Doing this event might bring in more business

We want you to ask yourself something, when was the last time you showed your best clients how much you truly appreciate working with them? When was the last time you told them you value their continued trust and confidence?

For most professionals, it likely is not as often as they would like to and certainly not as consistently as they should. These are the clients that you truly appreciate and want to replicate in your practice. These are the people you actually look forward to meeting with in person and speaking with on the telephone. These are the folks that keep your business afloat. That’s why it’s so important to take the time and effort to show them how much you appreciate them – without strings attached. The concept's quite simple, we all know people buy from people, but it's actually people buy from people they trust and value. So what do you need to do to build trust and value?

Here's one way how you do that, host a “Client Appreciation Event”. We’ve all heard of them, but most people don’t know where to begin in terms of planning one and some of them haven't really gotten stellar results in the past. Well let’s fix that – it’s not as difficult as you might think (You're probably mumbling in the back of your head *easy for you to say*). Well, at least give us a chance to explain. The first thing you've got to remember is the only outcome we need from this event is to make it meaningful and memorable for the people coming to the event, the rest will fall into place, here are some tips to get started and nail the event.

Tip #1: Who should you invite to your client appreciation event?

The only people you should invite to this event are your Ideal Clients – in other words, your preferred clients. These are the individuals who do enough business with you to make the effort worthwhile, have a great attitude when it comes to working with you, and finally, but most important of all – willingly recommend you to people they know. This is an event for your ‘advocates’. This is an opportunity to show them how much you appreciate their trust and confidence in you and your professional abilities.

Note: Since the objective of a Client Appreciation Event is to spend quality time with your best clients, you don’t want a large group of people attending. We're aiming for exclusivity here. Quality over quantity. This is a case where “less is more”.

Tip #2: What's the secret to making sure they show up?

Your event guests are special. The event itself is special. So it only makes sense that the invitation to this event also needs to be special. Use a nice invitation card with a pre-printed message inside containing all of the event details. Do not send a letter: that is not special. First impression of a proposal matters. The invitation should make them feel special and good about themselves. It needs to be unique. Ultimately, it needs to create enthusiasm and anticipation for the event.

Always ensure invitations are mailed with an actual postage stamp and not run through a postage machine. Even neatly hand-write the address on the envelope whenever possible. Trust us, the personal touch goes a long way, subconsciously.?

Note: Invitations should be mailed out one month prior to the event. If you use Toolkit CRM, you can filter out your top clients based on your client classification rules and interest (more on filtering out by interest later) right within the CRM and export their addresses.

Tip #3: What kind of event should you host?

There's a plethora of Client Appreciation Events you could host. Some ideas are:

● Fine Dining

● Wine Tasting

● Golfing

● Festival of Lights Holiday Light Tour

● July 4th Picnic & Celebration (US)

● July 1st Picnic & Celebration (Canada)

● Attending a Sporting Event

● Attending an Arts & Cultural Event (Concert, Play, Museum, etc.)

● Dinner Cruise

● Skiing

● Fundraiser Special Event

● Whale Watching (or other nature/environmental attractions)

● Private tour of a local attraction

The secret to ensuring your clients truly enjoy is to just host an event they'll enjoy. Pretty easy for us to say, isn't it? You see, you don't take a kid to a business conference nor do you take an adult to a toy store, it simply isn't enjoyable. If you want to pick the right event, it has to be based on what you know about each of them (i.e. their FORM information). What are their hobbies and interests? This will tell you exactly the kind of event your clients will appreciate and want to attend.

When planning the event venue, make sure there is somewhere that you can meet as a social group during the event. This is straightforward when organizing a fine-dining or wine-tasting experience. However, if you are having an event based around an arts & cultural performance or sporting event, it’s best to have a pre-performance get-together at the same venue, if possible. Many venues have private rooms you can book for your group that could even come with beverage and appetizer service. If that is not possible, book a private dining space in a restaurant nearby.

Do your homework. Go visit the venue prior to booking it and determine if it is suitable and appropriate for your event. The last thing you want is to realize that this isn't what you really wanted on the day of the event.

Note: When referring to your event by name or on the invitation, be sure to give it a creative name that catches your client’s attention. Instead of inviting them to ‘Golf’, invite them to your “Annual Spring Swing Golf Clinic”. Your clients can enjoy a half-hour lesson with a pro and then enjoy a round of golf with you and your other clients.

Tip #4: How often should you host a client appreciation event?

You should host a Client Appreciation Event at least once a year. And, if you have it at around the same time each year and you have a consistent invitation process with event branding (i.e. Annual Spring Swing Golf Clinic), you will create consistency around the event and your clients will begin to look forward to it.

Tip #5: At the Event

Make sure your clients are greeted appropriately as they arrive and thank them each for coming. You also need to address the group in its entirety to officially ‘kick off’ the event. All that is required is that you, again, thank them for coming and tell them how much you and your team appreciate working with them. You can add that you value the continued trust and confidence they place in you professionally and you look forward to continuing to help them and the people they care about as their lives unfold and their needs evolve.

Regardless of the event you choose, there is absolutely no “shop talk”. This event is about spending quality time with your best clients on a personal level, where they feel comfortable being themselves and having a good time.

Tip #6: The Follow Up

The next day, you should send Thank You cards to all those who attended the event. Tell them it was a pleasure seeing them and that you hope they had a good time. Depending on the event, you might also want to include a personal comment relating to the event such as the client’s golf score, the wine you enjoyed together, the art you saw, etc. This will further demonstrate you were paying attention to them at the event.

Tip #7: Invite additional Guests!

This is one of the best parts: Open up the opportunity for your clients to bring someone else along. What a terrific opportunity to get to meet the friends and family of your best clients in a pleasant, relaxed and fun environment. Let them know that, if they're important to your client, they're important to you too. That's how you set the stage for future opportunities.

Also, remember that most people would rather invite their friends to attend a wine-tasting or sporting event than a two-hour workshop or seminar. This is exactly the kind of activity that helps you replicate your best clients.

So make it short, sweet, and memorable.