The Conference Playbook: How Education Companies Get Conferences Wrong (And How to Fix It)

Breaking the Grade

Does this sound familiar?
You just spent thousands of dollars flying to ANOTHER education conference, setting up a booth, shaking hands with decision-makers. You collected a stack of business cards, had great conversations, and walked away thinking, this was a success.

Two weeks later? It was the kiss of death for their conference strategy—no follow-ups turning into deals, no real sales pipeline, just a stack of business cards from people who seemed interested but have since disappeared.

Here’s the truth: Business cards aren’t contracts.

Education companies do this unsuccessfully for a long time. They go to education conferences expecting immediate ROI, but conferences don’t work that way. They’re a slow burn strategy.

💡 Slow burn strategies are the things businesses know they need to do, but don’t execute well. Like LinkedIn engagement, email outreach, or running a sales pipeline—conferences fall into the same category. They don’t deliver overnight wins, but they are the foundation for building long-term credibility, trust, and business relationships that actually close later.

The companies that win at conferences don’t just show up hoping to make deals. They go in knowing that this is the start of a conversation, not the end of a sale.

That’s exactly what we’re breaking down in this special Coach’s Corner episode, recorded after my time at IFE in Monterrey and ERDI in Palm Springs.

🎙️ Tune in to Hear:
🔥 How education businesses can strategically choose the right conferences.
🔥 Why networking at conferences is about listening, not selling.
🔥 How follow-up and engagement after the event determine ROI.
🔥 Why smaller, targeted conferences are often better than big, crowded ones.
🔥 How clarity in your messaging and ideal client makes conferences more valuable.

💡 If you just listen, people will open up to you. The companies that win at conferences aren’t the ones pushing their product the hardest. They’re the ones who go in with a plan, focus on real conversations, and build relationships that turn into future deals.

#EdSales #LeadGeneration #EducationBusiness #ConferenceStrategy #BreakingTheGrade

Chapters

1. Welcome to Breaking the Grade (00:00:00)

2. The Power of Conferences in Education Sales (00:02:43)

3. The Conference Trap: Why Most Companies Get It Wrong (00:04:07)

4. Are You Even at the Right Conference? (00:08:10)

5. The Wrong Approach: From Conference to Contract? Think Again. (00:09:21)

6. Why Small Conferences Often Deliver Bigger Results (00:11:29)

7. Post-Conference Follow-Up: Turning Conversations into Business (00:15:14)

8. Tracking Results: How to Measure If a Conference Was Worth It (00:17:36)

9. The Unexpected Panel Opportunity & Lessons from IFE (00:19:02)

10. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at Conferences (00:22:12)

11. The One Mindset Shift That Will Make Every Conference Worth It (00:24:46)