The Return of Trade Show and Human-to-Human Interaction | Yiannis Gavrielides - 2011

We’re tapping into a Renaissance era in sales. AI is changing how sellers operate, but human connection is still what builds trust and closes deals. My guest, Yiannis Gavrielides, Co-founder and CEO of Covve, shares how trade shows remain one of the strongest ways to build real relationships in a digital-first world.

Meet Yiannis Gavrielides

• Yiannis Gavrielides is the co-founder and CEO of Covve, a lead capture and relationship intelligence platform helping sales teams and professionals turn every meeting into a real pipeline.
• Covve is used by over 2 million people across 130+ countries, from solo founders to global companies like Delta and Prudential.
• A serial founder across technology, media, and hospitality, Yiannis built Covve on one core belief: in an AI-first world where emails, decks, and even calls can be automated, trust is still the one thing technology cannot replace.
• Before Covve, he worked in consulting and banking in London. Today, he focuses on helping sales teams turn human connection into their most defensible competitive advantage.

Basics of Building Trust in Sales

• We’re living in an era where everything is being automated, from emails to scheduling to large parts of the sales process.
• But even in a digital-first world, very few people can walk into a room and naturally connect with everyone by the end of an event. Shout out to my good friend Jared for being able to do this.
• Connection is everything in sales. Instead of focusing on selling right away, the real shift is learning how to stay curious about people.
• Yiannis shares insights from anthropologist Professor Robin Dunbar. When we meet someone new, we immediately start looking for shared signals.
• Things like accent, humor, interests, or communication style. These small cues help us decide, often subconsciously, whether a connection is forming. That first layer of recognition is what builds trust.

Re-Booking Meetings for Success

• Successful trade show follow-up starts before the event even happens. The key is identifying the right people you want to meet and setting meetings in advance whenever possible.
• Use LinkedIn and AI tools to research key attendees so you can connect over shared industry insights instead of leading with a sales pitch.
• The goal is simple. Build relationships first, and let business conversations follow naturally.

Finding the Right Trade Shows & Preparation

• Start by clearly defining your ideal customer profile so you know exactly who you are targeting, including companies, roles, and regions.
• From there, use tools like 10times and Evensi, along with AI, to research and organize trade shows. This helps you evaluate events based on timing, size, and relevance to your audience.
• Bigger is not always better. The most effective events are the ones where your ideal buyers are actually present in meaningful numbers.
• The real advantage comes from preparation. The most successful sellers are already identifying attendees and starting conversations before they ever arrive at the show.

“When we show up as human and treat the other person like a human being with curiosity and genuine interest, we start finding what we have in common. That’s what builds trust, and that trust can then grow into something more meaningful and useful.” — Yiannis Gavrielides

Resources

• Get 20% off Covve business plans with code TSE26
• The Networker: free newsletter and podcast on relationship building
• Connect with Yiannis Gavrielides on LinkedIn.
• Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.
• Step up your sales game with Sales Mastermind. Get accountability, stay motivated, and tackle the blockers keeping you from hitting your goals.
• Visit Blue Mango Studios for help in creating podcast production content.

Sponsorship Offers

1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

1. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

1. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.