Literally nothing communicates more effectively for a business owner, than hosting a live event, and inviting potential clients to experience the energy of your work and your brand. They are truly one of my favorite parts of our leadership business – as it feels like I am hosting a wonderful party for old friends and new. We love the memories and experiences that are created for all of us, and our family of deeply connected, caring entrepreneurs continues to grow each time we invest in hosting an event.
How can you use this in your business? Look for the place that you have wanted to go deeper with your clients and structure an event around how to have them experience this level of service. It may be a Mastermind group, a Membership, a Group Coaching Program, or personalized VIP or “Done-For-You” services, that you have wanted to roll out but have not had the time to do so. Being in a room – large or small – with a group of like minded individuals is the greatest way to discover if you and your clients are a match to work together on a deeper, more intimate level.
I have learned quite a few things over the last 3 years while hosting events and would love to share with you some things to consider when planning and hosting your own events. There are no hard and fast rules, but these are a few insights that I wish I had known going in to the adventure.
1) Before investing the time, energy and money in hosting an event, ask yourself – “Is this something my clients want and need?” All too often I see business leaders create an event on a topic that they are excited about without considering what their ideal client is seeking, and then they are sad and disappointed when no one comes to the party. When planning your event, survey your clients ahead of time and find out what their biggest struggle is. Plan your event around providing a solution to this problem and watch them line up to join you.
2) What is the outcome you are hoping to achieve? Events can be labor intensive and costly if you miss this step. When we host 2 and 3 day events, we are providing potential clients an opportunity to experience first hand what it feels like to work with us in an intimate, deeply committed environment – similar to what they experience when they invest in joining one of our year long mentorship programs. Before investing in creating an event, set your revenue goals and your goals for what you are providing for the attendees well in advance. This way you can communicate clearly with the attendees about what to expect and present your invitation to work with you further without anyone feeling that they have been misled. The sales process becomes an elegant invitation, when you structure your event around the outcome you are hoping to achieve both in revenue and in delivery content.
3) You will not satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. I am so sorry to have to tell you this, but it always stumps me. Now I know we are all adults here, but our team knocks themselves out to provide exceptional experiences for everyone who attends our events, whether there are 20 people in the room, or 200, and we really care. Inevitably, people will bring their “stuff” to the party. I don’t want to scare you off from hosting events, but I have had to learn the hard way that sometimes we can only do our best. At this last event, 99% of the reviews were outstanding, but my “mere mortal self” got caught up on the few that weren’t pleased or wished that something was handled differently. The good news is that often, the person who is dissatisfied, is emotionally triggered by the work and is ready for a breakthrough. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t be there. If it is only 1 or 2 people who you miss and you have overall outstanding results, reach out to the ones who are unhappy and see if you can turn it around for them. Often there is a breakdown before a breakthrough and that potential client may just need a little more love and attention.
We are planning our next live event for October 31-November 2, 2014 in Southern California, “Limitless Women.” Watch for details and then let us know if you would like to join us. I would love to connect with you there.
