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.

IBBA conference follow up works best inside 48 hours. Start with the brokers who named a live listing, a buyer, or a co broker split, then the peers who offered referrals, then everyone else on a 30 day touch.

It is Sunday night at the hotel. You have a stack of cards from the receptions, a few half finished notes in your phone, and a vague memory that the broker from Texas said something about a manufacturing listing that fits one of your buyers. You are not sure which card is hers.

That is the IBBA problem in one sentence. The room is full of people who do exactly what you do, so every conversation sounds like the last one.

I run matchmaking for two communities, and I have made over 1,000 introductions. Most of my attention goes to what happens after a room empties. Here is how I would run this one.

What makes the IBBA room different

The IBBA is a non profit association for people and firms in business brokerage, and it awards the CBI and MCBI designations. Its annual conference is a broker crowd first. According to the official 2027 conference page, the next one runs May 21 to 23, 2027 at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, with workshops on sales, marketing and technology, optional courses on financial, legal and niche topics, networking receptions, an exhibitor floor called The Marketplace, and recognition for Outstanding Producers. Check the official page for the full agenda before you book.

That format shapes your follow up in three ways.

1. Your peers are your deal partners. At a buyer conference you meet capital. At IBBA you mostly meet other brokers. The value is in co broker splits, referrals for deals outside your niche or territory, and buyers another broker holds that fit your listing.
2. The receptions are where the real conversations happen. Workshops give you a topic. The receptions are where someone says “I have a buyer for that.”
3. The Marketplace is full of people who want to follow up with you. If you are a buyer or a lender in the room, you are on the other side of that table, and the brokers you met are the ones you need to stay in front of.

Before Orlando: who to research and who to book

What I tell people before any event: do not walk in with a target list of 50. Walk in with ten names and a reason for each.

• Brokers in your niche in other markets. If you sell dental practices or HVAC companies, find who does the same thing three states away. You do not compete, so they make the best referral partners.
• Brokers in your market outside your niche. They get calls for deals they do not want. You want to be the name they pass it to.
• The two or three vendors you are actually evaluating. Valuation, data rooms, buyer databases. Book a time at their booth so you are not wandering.
• If you are a buyer or lender: the brokers who list in your target industry and deal size. Ask for 10 minutes at a reception, not a meeting. Brokers at their own conference are there to see peers.

Write one line next to each name about why. “Sells franchise resales in Ohio, might have buyers for my Midwest listing.” That line is your follow up later.

In the room: capture in 10 seconds

The conversation ends. Someone else walks up. You have about ten seconds before it is gone.

Capture three things: the name, the one specific thing they said, and what you promised. “Dana, Texas, manufacturing listing around 2M EBITDA, I said I would send my buyer profile.” That is the whole note.

Do it standing in the room, not at dinner. By dinner you have had six more conversations and two drinks. When I was fundraising, I logged the personal details after every call, and that habit did more than any pitch. For the full method, see how to remember everyone you meet at a conference.

The 48 hours after: who first

Sort by what is live. A broker with a listing that matches your buyer is a deal with a clock on it. A friendly peer from your chapter can wait until next week. The general framework is in who to follow up with first after a conference. For an IBBA crowd, I would run the order like this.

1. Anyone who named a specific listing or buyer. This is the deal. Reply first.

Dana, great meeting you at the reception Saturday. You mentioned the Texas manufacturing listing. I have a buyer looking at exactly that size. Can I send his profile today?

2. Co broker and referral conversations. Over a year, these are worth more than any single listing.

Mike, enjoyed comparing notes on HVAC deals in Orlando. If you get a seller in Florida, I would love to co broker it. Same goes the other way for Ohio.

3. Peers who helped you. Someone shared their buyer intake process or a workshop takeaway. Thank them with something specific.

Priya, your point about screening buyers before the NDA stuck with me. Tried it Monday already. Thank you. Coffee next time you are in Atlanta?

4. If you are a buyer or lender: every broker who gave you real time.

Tom, thanks for walking me through how you pre qualify buyers. I am looking at service businesses, 1 to 3M EBITDA, Southeast. Keep me in mind when one comes in?

Each one is under 40 words, names one real thing, and asks for one small next step. More examples live in follow up text after a conference.

30 days after: where IBBA relationships actually pay

The first text gets you remembered for a week. The second touch, a month later, is the one that makes you the broker they call.

At day 30, go back through the list and send something with a reason:

• A listing that fits their buyer, or a buyer that fits their listing.
• A note when their deal closes, if you saw it.
• An introduction to another broker or advisor they mentioned wanting to meet. Track those, because your network has a balance sheet.

This is the part I watch most closely, because introductions are most of what I do. A promised intro that slips costs more than one you never offered.

The brokers who get referrals from IBBA in August are the ones who touched people in June. Your buyer list works the same way. The listing goes to whoever was recent when it landed.

The system that does this for you

I built FRONT OF MIND because I watched people meet the right person, have a real conversation, then disappear for months. It opens on your 10 minutes for today. After the conference, each person you met shows up with one line on why today: you met at IBBA three days ago and never followed up, they posted about a new listing, a follow up is due. Each one comes with a drafted text, 40 words max, and nothing sends without your tap. It learns from your edits.

In the room, say a name and a sentence out loud, snap a business card or badge, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event. Later, ask Liala “who do I know that brokers manufacturing deals in Texas” and get the right people with why. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them, and you can export or delete anytime.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who from the conference comes up first.

See how it works