[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]
\n\t\t\t[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]
\n\t\t\t\t[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]by Brad Wayland, Chief Strategy Officer, BlueCotton<\/p>\n
As an event management professional, one of the biggest challenges you\u2019ll face is the question of how to retain clients. How do you keep your attendees satisfied? How do you ensure your guests will want to keep coming back to your conferences and trade shows?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry – it\u2019s actually a lot easier than you\u2019d think. Like everything else in your industry, it\u2019s all about how you relate to people. And that\u2019s where we come in.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about a few of the ways you can ensure your clients stick with you through thick and thin.<\/p>\n
The most important element of client retention is simple communication. Maintain an ongoing dialogue between clients, event attendees, and event staff. Engage with your clients directly over social media, and sit down with your staff after each event you run to listen to their thoughts.<\/p>\n
What did you do well? What did you do poorly? What could have gone better? These are all questions you\u2019ll need to answer.<\/p>\n
This communication should go beyond handing out surveys after an event. Watch what your fans are saying on social media, and connect with them there. Have staff reach out to talk to any guests who look like they\u2019re unhappy, bored, or uncomfortable. In short, be proactive – address problems before they become problems wherever possible.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s true that you should always be scanning for potential problems, it\u2019s also important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. What I\u2019m trying to say here is that not all feedback is going to be valuable to your team at all times. If you see something pop up regularly in your event surveys, then there\u2019s a good chance it\u2019s a legitimate pain point.<\/p>\n
If just a single guest has unkind things to say about a speaker that\u2019s received praise from everyone else, you can probably ignore that feedback – they might just be having a bad day.<\/p>\n
While we\u2019re on the topic, don\u2019t change everything overnight. To be truly successful, change takes time. It\u2019s something you need to implement gradually. Try to change too much too fast, and you might well crash and burn.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve likely heard the mantra before, but as an event manager, your job is about managing people as much as it is running events. To that end, you should personalize your marketing<\/a> and media towards your ideal attendee. Design the experience your events offer so that they resonate with your most valued customers.<\/p>\n Another critical element of retaining your clientele is to establish momentum with your events – to constantly keep people aware of the next event you\u2019ve got planned. If you\u2019re hosting a recurring event, inform attendees about the next time they can attend. Drop hints about upcoming shows and speakers on social media. Recommend events that you think attendees at one of your events might be interested in.<\/p>\n Basically, always stay active.<\/p>\n Last but certainly not least – and this might seem a bit obvious to some – always strive to be better. Keep a close eye on your event-related analytics to see if you can identify pain points. Think about the different ways you can enhance your marketing. The moment you grow complacent and think you\u2019ve got nothing left to learn or improve on is the moment you\u2019ve lost.<\/p>\n There you have it. The advice above gives you everything you need to keep your clients satisfied. The rest is up to you.<\/p>\n Brad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton<\/a>, a site with high-quality, easy-to-design custom t-shirts.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column] by Brad Wayland, Chief Strategy Officer, BlueCotton Client retention is one of the biggest challenges in event management. How do you ensure both customers and attendees remain satisfied enough that they keep coming back? As an event management professional, one of the biggest challenges you\u2019ll face is the question of how to retain clients. How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"by Brad Wayland, Chief Strategy Officer, BlueCotton\n4. Keep Up Your Momentum<\/h3>\n
5. Never Stop Evaluating<\/h3>\n
People Are Your Lifeblood<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t[\/et_pb_row]
\n\t\t[\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Client retention is one of the biggest challenges in event management. How do you ensure both customers and attendees remain satisfied enough that they keep coming back?<\/h6>\nAs an event management professional, one of the biggest challenges you\u2019ll face is the question of how to retain clients. How do you keep your attendees satisfied? How do you ensure your guests will want to keep coming back to your conferences and trade shows?\n\nDon\u2019t worry - it\u2019s actually a lot easier than you\u2019d think. Like everything else in your industry, it\u2019s all about how you relate to people. And that\u2019s where we come in.\n\nLet\u2019s talk about a few of the ways you can ensure your clients stick with you through thick and thin.\n
1. Talk - And Listen - To Your Attendees and Staff<\/h3>\nThe most important element of client retention is simple communication. Maintain an ongoing dialogue between clients, event attendees, and event staff. Engage with your clients directly over social media, and sit down with your staff after each event you run to listen to their thoughts.\n\nWhat did you do well? What did you do poorly? What could have gone better? These are all questions you\u2019ll need to answer.\n\nThis communication should go beyond handing out surveys after an event. Watch what your fans are saying on social media, and connect with them there. Have staff reach out to talk to any guests who look like they\u2019re unhappy, bored, or uncomfortable. In short, be proactive - address problems before they become problems wherever possible.\n
2. Only Change What Obviously Doesn\u2019t Work<\/h3>\nWhile it\u2019s true that you should always be scanning for potential problems, it\u2019s also important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. What I\u2019m trying to say here is that not all feedback is going to be valuable to your team at all times. If you see something pop up regularly in your event surveys, then there\u2019s a good chance it\u2019s a legitimate pain point.\n\nIf just a single guest has unkind things to say about a speaker that\u2019s received praise from everyone else, you can probably ignore that feedback - they might just be having a bad day.\n\nWhile we\u2019re on the topic, don\u2019t change everything overnight. To be truly successful, change takes time. It\u2019s something you need to implement gradually. Try to change too much too fast, and you might well crash and burn.\n
3. Personalize Your Marketing<\/h3>\nYou\u2019ve likely heard the mantra before, but as an event manager, your job is about managing people as much as it is running events. To that end, you should personalize your marketing<\/a> and media towards your ideal attendee. Design the experience your events offer so that they resonate with your most valued customers.\n
4. Keep Up Your Momentum<\/h3>\nAnother critical element of retaining your clientele is to establish momentum with your events - to constantly keep people aware of the next event you\u2019ve got planned. If you\u2019re hosting a recurring event, inform attendees about the next time they can attend. Drop hints about upcoming shows and speakers on social media. Recommend events that you think attendees at one of your events might be interested in.\n\nBasically, always stay active.\n
5. Never Stop Evaluating<\/h3>\nLast but certainly not least - and this might seem a bit obvious to some - always strive to be better. Keep a close eye on your event-related analytics to see if you can identify pain points. Think about the different ways you can enhance your marketing. The moment you grow complacent and think you\u2019ve got nothing left to learn or improve on is the moment you\u2019ve lost.\n
People Are Your Lifeblood<\/h3>\nThere you have it. The advice above gives you everything you need to keep your clients satisfied. The rest is up to you.\n\nBrad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton<\/a>, a site with high-quality, easy-to-design custom t-shirts.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-1050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-tricks","tag-event-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}