One of the most effective ways to show your clients how much you appreciate them, is through the hosting of a client event.
This event can be with twelve clients and guests or up to twenty clients and guests. I wouldn’t host events much larger than this because it tends to get impersonal. Events include dinners, attending sporting events, golf clinics and outings, wine-tasting, art exhibits with the artists, fly-fishing, bowling or whatever many of your clients enjoy doing.
It doesn’t matter what event you host because if done right, the results are stellar. Let’s take a look at how to host a restaurant event. A client-appreciation luncheon or dinner can be organized within four weeks if you follow this checklist. This is the exact repeatable process I have used when I have coached other top producers and helped them coordinate these events. I have hosted more than 250 events nationwide, so I know exactly what works and what doesn’t.
1. Location: Schedule a lunch or dinner at a nice restaurant with a private room. It should be a place that is easy to find, with plenty of parking, good food, and room for your guests. We have found the ideal group size to be between twenty-five and fifty people, which will make this intimate and comfortable for your guests. That is why a restaurant that is easy to get to can really set the stage for a successful event.
2. Speaker and Date: If you decide to have a guest speaker talk during dinner and the talk should be during the meal, invite a very good speaker who will provide the presentation you need for the current market or a timely topic your clients would enjoy hearing about. This should be a brief, twenty to thirty-minute entertaining presentation, not a product pitch. Remember, this is an appreciation event, not a product-pushing night. If your speaker is outstanding, this event will be very enjoyable. If your clients have fun, business and referrals will often follow. Every time I have spoken at these events, the advisor has gained more business immediately following the event. So find a terrific speaker with an interesting topic and expect to have some fun.
3. Coordinate Available Dates and Times: Make sure to check with the restaurant and your favorite speaker about their availabilities. Be sure that you have seen them speak to an audience before and know what the presentation will be. This is your event and you get the final say.
4. Financing: If you do not want to cover the entire costs of the event, call your favorite wholesalers and ask if they will contribute to the cost of your event, if that is okay with your company and compliance. I have found that our business is about partnerships between you, your clients, and the wholesalers who sincerely take an interest in your success. These events are not expensive, by the way, and generally one or two wholesalers can cover the costs. If you are going to ask for wholesaler support, only ask those you give business to. This is a win-win relationship.
5. Invitation List: Your goal is to have between twenty-five to fifty people at dinner. Clients, significant others, and guests combine for that total. List the clients within thirty minutes of the restaurant. Then, call them¼yes¼call to invite them to your client-appreciation dinner. This is an important difference from the way most people organized events like these in the past. Tell them that you are having a small gathering of some of your local clients and would like them to join you for a nice dinner or whatever event you decide to host. Give them the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, and why. If you call them four to eight weeks before the event, you will know immediately who can attend and who cannot. Getting fifteen clients who say yes to your lunch or dinner usually means twenty-five to thirty people will attend, when you consider couples. Let them know that they are welcome to bring a guest and dinner is your treat, but it is not mandatory that they bring someone with them. One successful advisor says it this way. "Jim, you and Tracie have been great clients over the years and I'd like to invite you to a dinner we're hosting for a small number of our clients. You are welcome to bring a guest if you'd like and dinner will be my treat. Just let me know if you are bringing anyone besides Tracie, so that we have enough room for seating." Your guests may also need to be reminded that this is not a product pitch, but instead a fun evening with plenty of nice people and a delicious meal. I'm suggesting that you call to invite them to your event because calling your clients saves you time, money, and the hassle of mailing invitations and waiting for replies. By the way, I have been to client-appreciation events with two hundred people, but they are very impersonal and your clients will not ask questions nor will they mingle much. I have found the smaller events to be much more successful for you and a lot easier to organize. You may want to try a few smaller events and see for yourself. Calling them directly works very successfully and I know it firsthand. Some clients will not be able to join you, but they will still feel special because you invited them. Let them know that you'll invite them to another event in the near future. You have just touched them again and as you know, the best salespeople in the business "touch" their clients at least a dozen times each year.
6. Confirm: Confirm with all those who have said yes to your invitation. Send an e-mail or invitation with all the details and the 5 Ws. Have your sales assistant call to confirm with your guests two days before the event. Some of your guests will cancel because of a scheduling conflict. Do not worry about it; just invite them to the next one.
7. Arrive Early: I always like to arrive sixty to ninety minutes before the event to allow time for any surprises. Is the room set up correctly? If not, you have time to make the necessary changes. Also, check the temperature, lighting, sound, and overall comfort. Provide your personal biography or marketing page for everyone to read. (You should definitely have one of these by now.) Then meet and greet your guests, many of whom will start arriving twenty minutes before the event. Have fun and relax, because this is your dinner party for them. Begin the Event: Welcome everyone, share your "elevator speech," and tell him or her what you have planned for the evening.
8. Guest Speaker Presentation (optional): The presentation should be given while your guests are eating, not after they are finished. Many folks have been up since early morning and will get sleepy after the meal. The presentation may be important but not nearly as important as your clients' enjoyment. I have watched events when a guest speaker has spoken for sixty minutes after the coffee and dessert was served. It was a very sleepy audience. You also want a topic that your guests will find interesting or entertaining. A heavy topic like beta coefficient or the efficient frontier will not be much fun for anyone. These folks do not care about those things, because they have you as their expert. Find a speaker who can entertain and make this evening a great success for you and your guests. A twenty-minute market overview with some fun factoids can be completed while they eat their dinner. If you do it this way, the evening will last just about ninety minutes, and your clients will be much more alert and upbeat.
9. Close the Event: Thank everyone for joining you, have a few raffle prizes, and be sure to share a gift with the clients who have shared the most referrals with you in the past quarter. One advisor by the name of Jay Irving, closed the evening like this. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for joining us tonight and it looks like we've all had a lot of fun. I want to thank you for your loyalty, friendship, and, as importantly, your referrals. This has been one of my best years ever for referrals and I sincerely thank you. As we close this dinner tonight, I'd like to share a gift with one client who has given me the most referrals these past three months." Jay proceeded to give this client a spectacular gift basket with cheese, wine, books, and all sorts of fun stuff, in front of the entire room. It was a fantastic sight to see. What was especially amazing is that this client, who had given Jay five referrals, was worth eight million dollars. The client was so touched by Jay's kind gesture in front of the audience that he called Jay the next morning and gave three more referrals. Public praise goes a long way in all parts of life and it sends a message to others that you really appreciate referrals of people like them! This is an excellent way to let your clients know how much you like getting referrals!
10. Follow-up: Send a thank-you note or e-mail and ask for feedback about your event. Also review what they liked and may want to hear about in the future. Review with your speaker and sales assistant as to what went well and what should be changed. Did your guests enjoy themselves? How was the speaker? Did the restaurant do as they promised? Plan the next one and have fun.
This is a perfect time of the year to host an event.
It’s a new year an easy way to catch up with your clients in person. If you host an event with less than twenty clients and guests, it isn’t time consuming and is very rewarding. Not sure? Then try it and let me know how much fun you all had and how many referrals you gained.