When it comes to sales techniques, your strategy involves two core key audiences - those who’ve never worked with you before and those who have. Clients for whom you’ve already planned events are low-hanging fruit prospects worth targeting. They’re already familiar with your event planning skills, so selling them on your brand is fairly easy. For these past event clients, your sales strategy should involve selling them again on hosting additional events with you. And here’s how you can do that.
Create Ongoing Communication
After you’ve hosted an event with a client, follow up with them. Give it a few weeks and reach out to them just to say hello and check in with any relevant event-related information you might have. Keep the lines of communication with them open over the subsequent months. You can send them emails or share newsletters with them about community news. Connect with them on social media if it’s appropriate, and stay engaged. When they grow accustomed to receiving correspondence from you and seeing your brand, you’ll become top-of-mind for them for any future events they need your help with planning.
Offer Value and Helpful Tips
When you connect with past event clients, don’t sell them. Instead, make meaningful connections and offer value or insights they can use. Share news about community events or area networking opportunities. Invite them as your guest to other events you’re hosting or attending. Share headlines or industry news with corporate event clients that might find it helpful. Continue to be a useful resource to your clients over time and build trust with them.
Sell Them on Big Ideas
Some of your event clients will find value in big ideas for new events. Instead of selling them on your services or asking them to “call you for their next event,” try meeting with them to discuss innovative event ideas. For example, share corporate event examples and past design ideas for a corporate client who may be persuaded into hosting a team-building event with you. Share some of your latest event designs for a cocktail party, retirement party, or milestone birthday party. Give your past clients other reasons to work with you again.
Develop Long-Term Relationships
Whatever your strategy for working with existing event clients, make it consistent and ongoing with a target goal of building long-term relationships with them. Winning them over is the first step. From there, you can stay connected with them, grow with them into future event planning endeavors, and tap into them as valuable testimonials. Long-term relationships with your best clients are also essential for referral business.
Look to these methods for driving repeat event planning business with your list of New York event clients. And gain more insights about growing your business by attending The Event Planner Expo 2023! It’s there you’ll learn all kinds of sales techniques and bottom-line boosting strategies to grow and scale in a BIG way!
