 Securing a venue inspection from your ideal client is always exciting. Although you are a step closer to securing a conversion, there is still room for a lot of things to go wrong. So arm yourself with these 4 sales strategies to dramatically increase your chances of receiving the commitment you are striving for.
1 > Make sure they arrive with ease Ask, how will they be arriving to your venue for the inspection? If they are driving, make sure they have somewhere to park with clear instructions and a map. If you are a regional property, think about collecting them from the airport/CBD and personally driving them to your property. If they can’t access the venue, you’ve lost them, even before they step foot inside! 2 > First impressions count Inform your front of house team of their arrival, make sure you have a welcome sign, possibly their logo projected on a screen in some of your spaces. 3 > Acknowledge all 5 senses Sight - If you can have the venue set up in the style of their intended use, go to the trouble of setting it up. Make sure it is clean, including windows, carpet, walls, furniture. Hearing – Do you have the ability to put through background music into the space? Smell – Make sure the room smells pleasant, a diffuser can help here Touch – What can you give your client that is tangible to take away that will be memorable of your venue/yourself? Do you have different fabrics/textures on offer for the tables? Taste – Ensure you have some food/beverages on offer to sample – whether it’s coffee/tea post your meeting with a signature treat or simply something refreshing. 4 > Engage your company partnerships Partnerships are imperative at these meetings – ensure you have given your partners (whether it be AV, theming/styling, entertainment) an opportunity to join you in the meeting. Show your collaboration, showing the one stop shop of event solutions. Thank them for taking the time to attend your venue Ask them the best timeframe to follow up their decision and stick to their recommendation! No sooner and definitely, no later. Apply these sales skills to give your venue the best possible chance of securing a conversion. After-all the venue inspection is the most crucial element to your sales process, so take the time to make sure you put the venue's best foot forward. Happy Converting!
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 When proposing a meeting time to a prospect, be mindful of the time you suggest.
One of our sales tips is to suggest a time that is ten minutes past the hour (eg 3:10pm) and confirm a duration of time (eg. 'let's meet for 20 minutes'). Suggesting a time and confirming the duration, reduces the clients opportunity to not accept your offer. It's important you arrive on time and acknowledge the duration. By staying true to this schedule, it's the opportunity to establish trust with your prospect. Also, a time like this means they will potentially have a window of time between meetings. So if they have a meeting finishing at 3pm it gives them a chance to refresh and get ready for the next. The duration represents a 3rd of the hour period, so is easier to commit to. Happy converting! "In sales, it is important to stay true to your word like your life depended on it" - Nicole Bates  I’m not sure how this happened but as many of us feel, we blinked and it was March 2019!
So as we head towards the last quarter of the 18/19 financial year, with only 3 months of trading to go, it’s imperative we convert pending business and fill the gaps. Here are 3 Conversion sales Tips to get your 2019 calendar where it needs to be. 1 - Value-add Do you need to offer some complimentary incentives to tentative events? What value-add can you extend that won’t affect your bottom line? Tailor this to each prospect, what would that specific event value? Complimentary lectern? Sparkling wine? Breakout space? 2 - Capitalise On Short Lead Events These events can come with extra work in getting the event off the ground. But they can be your saving grace, this is your opportunity to fill any calendar gaps. Have you thought about doing a targeted marketing campaign to attract the short lead business? Can you offer something “too good to be true” to your client base? A good way of opening this conversation is “With the end of financial year approaching, we thought we’d get in touch to see if you have some events/training that need to be held before we close the financial year?”. 3 - New Business Is it too late to go out and find new business to fill the gaps? The short answer, is No. It’s never too late! Have a look through your events from the past 3 years, your lost business, your repeat clients, are they holding the same event again? Be the first on the phone, before they need to call you, to ensure you are front of their minds. If your 2019 calendar isn't full, don't loose motivation. More and more events are being booked with short lead times, there is still time. We hope this sales advice helps and if you feel like you could benefit from further advice and guidance, book into one of our upcoming sales training workshops. Learn more about Conversion Managements sales training workshops here.  In order to ensure a ROI from attended events, it is important to have a strategy in place as part of your sales process that you can easily follow post a trade show, showcase or famil.
Here are our 3 top sales strategies to include: 1. Prior to the event day, look ahead on your calendar and block out two hours of follow-up time for the next four days post event. 2. Find new connections on your social media accounts, follow and engage with their professional accounts. 3. Qualify the lead, do they meet your selection criteria. Is this someone who is likely to convert? Happy Converting! "Every new conversation is a new opportunity" - Nicole Bates  Just because a business lead has been lost, doesn't mean the potential for future opportunities is redundant. Follow these two sales techniques to secure more business.
