How we got 20+ investor meetings at Sankalp/AFSIC/SOCAP. And you can too!

It's not enough to just buy a ticket and show up. Here’s our guide to help you take full advantage of every second of your time at an investor conference and every dollar you spent to get there.

So…

• You’ve read our post on Africa's top investor conferences (and how you can get in for free)

• You’ve caught up on how to best prepare for your next conference: Going to an investment conference in Africa? Read this first

• And now you want a proven strategy and end-to-end guide on setting up as many opportunities as possible for face time with the right investors (or philanthropic grant funders)

Well…

You’re in the right place.

First things first. You’ve:

1. Picked a conference to go to (see our favorites) ✅

2. Purchased your entry ticket (or got in for free) ✅

3. Booked flights, accommodation etc ✅

   1. With an extra day or two tagged on before or after the event

4. Prepped your pitch and company “SWAG” ✅

5. Registered on the conference’s networking app ✅

   1. Or asked conference organizers for a list of attendees if there isn’t an app

6. Optimized your profile page ✅

7. Gotten a “lay of the land” of the conference app ✅

Now you’re ready to get to digital networking 📲

Quick tip…

If you truly want to maximize your conference ROI, and follow our guide below effectively, you’ll want someone relatively tech savvy and well-organized by your side (digitally)

• 3 weeks or more before the conference

• During the entire event

• 1 week or more after the conference concludes

If you don’t have someone on your team with the skills and capacity to work alongside you to prep for your conference and help you schedule 20+ qualified meetings, get in touch with daniel@thegrant.co.

While our focus is on funder leads, the same concepts apply to trade shows, sales conferences, and more.

Now let’s get started. 🚀🚀

The Conference App 📱

You’re going to want to take the entire audience of those at the conference (whether speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, or just regular old attendees) from the app into a spreadsheet.

For premium subscribers, we’ll show you how to easily turn A into B w/ AI 👇

Because manually going through the profiles of 500+ attendees to decide if they are qualified targets for you doesn’t make a lot of sense ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Research the potential investors or other leads that you have identified 🧐

• No use chasing after someone for a meeting if there isn’t (and will never be) a fit via sector, geography, ticket size, or otherwise

• The easiest thing to do is compare contacts/orgs to your CRM

• A list of 2000+ funders in Africa for premium subscribers below 👇

Get to digital networking! Send those meeting requests!📆

• Follow LINCUP

• Message your targets in the APP to request a meeting.

  • Be short and succinct; make sure your ask is clear.

• Is your lead not responding to you in the app? Check in with them in other platforms (not everyone will use the app until the day of the conference).

  • Need help finding email addresses?

  • Plug-and-Play Email, LinkedIn, and Whatsapp templates for premium subscribers below 👇

• Tell social media and your network that you’re attending!

• Use your spreadsheet and/or your CRM to keep track of your outreach

  • Some people will respond and schedule meetings with you within the app, some won’t use the app effectively and will interact with you over LinkedIn or Email; you should speak to someone where they like speaking with you

  • A recommended strategy for this is detailed in full for premium subscribers below 👇

• Plan your day(s) and meetings well

  • You’ll likely have to chase people around and you want to leave some time for spontaneous connections

  • Make sure you can pitch (and ask the right questions) in a 25 minute window

  • Full guide to an in-person pitch for premium subscribers below 👇

• Don’t schedule more than four 30 minute meetings in a row

  • You’ll want the down time to take notes, plan follow ups, reschedule, etc

  • Try to leave official “networking breaks” and “lunch hours” off of your meeting times to encourage spontaneous connections

  • Help reduce the chances of no shows to your meetings by…. (for premium subscribers below 👇)

• Find a place to “camp out” for your meetings

  • But be willing to move around if your lead requests you come to them

  • If you have a booth, invite people to your booth

  • Whether or not there’s a specific area reserved for networking, make sure you pick a location/table next to something noticeable (fish tank, bar, stairwell) so your leads can find you easily

  • Update your leads once you’ve locked in a meeting location

• End your meetings with actionable follow up

  • “I’ll send you XYZ documents next week and we’ll go from there."

  • “Let’s plan a follow up call next week; How’s Thursday at 11?”

  • “So looks like we’re not a good fit, but thanks for your offer to introduce me and my company to XYZ, can I check in with you the week after next as a reminder in case I don’t see your intro email?”

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• BONUS✨: Take advantage of being in a new city to find other relevant leads who may not be attending the conference

  • Follow the same approach (below) and leverage our post on outbound sales for ways to find relevant contacts, get valid email addresses, and send intros and follow ups in order to meet with people the day before or after the conference

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Register as a premium subscriber (here’s a link for a free trial) to see exactly how to set yourself with 20+ qualified meetings.

It usually takes CEOs 40+ hours to do all the work needed. If you find that you and your team just don’t have the tech, time, or project management skills to do it, feel free to email daniel@thegrant.co to have us set meetings up for you and be your digital conference buddy. 💪

“I feel like I was the busiest person at AFSIC. I think it was great for others to see that there was always someone speaking to me at my booth.”
(ED of Pan African Agri-Fund)

"Of the 24 meetings you set up for us at GIIN, only 2 weren’t really a good fit. Thank you.”
(Founder/CEO of East African FinTech)

“Going to the Africa Tech Summit was a last minute decision for me. Your work helped me justify the cost to my board.”
(Founder/CEO of B2B service provider, Zimbabwe)

👇 Premium subscribers and Grant & Co clients 👇

• Step-by-step guide with blueprints, timelines, and “cheat codes”

• Getting attendee data in an excel format (with the help of AI)

• Grouping attendees by the org they represent

• Qualifying leads using AI and your CRM

• Creating a SMART outreach strategy

• In-app, email, & LinkedIn templates

• Effectively tracking your outreach

• Booking 20+ qualified meetings

• Preventing No Shows

• Follow up plans