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APRIL 2007
How One Company Closed 75% of their Audience
Call blitz programs and lunch & learns have been around for years, but how many new prospects are signing up after the meeting? In my last letter I presented information on how to attract C-Level prospects with a compelling message (Read Feb 2007) - this month I want to share some successes with you.
Recent Article Featuring David Stelzl: http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/02/10/money/doc45cea78cc0667173316455.txt
Are they signing up after your program?
Once the meeting ends and the attendees return to their offices, your close ratio goes way down. The problem with most marketing events is - no strategy. In our marketing events we are consistently closing 75% of the attendees, but not by chance. Over the past year I have conducted many of these events; following is one case study.
1. The Attendees
This event started long before the day of the event. The attendees were chosen carefully - mostly new prospects, but with a few strategically chosen executives that would speak highly of the reseller. One thing we have learned - executives enjoy meeting with other executives more than they look forward to technology advice. We used this to our advantage by marketing some of the names that would be in attendance.
2. Sales Preparation
In most events I have attended, sales people attend hoping to meet people. In this event each sales person had a special role. Equipped ahead of time with principles from the Making Money with Security Workshop, they were armed with a schedule to sign people up for the risk assessment. The goal; to close every person at their table.
3. The Message
Industry experts help bring in the audience, however the message has to tie directly to an action plan. Each sales person understood my message before I stood before their new prospects. As the message unfolded each sale person had already rehearsed questions and a close that would drive attendees to commit.
4. The Follow up
The follow up plan has to be executed seamlessly. Each month we met to review the progress of each assessment. As obstacles were encountered we worked out alternative strategies. We started our process with a belief that 95% of these attendees would be considered insecure if we were to conduct a thorough security investigation. With this in mind, it was our job to prove to them that this specific risk evaluation process was a necessary step and that delaying it might result in significant liabilities for their organization, or for them personally.
The results speak for themselves. How many call blitz programs and seminars would you need to conduct, to sign up 30 or even 20 new C-Level prospects?
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