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In the first installment in this ongoing series about open houses, I wrote that a successful open house will develop through four stages: the planning stage, the invitation stage, the big day itself, and the follow-up stage. I hope you'll remember my baseball analogy, that the planning stage gets you to first base; the invitation stage gets you to second base; the big day itself takes you to third base; but it won't be a home run unless you follow up to maximize the business-building value of the event.
Big Day and Follow Up Strategy
During the course of the "model" event I wrote about last month, my client made it a point to talk personally with as many attendees as she could. We planned in advance that the "script" for these conversations would be to ask if the visitor had seen anything that surprised them—some capability, for example, that they didn't know her company had. When she sat down with her notes from those conversations, she found that she had 27 people to follow up with about projects they had no pervious idea she could handle.
Making a "Hit List"
I also had her put together a "hit list" before the event—a list of the highest priority people she wanted to make sure to talk to. Of the 24 people on that list, she spoke with 19 of them during the course of the day. The other five were among the no-shows.
That was okay, because we went into the open house with a follow up strategy in mind for just that situation. My client had made up a number of special "gift boxes" for her priority targets, and the ones who did attend took those giveaways home with them.
With the five who didn't show up, she called them the day after the open house and said: "I'm sorry that you weren't able to attend yesterday. Among other things, we had some very nice giveaway items…but I saved a set for you! How about this, let's set a time that would be good for you to come over, and I'll give you your gifts and a personal shop tour!"
In addition to those five, there were seven other high-priority customers and prospects who never committed to attend. They got the same follow up treatment!
Bottom Line
My client was very happy with the return on her open house investment. I hope you'll see that a well-planned and well-executed open house could probably do a lot for your business too. Give it some thought, but remember, this is not just a matter of throwing a party. It's a business strategy that should be intended to improve your business!
David M. Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact him at 919-363-4068 or visit his website at www.davefellman.com.
author: DAVID FELLMAN