"Persistence can pay off, as long as it is done thoughtfully" - Nicole Bates - Nicole Bates  LinkedIn is a database and a community of professionals from all over the world, covering an array of different industries. This is a free resource (Premium subscriptions available), easy to use and robust. Here we detail how you can best use LinkedIn to attract, engage and convert new business.
First impressions are just as important in the digital world as they are in person Remember, LinkedIn is a business network. Present on your LinkedIn profile like you would for an face to facesales meeting.
Use your Business Page to drive sales A business page is a great platform for your sales team members to use to engage with new prospects. The content here should be on-brand and approved, this means your team can share posts without the risk of diminishing your brand integrity. When creating content for your business page use the Three Conversion “C’s”:
Why filters are a key tool when prospecting Firstly always qualify, who is your ideal prospect and why? Say they are an Event Manager of a business with 500 employees and located in Melbourne CBD. All of these criterias can be added into the LinkedIn filter. LinkedIn will then form a list of your ideal prospects! Connect and convert new business through LinkedIn Once you have identified your ideal prospect, see if you have any mutual connections. If so, can you reach out to that mutual connection and ask them to send an e-introduction? A referral is always positive. When connecting with new people always make use of the message section. Be specific with your message, note why you want to connect to them and how your relationship could be beneficial. Once the connection is made, start engaging with them via the platform and show how your relationship can be meaningful. It is now time to reach out via a phone call - pick up the phone and call this prospect. State that you recently connected with them on LinkedIn and that you wanted to put a voice to the name and say thank you for being part of your community. Clearly define who you are professionally and importantly, ask how they like to be communicated. Is it via inmail, phone, email? This call is not to sell anything, it is to develop the relationship. Follow up via their preferred contact method with an emotion driven subject. For instance “I saw your recent event had an incredible ice sculpture, we’ve held an event her recently which included similar elements to your event, I’d love to invite you in for you to experience our hotel”. By following this sales advice, LinkedIn can become one of your most valued prospecting tools. Think of LinkedIn as an extension of your CRM system and start engaging with new prospects today!  For an inexpensive but highly effective marketing method, why not create an experience at your hotel, venue or showroom. During these events you are able to strengthen your network by liaising with potential clients, whilst also demonstrating everything that your product has to offer.
This also provides a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with industry suppliers who could also contribute to the event by showcasing services that are relevant to your target market i.e. wedding florists or food suppliers. Maintaining contact with attendees from the day is important, so the information attained from the event registration forms should be used to create targeted follow up marketing campaigns... Happy Converting! "Never under estimate the importance of a first impression, make sure your venue is always on point" - Nicole Bates  Client referrals can have a huge impact on your future sales and should not be underestimated. Assess your referral process today and incorporate it as part of your overall development plan.
1. Build a Referral Strategy You've done all the hard work for your client and they are delighted with the outcome of the Residential Conference/Event. It is now time to capitalise on this. Have a carefully created referral strategy on hand. This could include a strategically worded survey, an incentive, offering business cards, networking opportunity and more. 2. One Foot In The Door When working with a referral client, they have already heard good things about your business. This considerably simplifies the sales process and enables you to provide your expertise with less objections from the prospective client as they're aware of the success of your previous work. 3. Referrals Lead To Referrals If you have closed a sale with a client as a result of a referral, it is likely that they themselves will spread the good word about your business to their friends and colleagues. Having a referral strategy within your sales department should lead to increased business and a clientele that does (some of) your sales work for you... Happy Converting! "Capitalise on the influential power of a referral" - Nicole Bates  Continuing to refine and develop your internal sales strategies and sales process is vital to your meetings and events business sales success. This includes investing in your team ensuring they have the right resources and are valued.
Now is the time to plan your professional development plan. There are many free resources available that you or your team can schedule into a daily/weekly/monthly routine; such as podcasts, webinars, ebooks and generally staying up to date by reviewing reputable social media accounts. Conversion Management offers free monthly SALES SESSIONS webinar, offering effective sales tips and reminders of how to research, sell and convert business. Click here for more information. There are a number of paid resource options too. Now is the time to assess your budget and book in the "can't miss" employee development events in 2019. Here are some we think are worth reviewing: MEA Evolve 2019 IMEX exhibitions Conversion Plus TED AHICE "Invest in you." - Nicole Bates  Capitalise on the "new year"/"fresh start" mentality and perform a data clean now before the year starts to roll past.
Clean data is crucial to the success of your sales process. If you identify a staff member that has not been competent in 2018 in keeping their data clean, add this into their KPIs as a measurable expectation. "Clean data is everything, dirty data is pointless" - Nicole Bates |
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