Follow Our Five Step Guide to Planning The Perfect B2b Sales Event

Holding an event can be the perfect opportunity to sell your business and offering to relevant decision-makers. However, if done incorrectly, they can be a costly expense. We’ve put together some of the key things to consider when planning your event.

Running events can be a great way to get in front of a room full of engaged decision-makers in your target market . By creating an environment that is not simply focused on sales, events can help break down many of the common barriers that often crop up when selling. As such, they can be a great addition to your sales process – particularly if you are at the forefront of a changing market – whether this is due to technology, legislation, or other political and social factors.

1. ATTRACT YOUR AUDIENCE

Think carefully about the format of the event – is it going to be a workshop, round table session or a seminar? How many individuals do you want to attend? Contrary to popular belief, bigger isn’t always better – a focused round table event with six to seven decision-makers that you can engage with can be much more effective than a room full of 20 people. Having said this, a seminar with a larger audience can sometimes be very effective – for example, if you have some valuable, industry-leading advice to share. Think about the decision-makers you are dealing with, your target market as a whole and what you have to offer, before deciding on the format of the event.

2. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

So many businesses want to promote events which focus solely on themselves and their product – but seriously, who wants to give up a couple of hours of their time to hear you talk about yourself? The purpose of the sales event should be to give your audience the relevant information they need to make an informed decision when choosing their supplier – and if you are targeting the right businesses, then that will hopefully be you.
Think about the pain points that your product or service addresses. And are there any problems that it solves within the industry you are targeting? Plan your event content around that.

3. DO YOU KNOW YOUR GEOGRAPHY?

Before you begin planning an event, you need to understand where your audience is based and how accessible your chosen location is. Use geographical mapping to find out where your prospects are and pick an event location that has a large enough number of relevant businesses within travelling distance. Think about travel routes by road and public transport – and think about psychological barriers. For example, people are more likely to travel into a city centre for an event than they are to travel out of the city centre – even if the distance is the same.

4. FINDING THE RIGHT TIME

Whether your event is taking place in a year or a month, attendance figures are the key to any event’s success. No matter how much preparation you do in terms of speakers, catering, transport and location, if nobody turns up then it is a waste of time .

Depending on your offering and the sector in which your product or service is aimed, choosing the best time of year to hold your event can be crucial. Check the calendar and ensure that you don’t schedule it too close to the school holidays or national events as this may affect how many decision-makers are likely to be at work. Think about typical working patterns in your market too.

Finally, get the length of the event right. You might have a full day’s worth of information to share, but your prospects probably don’t have a full day to spare.

5. FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL

Think about the times you’ve been invited to an event. Deciding whether to attend requires you to consult colleagues’ diaries, research the event content, get someone to cover your workload and ensure it doesn’t clash with other commitments. Before you know it, you’re probably already booked up.

The need for planning means that every event begins long before the doors open. To rack up those attendance figures and secure the best possible results from the day, we recommend leaving yourself a six-to-eight-week timeframe before the event to market it to the relevant prospects. You’ll need to develop a plan on how to reach the right decision makers, make them aware of the event and then ensure that they take the steps required to register and turn up on the day.

With the right planning, events can be an effective way of breaking down barriers and opening doors within your market. Without it, they can be an expensive distraction. On top of this, events need to become part of a wider engagement strategy to achieve your goals.