How many events have you attended or hosted in the last six months, and how successful were they? If you don’t know the answer to that question, it could be because you aren’t tracking the data of the events themselves and follow up activities. Without this data, it’s impossible to know whether the events are worth the investment of resources and time or, frankly, wasted efforts.
This is another use where the E2-CRM–Client Relationship Management—really shines: tracking the impact of the events you attend as well as those your firm presents.
Incorporating the E2-CRM into events presented by the firm. If you are inviting guests from your database, you’ll have easy access to learn who was invited, when they were invited, how they were invited (paper, email, personal phone call), when they responded to the invitation and whether or not they attended. If your best clients don’t respond, a report will make that crystal clear—and you’ll know it’s time to do some legwork to find out why.
Say thank you. Don’t neglect this all important and simple reason to be in touch! You can include a request for them to complete a survey to generate feedback on the event and further engage them with the firm. Most people are eager to share their opinions and this gives you a great opportunity to indulge them!
Drip email campaigns for event follow up. Set up a series of emails to go to those who attended the event and those who were invited but did not attend. The emails will be different, for obvious reasons. For those who attended: if there was a topic that seemed to be of special interest to the group, make sure to focus on that topic. Include links to a relevant landing page on your website. And of course, don’t forget to include several points of contact, including the ability to engage with your automated intake system.
What about events that you attend? If you are a guest or a speaker, know in advance what your goals are for the event. Are you going to meet new prospects, referral sources or build rapport with community leaders? When you return to the office, make sure that any contact information that you have obtained is added into the system and evaluate the contacts for follow up. If a drip email campaign is appropriate, it’ll be easy to put in motion using E2 CRM.
Sharing hard data with the entire team. Often, we find the hard data serves as a reality check on the success of events. Members of your team may have enjoyed their time out of the office and they might have great anecdotal stories to share of the people they met at the event. But if the event has not translated into new clients or even new referral sources, the data in the CRM will make this abundantly clear.