When organising your business event, the ultimate goal is to ensure that it feeds into your strategy for a better bottom line. While it would be easy to complicate this issue, the truth is that happy guests translate to happy entrepreneurs.Designing a business event that leaves a winning impression doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might first fear. Use the following checklist for guidance and you won’t go far wrong.
Roll out the VIP treatment
Whether it’s a B2B or B2C event, clients like to feel valued by the brands they use. Hosting an event gives you the perfect opportunity to do this. You can begin the process before the day has even arrived by designing email invitations or calling guests directly.
On the day of the event, several ideas can be used. Whether it’s a formal or casual event, great food can win over customers and establish a better connection to the brand. Hiring professional catering equipment solutions will allow your team or outside caterers to do this. Of course, you must keep different dietary needs in mind.
A free bar, even if limited to two drinks per person, is another potentially positive step. Meanwhile, a welcome bag that includes goodies and promotional items like branded mugs, t-shirts, or USB sticks can work well too. Finding goods that relate to your company will naturally create an even stronger connection.
While it’s not a wedding, you can still make business events. Hiring arcade games, photo booths, or other fun items will help guests have a memorable time. Better still, it encourages them to spread news about the brand through social media.
Ensure that your is brief & engaging
When people visit your business event, they accept that there will be some degree of branding or marketing involved. From networking events to product launches, guests are happy to be educated about the company. But they don’t want to be left bored.
First and foremost, you should use visual aids to guide you through the process. Prepared presentations and professional videos keep the content flowing. Moreover, it stops you from hesitating throughout the talk or forgetting key points. The content can also be sent to guests for digestion at a later and more convenient time.
A concise presentation will provide enough info to satisfy guests while also planting curiosity. By keeping formal presentations short, it also leaves more time for you to field their questions. This can be done either through group Q&As or with the general networking opportunities that follow.
If a presentation and post-presentation talks lay the foundation for future sales, the event will be a success. Guests will feel that it has been worthwhile and this should open the door to future opportunities.
Communicate & grow relationships
We live in a world where business interactions are increasingly conducted in the digital space. Your business event is a rare opportunity to embrace face-to-face communication. Therefore, it’s vital that you use this to its full potential.
Many entrepreneurs have forgotten the fact that they are the brand’s biggest USP. B2B and B2C clients alike love to work with brands that they actively like. Ideas like promoting your responsible approach to business are great. Still, finding common ground and showcasing your personality to strike a chord with guests is the most effective step.
When guests like the people behind the brand, they are more likely to complete a purchase. And if it is an existing customer, it will significantly improve your chances of securing their long-term loyalty. Not least because a business event will further underline your credentials as a trustworthy company that knows what it is doing.
Good communication is the key to success in all aspects of business, and your hosted event is no different. Above all else, you should actively listen to what guests say. This will allow you to tailor your efforts to show you’re capable of solving their issues.
Know your purpose
It could be argued that this should be at the top of your agenda. Either way, there is no escaping the fact that your business event needs a purpose. Launching a product, celebrating success, or growing your network are all vastly different.
As such, knowing exactly what you want to achieve from the event will provide a platform to build upon. From designing the event space to including the right content in any speech or presentation, every aspect relates back to this. Better still, you should notice that it gives you a far greater sense of confidence. This will translate to a better event.
Even if the event is not specifically geared towards sales, you should treat it in a similar way. You want to gently judge guests towards the next steps, but this becomes very tough if you’re not clear about what you want their actions to be. Besides, ambiguity can confuse guests and leave them feeling underwhelmed by the event.
Guests know what your event is supposed to be about from the invitation. So, their attendance shows that they are open to it. Sadly, if you opt for an overly generic event that doesn’t delve deeper into the specific topic, any success will be limited.
Appreciate human requirements
While the event may be focused on business, you cannot overlook the human elements. With this in mind, it’s imperative that you choose the right employees to greet guests or manage interactions with your guests. Otherwise, the whole event falls flat.
Crucially, you must find a suitable event space. Unless launching an in-store product, you are unlikely to use your workspaces. As such, researching venues for hire is a crucial part of the process. As well as the decor, you’ll need to consider location, parking, and accessibility. The time and event should be convenient for guests too.
Perhaps the most important factor is that guests need to feel safe. This guide to keeping your business event secure will go a long way to helping. Aside from preventing potential problems and the subsequent fallout, guests will have clear minds. In turn, they will inevitably gain far more from the event.
The harsh reality is that your business event cannot be a success if nobody turns up. Taking care of these factors will give you the best shot at ensuring that they do. When combined with the other steps, success is assured. You’ve got this.
