The Sales Process And Your Event

May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

My company uses The Sales Process all the time in our day-to-day work.  As representatives of many different artists and speakers, it’s our job to be able to sell them and make others aware of their ministry and products.

Are you familiar with The Sales Process?  If not, here it is:

  • Step 1: Greeting.  Engage the buyers.  Find out their name and a little bit about them.
  • Step 2: Profile.  Gathering information about the buyer’s needs
  • Step 3: Counseling.  Giving the buyer information based on what they said during the profiling.
  • Step 4: Production demonstration.  In this step you list features and benefits of your product.  For every feature there should be two benefits.
  • Step 5: Close the sale.  Ask for a commitment or time to call back.

I believe as Christian’s we should add a sixth step to The Sales Process:

  • Step 6: Be a servant.  Your goal cannot always be profit.  Have a higher purpose of being a servant.

Truth be told, we all like to be sold.

My family recently purchased a car.  I remember test driving with the sales man, asking him a question and him not knowing the answer.  Now we purchased the car, but it was the one we wanted and had our eye on for a while.

If I’m purchasing clothes for my wife, I need to be sold.  I’m completely lost here.

How do you sell your event?

Customer service agents should be regularly versed in The Sales Process.  Quiz them when you see them in the hall, and reward them when they answer correctly.

Nowadays, there are websites they can do the selling for you following The Sales Process. When you set out to write your sales page copy, keep these steps in mind.

When you send a booth out to represent your event, make sure the people working the booth know The Sales Process.

Anywhere you are selling your event, use the steps in The Sales Process.

Side note: Maybe you’re just the planner and have nothing to do with selling, but you do have to sell your services as an event planner.  Utilizing the steps in The Sales Process with the additional sixth step could change the way your clients view your abilities.

 

Filed Under: Marketing and Promotion, Pre-Event Planning Tagged With: ,

3 Ways To Stay Up To Date With Social Media

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big social media fan.  We’ve talked about social media a lot on this blog, as well as the importance of social media to the success and the marketing of your event.

A while back I shared with you some blogs that I read to help me on personal development.  Today, I wanted to share with you some blogs and resources that keep me informed on the latest developments in the world of social media.  Without further delay, here they are:

  1. Mashable.com.  Mashable is like a newspaper for all things Social Media, Tech and Tech Business.  I subscribe to their daily email updates which provides the reader with a recap of headlines from the day before.  To really stay up to date, subscribe to their Twitter feed as well.
  2. Microexplosion.com.  Bill Seaver, who runs Microexplosion, was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Ministry Serving Ministry blog.  Bill writes three posts a week: Monday stats (which I find very helpful to insights of consumers), a weekly post on usage of social media in marketing and then a Friday fun video post.  Bill has been a tremendous resource of knowledge and is worth the follow.
  3. SocialMediaExaminer.com.  Michael Stelzner is the Social Media Examiner.  He writes daily posts on all things social media.  I find his weekly “This Week In Social Media” posts to be the most helpful.  For added insight, check out his Social Media Marketing podcast.

The social media landscape is ever changing.  One day it will be this, and the next it will be that.  It’s important to continue to educate yourself and stay up to date with the latest trends, and these three resources will help you stay even more in the know.

What do you use to stay up to date with social media?

Filed Under: Marketing and Promotion Tagged With: , , , ,

Getting Great Photos To Promote Your Event

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Photos can communicate buckets of information to your potential attendees.  Plus, crisp, bright, engaging photos will appeal to your guests and help them imagine themselves attending your event.  So how do you get these incredible photos?

