Remember those crazy days during the pandemic when conventional wisdom said events were dead and everything would be online? Scroll forward five years and the pensions calendar bulges with conferences, round-tables and panel discussions.
Relationships are at the heart of the investment industry and these cannot be built by digital marketing alone. You need to spend face-to-face time with your clients.
The right type of interaction
It is not as simple, however, as pigeon-holing a potential client at a conference and launching into your sales pitch. Nothing is more likely to sour a relationship faster!
Don’t get us wrong – done well, short interactions at conferences are great ways to get people feeling curious about you and the services you offer. But these brief encounters will only get you so far.
Designing the right event can be instrumental in building long-term client connection.
Atmosphere
Too many events are organised by committee rather than by design. The result is a morning meeting in a bland office space with a panel of internal experts.
This will not achieve your objective. To create interest you need to start with a good venue. It has to be either glamourous or quirky.
A decade ago, events were generous. If a meeting happened first thing, guests would be served a proper breakfast. Today often all that is offered is a dry croissant and a weak cup of coffee.
The lack of hospitality gives the subliminal message: “We want to sell to you without any effort to make a meaningful connection nor any demonstration of our generosity.”
Thought leadership
Providing a panel of internal experts does not create fresh insight to make it worthwhile for your clients to attend. And the event will be unmemorable.
When you act as a facilitator and introduce your target clients to experts with vision and insight, you show your clients you understand their challenges.
By mixing highly-regarded panellists with your own experts, you elevate your spokespeople as well as turning those external guests into your advocates.
What does success look like?
An event which chooses the right venue, is hospitable and provides new insight demonstrates you have put the client at the centre of the experience and you value them.
You want your attendees to rave about your event. They will view you as different to your competitors. You will be seen as a potential trusted partner.
A successful event requires careful thought and planning but does not need to cost the earth. The right events are a more cost-effective way of building deep connections with your clients than sponsorship and advertising.
Ensuring your clients leave your event delighted with time spent in an unusual location, full of delicious food and their heads filled with new information will do far more to cement your relationship than any sales pitch.
Talk to us today if you want to consign mediocre events to the dustbin and help your organisation build better client connections. You might even be able to save money!
