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Educational workshops give you the opportunity to connect with prospects, to position yourself as a community thought leader and to grow your business. We have drawn on years of experience from top insurance and financial planning professionals who have built successful businesses using educational workshops to acquire clients and can provide you with best practices and proven formulas to reach more prospects, gain them as clients and grow your business.
When thinking about the client journey, not only do first impressions matter, but every interaction matters also. You want each prospect’s experience with you and your brand to be pleasant. Thinking about your workshop from a customer’s perspective will help you craft an exceptional customer experience.
Before you start marketing your workshop, map out the path that an attendee will take. Plot out each touchpoint they’ll have with you and your staff, and think about how you can make each touchpoint special. Use these touchpoints and questions to guide your planning:
When they call to register for the workshop
What information do you want to collect? Make a list or spreadsheet that serves to prompt your staff to ask for it and to record it.
How do you want attendees to feel? Clearly communicate to your staff the importance of this initial interaction and how you want each registrant to feel.
What information do you want to share at this time? Make sure your staff has all the event details and knows answers to questions attendees may ask. Make a list of all the event information, so they don’t have to fumble searching for it.
If they contact you through social media
If you use social media to promote your event, make sure you respond to questions immediately and warmly.
When they are getting ready to attend the workshop
What information can you provide prospects in the days leading up to the seminar not just to boost attendance but also to ease uncertainty and make them feel prepared? Please note: you cannot contact (phone) registrants for two Client Stream workshops — “Your Core Retirement Decisions” and “Understanding Medicare” — unless you have obtained member completed compliant permission to contact forms, per CMS regulations. Remember that for those two workshops, the event must be free and open to the public. For the other workshops, call to remind registrants of the event and provide the address, directions and details about parking.
When they arrive at the workshop
How will you make them feel welcome? Consider creating signage to clearly direct them to your meeting space.
Who will greet them and how? Coach your staff on how you expect them to greet registrants. How will you gracefully handle people who didn’t register? Do you want to provide a pen and paper for them to take notes? Consider providing a pen and notepad with your company name and contact information.
At the conclusion of your workshop
What can you offer them to deliver the unique value you’ve said you can provide? Offer to meet with them for personalized advice or service, depending on the topic of your seminar. Have a sign-up sheet for follow-up calls to set up the appointment, and consider giving out marketing pieces that will keep you front of mind. (At Medicare educational events, agents are not allowed to display or distribute marketing materials, but they are allowed to make available and collect consumer contact information such as business reply cards.)
After the workshop
How do you want your prospects to feel after the workshop? Follow up in a timely manner — within the timeframe you promised — with whatever you promised. This will build trust, but failing to do as you promised will most likely end the relationship before it really started.
Congratulations — you’re on your way to creating a steady stream of clients. As you repeat your workshops, you’ll continue to learn and refine your client journey process for even greater success.
Need Help With a Marketing Plan?
Senior Market Sales® (SMS) can help you determine a marketing plan based on your budget and expectations. A marketing consultant will walk you through a personalized process to figure out how much marketing you need to do to reach your income goals and what return on investment you can expect. Call a marketing consultant at 1.800.786.5566.
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