Question

Topic: Strategy

What Went Wrong With My Seminars?

Posted by Anonymous on 5/11/2007 at 10:26 AM ET 250 Points
Hello all! Had a really lousy turnout to two seminars and I just don't know what went wrong.

I purchased a targeted list from inside the company (hard to find company-approved outside list providers), sent nice invitations 3 weeks in advance, advertised (this was a first, so it was a trial - no response at all - no surprise), used telemarketers to call all the 2200 invitees, followed up with confirmation letters (included date, time and # of spaces reserved for them), and called the day of to remind them.

We had a total of 44 people reserve spots. After the letters, we had about 4 call back to cancel, most due to date conflicts, very expected, life happens. Called to remind them and actually reached about 2, they cancelled due to last minute conflicts, also expected.

So, thinking there will still be drop off, figured on about half showing up. We planned for a small group anyway to keep it intimate and encourage discussion and questions. We figured on about 5 at one location (lowest response location) and 10-15 at the other.

Grand total of 3 people came. Two to the first and one to the second. What in the heck went wrong??? Could it have been the topic (long term care), my strategy, my list, what happened that these people didn't show up and no one called to cancel??? Would an investing fundamentals topic be "sexier"?

What could/should I have done differently???
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/11/2007 at 10:33 AM Accepted
    Remember the 40/40/20 marketing rule. Response is based on 40% list, 40% offer & 20% creative. Based on your comment of 0 responses to the offer when I know that Long Term Care seminars work well, I would guess that it is your list. Try it again, but don't forget to test a couple of list options. Analyze the people who said they would come and who showed. I know it's only a couple people, but see if you can find similarities to help you move forward. Also, LIMRA can help you figure out who would be most likely to be interested in the product.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 5/11/2007 at 10:41 AM Member
    Were you charging for the seminar? Probably not-- so they had nothing vested and -- no value. You have a list-- but did these people actually have a need for long term care-- or was this something they thought would be nice to learn about--someday. No urgency created.

    In my opinion-- topics where I'd like to learn but not sure I need yet category --work better as luncheon talks-- which are used to tease and get more of their time.

    Remember the goal is probably not seminar attendance. Its to sell the service. You have 44 new prospects to work-- make a face to fact appointment and go sell something.

    Carol
    Sell Well and Prosper
  • Posted by StevenZ on 5/11/2007 at 10:59 AM Member
    These are all great questions, however, I think you should be asking these questions of the invitee list; these people would be your best resource as to why they decided not to attend your seminar (was it the topic, the location, the timing of the event, the speaker, the weather). You might consider creating three different surveys, 1) for those who did not respond to the invite, 2) another for those who reserved seats but did not attend and 3) of those who did attend.
    You could then apply the knowledge gained to avoid future scenarios. I recommend using an online survey company and emailing the invitees assuming you have their email addresses. I would also consider throwing in an incentive to get these individual to respond; something small like a $25 Amazon.com gift card or something like that. If you do use an incentive make sure you do not offer anything product or seminar related to your company.
  • Posted by michael on 5/11/2007 at 11:00 AM Member
    The topic may have seemed too broad. Or, sometimes it's just the title of the seminar:

    Long Term Care...blah

    How to prevent Long Term Care from draining your retirement savings and leaving your family in the poor house....sign me up!


    Michael
  • Posted by wnelson on 5/11/2007 at 11:09 AM Member
    Sheri,

    Carol and Kris have given you a goldmine already. I have just a couple of fundamentals to add.

    First, as Carol says, if you charged nothing, people will assume it's worth every penny. More importantly, they will assume that you aren't charging because you will be selling at them for the entire seminar. When is the last time you called a telemarketer to ask them to sell something to you? And given your topic of long term care, they can assume for free they are going to be presented with a bunch of scary statistics about people going bankrupt because of inadequate finances to cover the billion dollars doctors will charge them and told that they should at least $1 more than they have per month to take care of the possiblity in the future. Even if your seminar wasn't like this and that you told them it wasn't like this, the topic coming from financial advisors conjours up the image.

