An Event for Every Reason

By: Tom Frisby
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:15:04
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Events:

• Add value to client relationships.

• Provide the opportunity to meet prospective clients in a non-threatening setting.

• Allow clients to introduce you to people they know.

• Create consistency and congruency.

• Ensure your clients feel as though they belong to an exclusive club.

• Value-Added Events

• Educational Events

• Lifestyle Events

A value-added event enhances your client relationships. There are two distinct styles: the mass value-added event and the focused value-added event. Some professionals present only one type; others offer a combination of both. At minimum you should host one focused value-added event a year.

Mass Value-Added Event

This type of event is planned for a large number of attendees at a low cost per head, allowing you to reach more clients for a reasonable cost. You can offer these events to most classes of clients.

Some ideas for a mass value-added event include:

• a screening of a new release film
• a summer B-B-Q in the park that includes face painting and clowns for the kids
• a day at the baseball park with tickets for a hotdog and drink ticket

Focused Value-Added Event This type of event reminds your top clients that they belong to an exclusive group. These events are designed for a small group of your best clients, and can involve a high cost per head (though the quality and appeal of the event itself matters more than its cost). The benefit to this approach is to have a more intimate gathering that allows meaningful interaction with each participant. This type of event would be offered to either all AAA clients or a select group of AAA clients who have been actively promoting you to people they know.

A focused value-added event could involve:

• an afternoon at the race track
• an exclusive annual dinner or a dinner cruise
• a night at the theater a high-end wine tasting and/or guided winery tour
• a tour of the local Christmas lights

Educational Events

These events offer clients additional information on and insight into topics related to your field of expertise. While for many professionals, educational events make up their entire event schedule, we recommend that no more than 40% of your events be educational. For the most part, clients rely on their professionals to "deal with the specialized side of things," so too many educational events can be counter-productive. That said, your clients and prospective clients will still appreciate educational events about topics they are interested in. To ensure the success of such events, survey your clients and prospective clients to determine what topics they would like to learn more about. Appropriate material must be coupled with strong promotion. Create an interesting title for the workshop to grab attention. A catchy title and attention-grabbing subject matter will encourage your clients and their guests to attend.

Finally, remember Rule #1. Never promote a "seminar." Seminars have a bad connotation. Instead use terms like "symposium" or "workshop." Perception is everything.

Lifestyle Events

Lifestyle events are the best part of an event series for many professionals and clients, because they cater to the personal interests of clients and people they know. Clients are typically more disposed to bringing someone they know to a Lifestyle event. As a result, it is the best opportunity for you to be introduced to the people whom your clients recommend. Lifestyle events can be a key component of your event series. However, we recommend that you consider making these types of events no more than 80% of your Event series content. And be sure to offer events that your clients are interested in. Use FORM information and/or survey your clients to determine what types of lifestyle events will interest them. This way, you know that your event will be well-attended, and that your clients will likely bring friends or family – prospective clients – to the event. Appropriate material must be coupled with great promotion. So you may want to promote a Spring Golf Tune-Up as opposed to Golf Clinic, or try a Green Thumb Gardening Workshop instead of a Gardening Workshop.

Article source: Expert Articles