You Could Be Getting a Lot More Out of Conferences—Part 1: Pre-Conference Preparation

Across the U.S. we’re seeing pandemic restrictions ease. Many of us are venturing back out into society and planning and attending larger get-togethers, albeit a bit awkwardly at times. (Someone I met recently tried to give me an elbow bump. I’ll admit I’m not exactly sure how we’re supposed to be doing this, but I’m pretty sure that’s not it.)

As our personal lives are becoming more social, so are our professional lives. Are you ready to dive back in without reservation? I’m talking about conference season, folks. It is upon us, and many of us are not ready. This has nothing to do with COVID, either. Many organizations have never had a robust conference strategy. Maestro’s blogs this month are going to put an end to that.

Industry conferences can be a great opportunity for finding, meeting, and engaging sales prospects, but only if you have a solid conference plan in place. No matter how charming and gregarious you are, without the right preparation and strategy, conferences won’t yield enough in the way of closed deals to make them worth it. Read on to learn how you can lay the groundwork that will maximize conference ROI.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Your first step is determining whether a particular event is worth attending in the first place. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Because there are a lot of costs. Think beyond the obvious fee for attending and the price of travel. Conferences come with hidden costs as well.

Productivity loss, printing materials to distribute, the hours marketing puts in to help you prepare, giveaways, and even the possibility of having employees recruited by competitors—these are all costs you need to consider. Developing a conference calculator will help ensure you don’t miss any conference-related expenditures. 

How do you know if it’s worth it? Once you determine the true cost, figure out how many deals need to result from the conference to offset the price tag. Is that number realistic? If it is, your next step is to clearly define your metrics for success—meetings, leads, revenue generated—so that you can accurately assess the value the event is providing for your company. 

Once you know how you’ll be measuring success, define the attendance requirements for your team. Everyone attending the conference should have a clear, measurable goal (e.g., meetings booked, demos scheduled). Once the goals and expectations have been clearly defined, it’s time to get to work.

HONE YOUR MESSAGE

Hopefully, your organization has cohesive messaging and related collateral, but even if it does, conferences require you to further hone your message. Think about the conference and its theme and messaging. What does your organization add to that conversation? If thousands of participants are showing up expecting to learn about X, your overarching conference message needs to articulate how you address X.

Once your conference messaging is defined, you need to think about all the places you’ll be sharing that message. You might need to make some changes to your booth. One-pagers, case studies, and anything else being shared need to reflect your adapted message. 

Besides written content, your team will also need to adapt introductions and elevator pitches to reflect your conference-specific message. What success stories best lend themselves to this event? Besides the stories themselves, what is the best way to deliver them in a conference setting? Be concise in your delivery so as to keep your prospects’ attention and avoid wearing out your welcome.

Now that you and your team have fleshed out conference-specific introductions and stories, it’s time to practice. No matter how many times you’ve demoed your product or how experienced a sales professional you are, conferences demand their own kind of practice. After all, this might be your one chance to deliver your elevator pitch in an actual elevator!

One of the best ways to practice is to roleplay with your colleagues. What scenarios should you roleplay? You overhear an industry conversation at the bar. You’re waiting for a cab with another conference attendee. You meet one of the keynote speakers on the conference floor. You run into one of your target prospects. The more you practice, the better prepared you’ll be for any situation.

WHO’S WHO

You know what you need to accomplish to make this conference worth your time and energy, and you know exactly how to articulate who you are and what you do as it relates to what attendees are looking for. Next, it’s time to figure out to whom you’ll be delivering your newly-honed message.

Get your hands on a conference attendee list. This can often be secured by hosting an event or food/drink station at the conference. (You remembered to figure that into your conference cost calculations, right?) Who on this list are your prospects? Which specific organizations and people do you want to be sure to make connections with while at the event? You’re going to start emailing them right away.

If there are specific individuals that deserve special attention, create dossiers on them. Dossiers should include in-depth information on the person and their company. What is their company’s current focus? Has the company or the individual been in recent news articles? What do you and this person have in common that you could work into a conversation (e.g., alma mater, hobbies, hometown).

What if your top prospect walked by and you didn’t even realize it? The worst, right? Be sure to include their photo so that you will recognize them at the event. You’re going to start emailing these folks as well, but you’ll be doing so individually instead of with the rest of the group. They require more personalized messaging.

Are you ready for the conference now? Not even close. Next week we’ll cover everything else that needs to be prepared before you don your conference nametag. Yes, preparing for and making the most of conferences is a lot of work, but the return on investment will make it worth it—we promise.

Do you need a better conference calculator that doesn’t miss any hidden costs? Contact us a mastery@maestrogroup.co.