  1. Hire (or barter for) a professional.  A professional photographer will have the equipment and knowledge needed to get you the best shots.  Potential attendees generally want to see photos of: the main event hall, the facility, people attending and an approximation of the accommodations.  Ask the photographer to give you a list of shots they’ll be trying for and add anything you particularly desire. If you’re hosting an event that will include more than a handful of people, consider reaching out to those already enrolled to see if someone would like a free ticket in return for photography services.
  2. Enlist the crowd.  I recently attended a wedding where the bride and groom posted signs that said “mark your photos with #custerweddingbells.”  Browsing Instagram later that evening I typed “custerweddingbells” into the search bar, and up came all the photos that had been so marked.  The wedding from the perspective of many guests!  What if you harnessed your attendees’ photos?  You’ll need to create a unique hashtag and advertise it.  You could even have a feed set up onto several screens that showed those photos during your event.  Fun!
  3. Take ‘em yourself.  Honestly, this is the least desirable option. You have a zillion things to do.  But, sometimes it happens.  Find or purchase a very small, high quality pocket camera.  Take some photos, and don’t be afraid to stage a few shots of laughing/smiling attendees if you need to. (You may not have time to wait for the perfect shot). Some photos taken by you are much better than no photos at all.

Great photos are worth the trouble!  They’ll be an important part of your marketing next year, so err on the side of “too many” incredible shots.  You won’t be sorry you have them.  Find a professional, enlist the crowd and have a small camera available for the shots you spot- I recommend doing all three!

Filed Under: Marketing and Promotion, Post-Event Follow-up Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Vine For Events

April 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Vine_apps_logo-1I enjoy talking about new tools in the social media world, and how you could incorporate them into the social media strategy for your events.

One of the newest tools to come on the marketplace is Vine, and it’s an important one to take note of because it’s owned by Twitter.  I sign up for new social media mainly so I can say I was there before it got big, but also to experiment with it and be able to talk intelligently about the new piece with my artists and consulting clients.

A recent trip to the zoo with my family reminded me of the power of the app.

What Is Vine?
Vine is a video sharing app that allows users to create and post short 6 second video clips.  These clips can be shared with on your Twitter and Facebook feeds as well.  The video clips do not have to be a continual 6 seconds, but can be shorter snippets.  Recording is started by pressing your finer onto the screen, and removing your finger stops the recording.  Audio is recorded as well.

Getting Started
To get started using Vine, download the app from the Apple App Store.  (Sorry Android users, but Vine is currently not available on that platform.)  The user will be prompted to login with their Twitter account or setup a new account using an email address.  My recommendation would be to use your Twitter account since it will tie those two accounts together for easy sharing.

Now that your in, find others to follow, view their vines and start sharing yours.

Using At Your Event
Here are two ideas on how to use Vine at your event.

  1. Share a short video of an artist or speaker.
  2. Share quick testimonials from attendees.

Conclusion
Vine may not be the best platform for you, and to be honest the jury is still out on attracting users.  However, it’s certainly worth exploring as an easy way to share video across your event’s Twitter feed and/or Facebook page.

And as I always like to point out, share that you are on Vine with your attendees and share exclusive content only to Vine.

One last thing, find me on Vine by my user name of @KyleBJohnson.

Filed Under: Marketing and Promotion Tagged With: , , ,

Smart Devices At Events

April 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Our society is more connected than ever before.  I try my hardest but no matter what, I feel like I’m always checking my iDevice for various updates.

Want proof of that first statement?

Have you seen the recent picture of the people at the Vatican in 2005 awaiting word on the new Pope versus the crowd in 2013 awaiting word on the even newer Pope?

If you haven’t here’s the picture.

split-vatican-0314There could be (and I wouldn’t doubt it) a small chance some Photoshop is going on here, but this post is not about that.

As an event planner, I bet you’ve seen the same thing happen at your events.  More people are using their smartphones or tablets to take pictures, record video, etc.

What have you done to embrace this change at your events? 

I hope you’re encouraging people to use their portable devices in whatever way they desire.  Some attendees may be taking pictures and posting to social media networks while others may be taking notes or following along with their Bible app.

What are you doing to encourage this change at your events?

In previous blogs posts, we’ve discussed the addition of hashtags on slides, programs and other marketing materials.  That’s always a great way to encourage event attendees to post to their social media networks.

A local school system has instituted a “bring your own tech to school” policy that has allowed students to bring their own portable devices to schools.  Using a similar approach by encouraging the event or retreat attendees to bring their own devices, is another idea you could implement.

What have you done to incorporate devices into your events?

Have smart devices become a distraction at your events?  How have you incorporated them into your program.  Please take a moment to share your experiences in the comment sections.

Filed Under: Marketing and Promotion, Meeting Set-Up, Productivity Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts