” The way the get started is to quit talking and begin doing ” Walt Disney
Recently, faced a difficult challenge at work. Pakistan, one of the countries I manage with my team. It has entered in the eye of a financial and economic storm. As a result, we had to rethink our strategy so that we can continue building our business. The challenge was complex as at the same time we had to factor in weakening domestic currency, stock volumes going down, decreasing foreign investor confidence and local competitors. We also had limited resources to use, in terms of people, time etc. We needed to come up with something that would amplify our team efforts as well as eventually yield results. I spent some time thinking, what could be the answer of the equation. At some point, came up with the idea of doing an event that would bring all our current and prospective customers together, as well as allow us to associate our brand with the most prominent business leaders of the country.
Once the the decision taken, well we had to make the event happen. What are the steps we followed to make it a success?
The Agenda
Know your audience. Think what are their current challenges. How about their main interests. What is the value they will get out of the content you deliver? What is the most painful challenge they are facing at the moment? Work the agenda out so experts are very well known in the topic you are discussing. Think about the format you want to use – a panel, a discussion, a presentation, Q&A session. There are so many options. Chances are people will be interested in an event where their headwinds are discussed by a group of experts. This is why your audience will give you their time and give you a chance to build your credibility. Depending on your target audience, usually a mix of content delivery and panel discussion involving the audience works best.
The Speakers
Dare to chose the most knowledgeable and charismatic speakers on the topic you discuss. Invite them. Explain why it is important to reinforce their image in front of your audience. Do your homework as well. Learn the discussed topic. Research the subject, ask around you or even the experts themselves if you do not know something so that you know the subject the best you can. Find the most interesting numbers about the topic and be ready to fire them up when necessary. All this will help you build credibility among your current and prospective clients. Remember sales has changed – you need to be an expert in your field second to none so that you earn your credibility, deliver value by solving challenges and eventually you end up driving sales.
The event marketing
Here the right mix of communication channels needs to be chosen. Are you sending an email to your prospect list, would you use social media, how about videos or a few calls. What is your core audience’s favourite? Try a few different ones. Make sure you use a mix receptive by your audience. This will create a buzz about your brand that you can capitalise on for a while.
Collaboration
All the above includes a lot of interaction with others. I find key being able to collaborate with others. Being in a position to delegate when this is necessary, execute when needed, listen when you have to… I guess that being all that as well as trusting your team will help you a lot pulling great sales events. At least this has been the case for me each and every time I did an event over the last almost 8 years in sales.
Leveraging other people’s strengths
Lets face it – we do not like when other people are better than us on something. It is human and very common. However, to organise sales events and to grow both your brand and your business it is absolute key to be able to leverage other people’s strengths. Some times its not easy to trust others and let them do. Out of my experience, it is better to let go and empower others. For example, in my latest event, a team member invited the most distinguished guest of my speakers panel, simply because he had a better relationship with them than myself. Our marketing team did the entire invitation design. All that just to say that, you will be always in a better position if you play as a team instead of an individual and leverage other people’s strengths while organising sales events.
To Sum Up
These are the steps that we followed. This is how our event invite looks like. We managed to come up with an interesting agenda we knew it would appeal to our audience. By leveraging, Faseeh‘s ( one of our team members) our key speaker became the finance minister Mr. Asad Umar. Once he confirmed, it was easier to get the other high profile speakers. Our marketing team worked closely with us, the front office so that we can have the right strategy and the fine balance between email, social media and all the other channels we used to market the event. As a result of following the aforementioned steps, in the first three days of registration we managed to sign up more than 200 people including a large number of prospects. The interest we managed to generate is unseen.
I will update the post in a couple of months when I have an idea of what sales numbers come on the back of the event. Keen to hear what you think of the post. Like. Comment. Share.
About the Author
Boris Grozev is a seasoned fintech executive. Moreover, he is an entrepreneur by heart. Boris has helped number of businesses. To clarify, he has created and implemented business development and product enhancement strategies. In addition, his advisory work in emerging and frontier markets has resulted in culture and technology change. Above all, it has fostered innovation and lead to tangible results. He also invests in variety of asset classes and shares his experiences from the journey to financial independence. Boris’ leadership abilities, ambition naturally spread to others. He is a fast learner. His stamina, attitude and passion to succeed help to achieve common goals.
