Meetings at events are the most important factor in building sales pipeline, which helps show ROI for the event. When the event is underway, meetings need not be restricted to the event itself. The event organizer might offer meeting spaces a short distance away from the event, like a nearby hotel, because event spaces come at a premium and would mostly be used to cater to foot-traffic with booths and displays.
Meeting spaces at events can cost a pretty penny, and it might not be feasible to deal with large customer volumes. A large number of prospects wanting to engage with a company is a very good problem to have, because who doesn’t want to increase their sales pipeline? But this can be particularly frustrating for event managers who are itching to show ROI through the sales pipeline built and have qualified and interested parties willing to invest in the product. But the dearth of meeting spaces is an irritating bottleneck that off-site meeting spaces will solve deftly.
Event managers need to justify the cost of meeting spaces. Meeting spaces that are not at the event venue would cost lesser, at the same time offering a more focused and distraction-free experience for the customer. The event ROI is not just tied to the sales pipeline built, but also to the event cost. Bringing down the cost, and having purposeful sales interactions are a great springboard for the event ROI, making both the event manager and the CMO quite happy.
An offsite meeting space also helps to get away from the hustle and bustle of the event, and offer a space dedicated to just advancing sales. They off site meeting space can offer a custom tailored experience, with a larger space, catered food, dedicated A/V equipment and lower costs.
It’s not all smooth sailing, however.
Challenges might arise around lead capturing and attendee attendance management. Some attendees might come directly to the meeting space, so they won’t have the event badge that event managers can scan. Since nobody wants to wade through spreadsheets anymore, the best way to overcome this would be to integrate the badge scanner with the custom badges that would be printed for the customers.
Some customers, however, would not directly come to the off site meeting space, and would want to look around at the event. In that case, it would be a nice touch to arrange for transport from the event to the site, if the distance is considerable. This gives your prospect a sense of being taken care of, and improve your company’s’ standing in their mind.
Off site meetings really are a great option when there’s a considerable pipeline of pre-scheduled meetings and anticipated walk-ins from the event. They increase the event ROI, and offers the customers a great experience if done right.
