Why take part in a business matchmaking event

The right question is not whether it is worth taking part in a business matchmaking event. It is what it would cost you, today, to achieve on your own what one afternoon of matchmaking delivers. The answer usually settles the doubt.

The arithmetic nobody does before buying the ticket

A matchmaking event is one where participants sit at tables, present their companies within a controlled time and change table each round, meeting a new group at every change.

At a table of 6, you talk to 5 people per round. Over 8 rounds, that is 40 conversations with company owners or decision makers, in a single afternoon.

Now compare. To schedule 40 cold commercial meetings, how many calls would you have to make? How many weeks would it take? What would it cost in your team's hours? If you work with a reasonable rate of converting a contact into a meeting, reaching 40 meetings with decision makers usually takes months. The matchmaking event delivers that in one afternoon, with the ticket as the only direct cost.

That is the whole argument. The rest is execution.

What you actually gain

• Access to whoever decides. At a matchmaking event, the person at the table

is the owner or has purchasing authority. You skip the screening that normally blocks prospecting.

• New suppliers. Half the value is on the other side of the table: you find

whoever solves your problems, often closer and cheaper than your current supplier.

• Partnerships and referrals. Companies with the same customer and a

different product are the most reliable source of recurring referral. See how to build good partnerships.

• A reading of the market. Hearing forty companies in one afternoon says

more about where your sector stands than any report.

• A brand that is remembered. Presenting to a small group several times

sticks better than speaking once to a large audience.

How to prepare

Arriving unprepared is the most common waste. Do the following:

1. Define the ask. Write in one sentence what you are looking for there. "I

am looking for distributors in the interior" works. "I am looking for opportunities" does not, because nobody knows how to help you.

2. Build the two-minute pitch. Who you are, what you do, for whom, and the

ask. Practise out loud and timed, because two minutes is less than it seems.

3. Study the list. If the organisation publishes who is coming, choose the

five priority companies and prepare a question for each.

4. Count the cards. If it is 8 rounds with tables of 6, you are going to

meet 40 people. Take 50 cards.

5. Fill in the registration properly. Supply and demand written well change

who you will sit with, because building the tables uses those fields.

Mistakes that stop the event paying off

• Selling the whole time. Whoever only sells tires the table. Asking what

the other person is looking for is what generates the referral.

• Speaking beyond your time. The clock is the same for everyone. Overrunning

takes minutes from whoever comes next, and everybody notices.

• Not writing anything down. Forty conversations become a fog in 48 hours.

Write one word on the back of each card.

• Expecting to close a deal on the day. Business starts at the event and

closes later. Whoever measures success by an order signed in the room always leaves frustrated.

• Not following up. This is the mistake that cancels every other thing you

got right. Without contact within a week, the 40 contacts become zero.

What to do in the next seven days

The event is the easy part. The follow-up is where the result appears.

• Day 1: organise the cards into three piles: possible customer, possible

supplier, possible partner.

• Days 2 and 3: send a short, personalised message to each person in the

first pile, citing something specific from the conversation.

• Days 4 and 5: propose an objective conversation to those who replied.
• Day 7: record everything in one place, so you do not repeat the same

approach at the next edition.

The detailed script is in how to strengthen relationships after the event and in are you ready to be remembered after the event.

How to choose the right event

Not every matchmaking event suits you. Before buying the ticket, ask the organisation:

• How many participants are expected and how many rounds will there be?
• What is the profile of the companies, and is there a buying anchor?
• How many minutes will each person have to speak?
• Will the participant list be published in advance?
• Is there a guarantee that you will not meet the same people again?

That last question separates a professional event from improvisation. At a well-organised event, the schedule is built with zero repetition as a hard rule, and the organizer can tell you exactly how many different people you are going to meet.

If you have got this far thinking about organising rather than attending, the route starts at business matchmaking for beginners.

Taking part in a matchmaking event is buying access and time. What you do with them is what decides the return.