5 Steps to Accelerating Your B2B Sales Pipeline Through Hosting Thought-Leadership Events

Does your sales team have a list of target accounts they’ve been chasing for a while but never get any response from? Do they have accounts that they’ve been in touch with, but the targets aren’t quite sure if your product or service is the right fit for them? Did your happy hour invitations always go dark? Decision makers are often very busy and rarely do they respond to salespeople’s emails, not to mention making time for your happy hour. Why would they spend time with people they don’t know instead of being with their families? However, if the event can provide them with valuable insights, they may spend the evening learning from your company and their peers in the industry. If you know what they’re interested in learning, hosting an intimate, high-value thought-leadership event will be the solution to getting some face time with them.

What is a thought-leadership event?

A thought-leadership event can be defined as a relationship building event where subject matter experts (SMEs) speak on a topic that the target audience cares about. According to "The Event Marketing Revolution" published by Harvard Business Review last year, hosted thought-leadership workshops are one of the most popular event types. Rather than selling at the event, it serves as a platform for you to showcase your company’s expertise and an opportunity for your team to network and better understand your targets' needs. It's a soft sell approach where you focus on giving value and building a community. Through establishing yourself as a thought leader in the industry, your prospects will see you as an expert. They will be willing to learn more about your product, whether it be having a sales meeting with you or attending another event hosted by your company in the future. It's an effective way to build a long-term relationship with your high value targets and keep your brand top of mind. When they need help in solving business problems, they'll reach out to you and hopefully buy from you. Thought leadership events can work wonders for your team, if you have the right elements. Here are five important steps to creating a great thought-leadership event that generate business opportunities.

Step 1 - Identify your targets

Every salesperson has a different way of building their books of business. However, a thought-leadership event can open the door for your sales team to meet with their high value targets, for example, c-suite executives and senior management leaders. Depending on the product you’re selling, your targets are going to be different. It’s important to identify the right targets who can speak on the same topics so that they can have an intellectual interchange. For example, if you are going to organize a roundtable discussion, you probably want to invite targets who hold similar titles in the industry because they likely face similar challenges. Ideally, you want 20%-30% existing clients at the event to be your evangelists and advocate for your brand. People listen to their peers, rather than salespeople. Let your clients speak for you. 

Step 2 - Determine the size and scale of the event

Depending on the group of people you are targeting, the size of the event may vary. For example, if you’re targeting c-suite executives, a small, intimate roundtable discussion with about 12-15 people could be a draw. However, if you’re targeting middle management, a seminar with about 25-30 people may work well. It should be a very targeted event, where you only invite the right people. The quality of the contacts and discussion matter much more than the number. 

Step 3 - Develop a thought leadership program

To create a successful thought leadership program, you need to think about the following:

Topic

Is this a hot topic that your targets would care about? For example, executives tend to be interested in industry trends and ideas whereas managers may be more interested in ways to increase workflow efficiency. Pick a topic that's relevant to them, so that they can share their challenges, experiences and best practices with one another. Again, you’re trying to add value and interact with them in a meaningful way.

Thought leaders

While it's tempting to place only your company's thought leaders on the panel and promote your brand, it's always ideal to have at least a client and a prospect to make the panel more diverse. For example, if your product is a data analytics software tool, you could invite a client of yours, who may be a principal data scientist at a reputable company, a top target you want to sell to, who's a director of business intelligence, and your product owner. When choosing speakers, consider if they're generally well-versed and not afraid of expressing opinions in front of a crowd.

Content

It's important to introduce speakers to each other and have a prep call so they can get to know each other before the event. They may also have some suggested changes to the proposed content. Let them make the call, as long as it helps facilitate the discussion.

Step 4 - Add something fun

After hosting a seminar or roundtable, it's time to connect with your prospects on a personal level. For example, you could do something exclusive with the targets after an intimate roundtable or throw a party after a seminar. People loosen up at a fun and relaxing atmosphere and hence you get to know about them, learn about what they do with their kids on weekends and what cuisine they like the most. The key is to strengthen the relationship with them.

Here’s the fun part that you should work with your regional sales team – planning a fun post-seminar party. Local teams generally have great recommendations and exclusive club access. Some popular networking events I’ve done include magic shows in LA, Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, regional sporting games in a private suite and having caricaturists at a holiday party. Some of the events require private membership access which makes the event a big draw because of its exclusiveness.

Step 5 - Pilot in a region

If your company has little experience hosting thought leadership events, it’s better to pilot in a region. Find a sales superstar who can make your first pilot a success!

Business opportunities aren't created overnight- they are built one relationship at a time.

Originally published on Medium