Hosting a successful corporate event can set a company up for success for the duration of the year. These events can bring clients that were on the edge of signing an extension with a company and lead to them finalizing it.
Customer appreciation events can be a corporate event that not only delivers on ROI in terms of closing deals but they can also improve customer loyalty. Customers and clients want to feel valued so an intricate event can make them feel this way which is invaluable.
Planning one of these events is a huge undertaking as the success as well as the failures of the event will fall on one or a few people responsible to the logistics of the event. Developing a strategy and executing can be simple if the processes picked are straight forward and there is an easy to follow flow of work.
The following are tips that will help develop and execute a corporate event strategy for an event attendees will be talking about for months to come.
A Reliable Event Planning Solution Helps Work Flow
Being able to handle a project with so many variables like that of a corporate event requires tools to help stay organize and complete each task by its deadline. The ability to assign others in the organization tasks that their department will take ownership of is imperative, and endless emails back and forth to track of these tasks isn’t always the most efficient option. Strategic event planning takes into account all kinds of factors that will impact the quality of the event as well as the experiences of the attendees.
Not looking for a corporate event planning solution to help optimize everything is not allowing your event to be as efficient as possible to plan.
Utilize Automation For The Event
Tasks that can be automated should be automated as a person can handle other tasks that are far less tedious. An email blast or automatically adding a new attendee to a list after a ticket or registration is purchased is a great example.
The ability to connect solutions whether it is an accounting solution or a CRM is imperative. This can help increase registration and assure that certain clients or sales prospects will be making the event. The automated process will assign tasks automatically which eliminates human error as it can be difficult to remember if everything was assigned when you have a team of 20 to manage.
A Focus On Attendee’s Event Experience
The attendee experience is important factor for an event, as a positive one will keep people coming back year after year.
Asking for feedback is one of the most important things that can be done as you will discover trends that will reinforce successes, as well as point out areas of improvement. There are some people that cannot be pleased but look for the themes in the feedback for where the event can be improved.
Monitoring social media can also be a good idea, as planners can answer questions about the event or resolve any attendees issues they post about .
Onsite technology, like an event mobile app, can also greatly improves the attendee experience. Mobile apps are an easy to use tool that allows attendees to navigate their experience onsite by building their own event agenda, messaging other attendees for networking opportunities, finding key locations on a floor plan and more.
Setting Event Budget and Getting The Most For That Money
Finding a venue and working with vendors for an event should be handled by a great negotiator, as these factors can dramatically affect your budget. Utilizing technology like a venue sourcing platform can help a company get the most out of their current budget by simplifying and managing the negotiation process.
The venue is the perfect place to start haggling as promising to throw multiple events at the venue can help drive the price down. Partnering with a company that handles the catering to allow their brand to be featured is also a good way to drive down food costs.
Making sure your budget also effectively covers marketing is imperative as getting the word out about something like a conference will increase registration numbers and will lead to event success at the end of the day.
Conclusion
Planning a corporate event is going to take quite a bit of patience as well as a proactive approach as things will not just fall into place. Handle the manageable details and run this like a project as it is one that can really pay off for a company as well as a person’s professional trajectory.