Question

Topic: Strategy

Event For Clients And Hot Prospects

Posted by aaroncagen on 1/12/2010 at 2:28 PM ET 79 Points
Our clients can be great advocates for us. As such, we'd like to reward them by creating "in-the-loop" special evening events for our best clients.

During these events, we'll gave them a "taste" of some of the new "value-adds" to the service they receive. I'd also like to invite some of our hottest (in terms of buying urgency :) ) prospects to get a taste of being a client and perhaps speak with some stasifed clients.

What sort of agenda would you recommend? Ideally, I'd like to have it in-house so they can meet our employees, etc.

Budget is fairly small, but I'd like to make it fun/somewhat informal.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 1/14/2010 at 6:23 AM Accepted
    If you want your clients to feel like VIPs, don't just try to sell them more services, teach them something about how to use your services more effectively. For example, have one of your clients that recently had "wow" results, share their tips with the other clients. That'll position you as the expert, and give extra exposure to one of your clients. That's a great win-win.
  • Posted on 1/14/2010 at 10:02 AM Accepted
    Thanks Jay,

    That's a great idea. What tone might you recommend for this event?

    Should it have an agenda? Or just an intro from the president, a story by a client and demonstration of how we've improved the service (no upsell, just value-add).

    Also, what typically works better - evening or afternoon events?

    Many thanks.
  • Posted on 1/14/2010 at 10:25 AM Member
    Also, we are celebrating a 10th year anniversary. Is it too cheesy to harp on that in these events and throughout the year?

    Thanks.
  • Posted on 1/22/2010 at 12:27 PM Accepted
    I have had great success with bringing loyal customers together with prospects using a "Advisory Panel" type approach. Depending on the industry you are in, I find breakfast meetings works well because people can fit them in before they start their business day. Make it a really nice breakfast hosted at a local hotel in a conference room. Recommend a luxury buffet of Belgium waffles, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, ham, yogurts, fresh bakery, fresh juices...you get the picture.

    It is also nice to have a small gift as a "thank you" for attending.

    Have a outline of topics you would like to cover...an informal agenda to keep the discussion going and one that makes sure you cover the key points you want to get on the table...maybe a new service or how you can learn from the last 10 years.

    Let the discussion form naturally. There should be no formal "presentations". It should feel like a open discussion and the more your customers and prospects talk and the less you or your company representatives talk the better. You are there to host, listen, learn and facilitate.

    As long as the customers and prospects are not competitors, you will find they walk away from the event feeling important, motivated and really like the opportunity to interact with peers they may not normally communication with.

    Good Luck!
  • Posted on 1/22/2010 at 1:01 PM Member
    Thanks csumner,

    We actually already have an annual advisory council meeting. I want to supplement this get-together with 2 additional events.

    Would you use the same forum if, say, we were introducing a major enhancement to our service?

    Thanks again.
  • Posted on 1/25/2010 at 2:51 PM Member
    If you already have an advisory council meeting and you want the same customers to be at a mixer with prospects...you might not want to call it an "advisory council" but I think you can use the same format.

    You say you want the customers and prospects to talk and learn from each other, you need to be sure to create an atmospher to make that happen if that is your #1 priority. Do the existing customers already know about the major enhancement to your service? Would you be looking to get their input in addition to potential customer input? If you are looking for input/sharing then an advisory type forum might be best.

    If your #1 priority is to get a "sales pitch" heard and let everyone have some fun, then you might want to have something like a "casino night" and do your sales pitch first and then let the invitee's have fun and hopefully mix.

    I'm not sure what industry you are in but you know your customers best.
  • Posted on 1/25/2010 at 4:34 PM Member
    We're in the IT industry - but dealing mostly with SMB executives and owners.

    I don't want it to be a sales pitch as I imagine there will be a high client to prospect ratio and I don't want to annoy our current clients.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Strategy)