How-to Practical guide

How to sort contacts after a trade show in 30 minutes

A “hot / warm / keep” method + a simple mini pipeline to act quickly.

Goal: decide fast — not build a perfect CRM

When you return from a show, your brain is tired. If you aim for a “perfect” taxonomy with fifteen labels, you’ll postpone—and tomorrow you’ll forget half the faces. This method targets a realistic compromise: in 30 minutes, move from a pile of cards to a prioritized plan.

Why only three buckets?

Decision science suggests that beyond a handful of mental buckets, judgment quality drops. “Hot / warm / keep” is enough to decide who gets a message this week; finer granularity can wait.

The 6-step timer

  1. 5 min: gather all cards/photos.
  2. 10 min: capture essentials (name, email, company).
  3. 5 min: add one context line.
  4. 5 min: sort hot/warm/keep.
  5. 3 min: choose next action (email/LinkedIn/call).
  6. 2 min: schedule reminders.

If you overrun step 2, you’re probably trying to enrich everything immediately. Defer “nice-to-have” enrichment: this window is for decisions, not full CRM records.

A context line that actually works

  • Where: “Show X — booth Y”
  • Why: “needs B2B leads”, “comparing us to [competitor]”
  • Next step: “send case study + propose 15 min”

That line fits LetsLigo and gives the AI agent enough material to draft a non-generic email.

A simple mini pipeline

  • New
  • Follow-up #1 sent
  • Follow-up #2
  • Meeting proposed
  • Meeting booked

What matters is a shared view across the team: where it’s stuck, who follows up, when.

Example: 40 cards after a two-day show

Don’t scan linearly: start with cards you marked with a star or “HOT”. Psychologically, early wins build momentum—so you don’t quit after fifteen records.

FAQ

I can’t scan everything today

Start with the hot pile. The rest can wait 48h—but hot contacts must move fast; that’s where most ROI lives.

A LetsLigo use case for you

Discover how LetsLigo addresses this need concretely.

View use case