It ’ s still a stormy forecast for organisers and sales teams . The impact of postponements and cancellations cannot be underplayed . However , there is a huge gap left for your clients - How do they network ? How do they fill their pipelines ? How do they drive quality leads without you ?
The last few months have seen organisers address this gap by focusing energy into creative innovation ; the absence of in-person events is a continued reality , but clients still need to achieve results . In the strongest cases , this focus on serving clients is allowing organisers to drive revenues , improve their data , diversify their product-set and grow client relationships all at once . However , doing this requires a different approach to working internally for most event organisers .
Your clients expect more than before Sales teams will need to deliver more , so they must be equipped to manage a higher level of complexity to deliver a best in class sales experience – buyers are now sensitised to every step a salesperson makes .
Worryingly , pre-COVID stats show that 58 % of sales meetings were deemed not valuable to buyers . Now the bar has been raised further , clients are demanding a sales experience that is worth paying for in itself . Salespeople are expected to offer a personalised , insightful and collaborative experience , whilst driving and proving ROI as standard .
Internal collaboration is vital If companies are to deliver a valuable sales experience at every touchpoint , sales teams need wider support . Collaboration between sales , marketing , content and ops is the only way to deliver this . Through our work with leading organisers , we are seeing a particular trend that delivers results :
Event sales : It ’ s a team game
Raoul Monks of Flume Sales Training leads the charge for sales excellence
Historically , we have been able to rely on brand reputation and mirror historic successes ; this won ’ t work now , clients need marketing solutions that are certain to drive audience engagement and deliver ROI . Your clients are asking themselves : ‘ How confident am I of the impact this will have for me and the company ?” Solutions must engage audiences in a meaningful way and accelerate them through the decisionmaking process towards your potential clients . Collaborating internally to create a product set which is easy to buy for the client is crucial right now .
2 . Deep audience and client behavioural insight Within organisations there has been a tendency towards siloed views . Often it would depend on the function you speak to , as to which perspective was top of mind . Content and marketing would look through the audience lens and direct their activities accordingly and sales would look through their own or their client ’ s lens . What client ’ s actually want is a collaborative focus on just two things :
• How their audience are behaving
• How to drive and influence the right audience behaviour The best way to deliver on these needs is by aligning teams towards these factors , allowing sales teams to lead with the insight and stories that educate the client on how to make safe and powerful decisions around marketing solutions .
3 . Messaging that drives client action Messaging is at the heart of any bestin-class sales experience , delivering a strong narrative and up-to-the-minute messaging simplifies things for the client . Create messaging that leads to your differentiation and includes teachings that empower the client to move from the safety of their status quo .
Delivering a best in class sales experience isn ’ t just the job of your salespeople , it ’ s a team game . These unprecedented times require a bit of a squint to see the silver linings through the clouds , but there is a real opportunity now to dramatically improve our product sets and client relationships , setting us up to have an even stronger impact when live events return .
1 . Build events and solutions that drive ROI
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