To understand the effectiveness of dinner seminars we have to understand why people attend
these events. The reason they come is the food. Some may be curious about you and your
message but they show up for the dinner. That’s why you offer a meal – to attract people to your
event. You are making it convenient for them to attend around dinner time. Your main objective
is to get them to like and trust you as soon as possible while you educate them.
Which restaurant you may choose depends greatly upon your target audience and the product
you wish to sell to them. Many audiences with income producing assets have been successfully
prospected simply by selecting a venue which offers high end fare - such as Ruth’s Chris Steak
House or Ocean Prime. Perhaps the program you are offering is targeted at a group for which
high net worth is not a prerequisite - in these cases be careful not to intimidate your potential
clients with a lofty haute cuisine menu.
Ultimately, the finest venue choice is generally one in your local market that is known and liked
by many of your fellow citizens. You are in the best position to identify that establishment in your
local market.
Perhaps a restaurant is not the best place for the type of program you wish to market.
Significant success has been realized by many advisors utilizing no-food venues such as local
libraries and community colleges. Examples include Social Security optimization, Medicare
enrollment and Final Expense planning.
These events are a great way to maintain a social connection with your clientele as well as offer
them an opportunity to provide you with referrals. These may be done as an "open house" event
in your offices or at a restaurant or hotel conference area. If you do choose to provide food,
appetizers, soft drinks or other light refreshments are a good choice. Some advisors have
reported success with "Wine Tasting" or "Wine and Cheese" events – garnering significant new
client referrals.
Some advisors are able to achieve a 70% plus appointment setting ratio while others are
compelled to accept far lower performance. Appointment setting is the most critical part of a
successful seminar event, but it should be known that your appointments are set within the first
few minutes of your presentation’s start. This is the short time period during which your
audience makes an unconscious decision as to whether or not they like you.
We have all been to a presentation that starts out with the presenter thanking everyone, telling
the audience to turn off their cell phones, and intoning how exciting the information presented
during the event will be. That’s not a bad start to your event presentation if you expect low
appointment conversion. However, the key in these first early moments is to get your audience
to connect with you. Many of the highest performance advisors begin their presentation with a story. Instead of
welcoming the crowd or introducing themselves, they immediately tell a story.
Example: An advisor begins their presentation by describing the events surrounding the
death of their father. The story includes the struggles of their mother and the rest of the
family to navigate the inherent challenges to their income and security, and relates these
events to how much improved the situation would have been with better planning.
When you see her tell this story, her audience is giving her their full attention and they are
experiencing an emotional response. Many are undoubtedly feeling compassion while others
clearly empathize – thinking, "that happened to me." The point is they are feeling something and
they naturally like her in those first few minutes. Now she has the audience where she wants
them and the rest of the presentation is really about getting them to ask themselves if they are
missing something in their planning. She uses no slide presentation – perhaps occasionally
writing something on a small white board – but most of the time she wants the audience focused
on her. Her presentation is more about feelings and stories than it is about finances and
investing. Her appointment setting numbers are off the chart – truly impressive.
Clearly, not every seminar presentation should start with a childhood story. But you must find a
way for your audience to emotionally connect with you from the outset. If they really like you, it
will make it easy for them to set an appointment.
Key takeaway: your audience needs to like you from the very beginning. Building their respect
for your knowledge and subject authority should be an important, but secondary, goal.