By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

A follow up text after a conference usually beats an email because it reads like the conversation you just had, not like the inbox they are already behind on. Keep it under 40 words, name one real detail, and ask one easy question.

It is Friday afternoon in the airport. You have a pocket full of badges and a phone full of new numbers from three days of panels, dinners and hallway conversations. The broker you met at the coffee station typed his cell into your phone himself. Email him and you join every other buyer in the pile he skims on Monday. Text him and you may be the only buyer who did.

Why I tell people to text

It matches the relationship. The best conversations at a deal conference happen at the bar, over dinner, in a hallway between sessions. A text keeps that tone. An email with a subject line and a signature block turns a real conversation back into a business card.

It is where intermediaries actually work. Brokers and bankers live on their phones between owner meetings. A text gets read in the cab. An email waits until they clear their inbox, next to every other buyer who wrote.

It forces you to be short. You cannot write five paragraphs in a text without feeling ridiculous. That limit is a gift. The short note with one specific detail is the one that gets a reply.

One rule underneath all of it: text people who gave you their cell. A number you found on a website is not an invitation.

When email is still the right call

Use email when:

• They only gave you an email. A card with an office line and an email address is them telling you the channel.
• You are sending something to forward. Your buy box, a one page summary, a teaser request, an NDA. Brokers forward buyer profiles to owners. Nobody forwards a text.
• You are making a double opt in intro. Get the yes by text, then send the intro by email so both people have the thread. That is the order I would use. The method is in how to track introductions and referrals.
• They work somewhere formal. Some bankers and advisors at larger firms keep client communication on email. If someone steers you there, go there.

If email is the move, the follow up email templates for deal makers cover the broker with a new mandate, the banker who changed firms and the rest.

10 follow up texts after a conference

Every one is under 40 words. Swap in your own details. If you do not have a detail, that person is not ready for a text yet.

1. The broker you met in the hallway

Good meeting you by the coffee Thursday. You said you see a lot of founder owned distribution in the Southeast. That’s our sweet spot. Can I send you our one page profile?

The ask is small and moves the forwardable piece to email.

2. The broker who mentioned a deal coming to market

Thanks for the time at dinner. The specialty contractor you’re taking out in Q1 is right in our range. If you’re building a buyer list early, we’d like to be on it.

3. The owner who said they are not selling yet

Really enjoyed talking at lunch. No agenda here. You mentioned succession is on your mind for 2028. If you ever want a sounding board on what buyers look for, happy to be one.

Owners get pitched at every event. The one who did not pitch is the one they remember.

4. The investor who wants to co invest

Great meeting you at the LP breakfast. You said you like co investing on deals under $5M EBITDA. We have one in diligence now. Worth a 20 minute call next week?

5. The lender who has appetite

Good talk after the capital markets panel. You said you’re hungry for senior debt in business services this quarter. We may need a lender by January. Mind if I keep you posted?

6. The person you promised an intro

You asked who I know doing quality of earnings for deals your size. I have someone great. Still want the intro? I’ll send it by email tonight if so.

This is the one I care about most. I have made over 1,000 introductions, and the promise made in the room is the easiest one to drop. Five promises means five of these before anything else.

7. The person you promised an intro to, on the other side

Met a searcher this week buying in your exact niche who would love 15 minutes with you. Thought of you right away. OK if I connect you two?

Always ask the second person before you name them to the first.

8. A speaker you met after their session

Caught you after your session on earnouts. The point about tying payments to gross margin instead of revenue changed how I’m thinking about a deal we’re working on. Thanks for that.

No ask. Speakers get flooded with requests. Thanks with a real detail stands out.

9. The host who ran the event

Thank you for putting that room together. The dinner seating was no accident, I met two people I’ll do business with. Anyone you think I should meet before the next one?

Hosts decide who sits next to whom. I run matchmaking for two communities, so I can tell you: the question at the end is the one that gets you seated well next time.

10. The person you clicked with and have no deal with

Still laughing about the airport story from Wednesday night. Glad we met. Next time you’re in town, dinner’s on me.

Not every text needs a business reason. The people with no deal today are where next year’s deals come from.

How to send them without it turning into a chore

Send the deal related texts first: brokers with something live, investors, lenders, promised intros. Everyone else can go out by the end of the week. The full order is in who to follow up with first after a conference.

A few rules that keep texts from going wrong:

• Business hours, their time zone. A text at 11pm reads like you are still at the hotel bar.
• Say who you are if they might not have your number saved. “It’s Sam, we met at the broker dinner” as the first line.
• One text, not three in a row. If they do not reply, wait for a real reason before the next one.

If the window already closed and you are reading this two weeks later, start with forgot to follow up after a conference instead. It has the texts for two weeks, one month and three months out.

The detail you need is the one you did not write down

Every text above depends on one thing you heard in the room. The Southeast distribution. The 2028 succession. The point about gross margin. Three days and a few dozen conversations later, most of those details are gone.

When I moved to Miami, I built deep friendships faster than most people do in five years. It was not hours on the phone. After every conversation I logged what the person told me and what they were working on, then used those details in my follow ups. People felt remembered, and they kept reaching out. The texts were easy. Writing it down was the work.

How FRONT OF MIND writes the first draft

So I built the system to do the writing down. FRONT OF MIND starts in the room. Say a name and a sentence out loud, snap the card or badge, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event with the detail attached.

The next morning it opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person comes with a one line reason why today, like you met at the event 2 days ago and have not followed up, and a drafted text, 40 words max, that uses what they told you. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. The intros you promised wait under intros to make this week, with dated proof on both sides.

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