. It's atypical from the tell me about yourself, which is a welcome break, and you're diving into something that puts them at ease.
So
Kelly Sjol: Mm-hmm.
Catherine Brown: that pattern interrupt is interesting and I, I like to remember, I don't always remember, but I like when I remember. To come up with something that has a lot of paths that can take it down because they'll choose what makes them feel better, and then we're having a connection because they're literally more relaxed.
Kelly Sjol: Yes. Yes. So.
Catherine Brown: It's cool. Thank you so much. Thanks for these pro tips and thank you for being such a key member [00:20:00] of the network, all the different ways you contribute, and I'm grateful for you and I appreciate getting to talk to you today. Thank you.