    Another area to consider is who are you to these 2200 people? What makes you an expert on long term care? What gives you credibility to them? Did you include this in the announcements? I'm assuming this was your first seminar so you couldn't have testimonials of people who have been to one of your seminars to give you authority and build some trust - but did you or could you have included a couple testamonials from other satisfied attendees from similar seminars the colleagues in your firm presented? You can use the firm's expertise as yours in this case.

    Then there's the needs of the people in the list. Both Carol and Kris hit on this. Does your firm provide you with what demographics are more receptive to long term care issues? If not, and if your list provides demographics, perhaps a good first step is to sample by demographics first - call some from each demographic category and find out what topics mean the most from them. Find out what would bring them to a seminar. While the forum has some very experienced and great marketers, I always say, if you want to understand what your customers are thinking, it's best to ask them, not us. You still have that list - start calling and talking to them. This will help you steer your next activities.

    Once you know the needs of the target audience, you apply that to the invitations and focus on benefits - what will they get out of the seminar that will satisfy their needs? Your process of inviting, calling, following up, etc - you followed a good path there. Nice job. But, it appears as though you didn't address their needs and show benefits strongly enough.

    I hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted by Tracey on 5/11/2007 at 12:46 PM Accepted
    Hi marketingdiva,
    Here are my thoughts.

    First, you need to get people to invest, as stated by our colleagues. If you can charge something, do it. You can also at least limit the opportunity, or present it as a limited opportunity, limited seats, limited time discount, etc. But charging is the best way to get them to commit.

    People are attracted to speakers with recognized names. If you can't get a big name, advertise the expertise of your speaker, make him sound known and credible.

    Give people a peek at what kind of content they can expect. An agenda or outline of what content will be covered in the seminar will help people understand its value. I do think your topic is a bit broad. What exactly do people want to know how to do -- wills and trusts, what to expect with hospice care, how to handle an advanced health directive, legal issues... Help the attendees make sense of it all by telling them exactly what they will learn.

    Can you give the attendees some kind of takeaway? For example, a step-by-step guide to your LTC topic. I know you're selling something, but if they know they will get something for free if they attend, they might be more willing to show up in the first place.

    I hope those ideas help. If you can get customer opinions they would be better but hopefully that's a start.
  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 5/11/2007 at 2:33 PM Member
    I agree with Michael. I am at an age where I should care about that topic, but I don't and especially considering the title of your seminar. I wouldn't go to a free seminar and I certainly would not pay for it. Of course, I am assuming you target Boomers.

    As a boomer I don't really want to think about this topic. Perhaps the tactic should be to make them feel bad that they may leave their kids with the financial and physical burden of taking care of them. Personally I would use the title "Better Off Dead" and make them really feel bad, but nobody in their corporate right mind would let you do that. (:-)

    Have you considered that seminars may not be the right tool for this job?
  • Posted on 5/11/2007 at 3:51 PM Member
    There are a myriad of reasons why people don't attend seminars. First of all - the day of the week and the time of day, secondly location, location, location. Thirdly, lead time - a few weeks may not have been enough lead time. Fourth - pricing - people expect to pay something for valid, useful information - if it's for free then it's either worthless or a hidden sales pitch. Fifth - you need a hook - something to make you stand out from the crowd - a reason to look at your marketing pitch - a value-add - not necessarily something you can hold in your hand - but some information or twist you can't get elsewhere.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 5/12/2007 at 5:07 PM Accepted
    You have a wealth of good advice and insight here. I might sum it up by saying that the offer wasn't very attractive to your target audience.

    That means either the benefit of attending wasn't very appealing or it wasn't communicated well, or the pricing was wrong (free is a lousy price, as others have noted), or there was something in the logistics that didn't click -- wrong time, place, day of the week, etc. -- or you had the wrong target audience.

    My first inclination is always to talk with the target audience. Don't try to sell them anything. Just find out what they are thinking and what topics might get them to a seminar. You will be surprised what you learn. Be prepared with a short list of high-gain questions, ask them clearly and then let your interviewees talk while you take detailed notes.

    After 10-12 interviews, go back and analyze your notes. You'll have your answer then. If you don't, revise the approach and find 10-12 more people.

    If this is going to be difficult for you, you might consider hiring a professional market researcher to do it. It will be well worth the fee.
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