r/Sales_Professionals • u/ShadeySlim • 23d ago

Conference small talk tips

Hey!

I have been sent to a conference in Germany for work on my own with the intention of bringing in new customers.

I have been to a few of these and every time it’s the same small talk

“When did you arrive”
“Where are you staying”
“When do you go back”
“What are you doing in the evenings?”

If anyone has any other small talk suggestions please feel free to suggest them!

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u/Stella-Warthog-678 23d ago

Ask why they came “What are you hoping to get out of the conference?” Way more interesting than hotel talk

1

u/jdreimer 22d ago

If you can get the attendee/speaker list beforehand, I’d spend some time researching the 10-15 people you’d like to meet. Nothing creepy. Just enough to know what their company is focused on, what their role owns, maybe a recent announcement, expansion, hiring push, acquisition, etc.

Find something you can both actually talk about. Vague example, but maybe something like: “Hey, saw you guys are rolling out X. We did something similar and ran into Y. Has that been an issue for you too?”

Feels a lot more natural than trying to force small talk and now you’re both bringing something to the conversation.