Haveo · How to follow up after meeting someone at a networking event
The follow-up email, with templates you can actually send
Send it within two days, keep it under five sentences, and put the specific thing you talked about in the first line. If the message would still make sense sent to somebody else, it is not a follow-up. Four templates below, all short on purpose.
What every version needs
Where you met, in four words. The specific thing you talked about. One clear next step, or none at all.
That is it. Length does not read as effort, it reads as a task, and a message that is a task gets postponed.
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The normal one
Subject: Good to meet you at [event]
"Hi [name] — good to meet you at [event] on Thursday. I've been thinking about what you said about [specific thing]; it hadn't occurred to me that [the point]. If you ever want to carry that on over a coffee I'd enjoy it. Either way, glad we met."
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The one with an actual ask
"Hi [name] — we spoke briefly at [event] about [specific thing]. You mentioned [the thing they offered or knew]. Would you be open to twenty minutes in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around whatever suits."
One ask, sized so the answer can be yes. "Twenty minutes" gets replies that "a chat sometime" does not.
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The late one
Do not apologize at length, and do not skip it because it has been three weeks. Name it in half a sentence and move on.
"Hi [name] — we met at [event] last month and I've been meaning to write since. You said [specific thing], which I keep coming back to. If you're open to it I'd like to hear more."
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The one where you barely spoke
"Hi [name] — we only said hello at [event], but I saw you're working on [thing]. I'm [one line about you]. Thought it was worth connecting properly."
Honest about how thin the contact was, which is better than pretending to a conversation neither of you had.
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What to do if you have no specific thing
Then you have found the real problem, and it is not the email. The detail has to be captured on the night — a name and one line, typed into your phone as you walk away.
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Rehearse it before you walk in.
Haveo builds your intro, lets you practice out loud with an AI coach, and keeps your notes one tap away in the room. Free on iPhone and iPad.
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