The Secrets of Selling, 2nd Edition

1038

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Finding new business through seminars

The third factor in deciding who to send is one you might not

readily think of. Men make up 80 to 90 per cent of the attendance

at these events, but analysis by the organisers shows that buyers

request to meet females at roughly twice the rate they request to

meet males. Therefore the female staff you send are likely to be

the most successful.

Now we turn to . . .

Running your own seminars

The cost of running your own seminar will probably be between

£20,000 and £40,000. (A lot of the variation depends on how you

view the cost of your staff’s time.) However, when done as they

should be done, seminars can pay you back several times over.

The purpose of seminars

The key benet of seminars is that they allow your staff to mingle

with the attendees. In practice, this means that the two most

effective formats are:

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a morning seminar followed by lunch

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an afternoon seminar followed by drinks and snacks.

Either format is ne; it’s the mingling that matters. The best ratio

will be one member of your staff to every four attendees. (Attendees

often come in pairs.) Too few of your staff means they will not get

round to everyone. Too many and the attendees will feel they are

being ‘sold’ to. The topics you choose should be about develop-

ments in your sector, not developments in your company, because

the best seminars are always the ones that do not sell overtly.

Choosing the right venue

Your company will be judged by the venue you choose for the

seminar, so choose somewhere upmarket. The smarter the venue,

the easier it is to justify your charges. A cheap venue is usually a

false economy.

Part 2

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How to fi nd new business104

When choosing a venue, you should not rely on brochures and

websites but visit the site in person. The best venues are often

booked  ve to six months ahead so you will need to plan accord-

ingly. Also, the costs of venues vary remarkably, so with a little

shopping around it is relatively easy to get an upmarket venue

at a mid-market price. Ensure you choose the right size venue

(Fig. 8.3).

100–200 people

2,200 sq. feet

50–100 people

1,300 sq. feet

15–50 people

900 sq. feet

5–15 people

450 sq. feet

A good rule of thumb is as follows:

5–15 people

15–50 people

50–100 people

100–200 people

450 sq. feet

900 sq. feet

1,300 sq. feet

2,200 sq. feet

40 sq. metres

80 sq. metres

120 sq. metres

200 sq. metres

0

21

30

36

47

Figure 8.3 Choosing the right size venue

You will want at least two rooms. One for the presentations and one

for people to drink coffee and mingle during the breaks. You might

also want storage space and a separate room for your speakers.

Choosing the right date

An easy way to maximise the audience for your seminar is to pick

a date on which lots of people can attend. This is quite easy to do

if you follow certain rules:

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The later in the week you hold the seminar, the more people

will attend. Therefore you should choose a Thursday or

Friday. However, people do not like staying late on Fridays,

so afternoon events should be held on Thursdays. Morning

and lunch-only events run best on Fridays.

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You need to avoid times when a higher than average

number of people are on holiday. This rules out school