We’ve all been there. We have a great idea for an event and planned it perfectly, but when it comes to getting the right people in the room, we just can’t get our sales team to help. Maybe they don’t like the idea or they just don’t see how filling your event is their problem.
So how do you get sales engaged and put on a great event that drives revenue together? We caught up with a personal hero of mine, Craig Rosenberg, Co-Founder of TOPO, who dropped the harsh reality on us, as he always does.
What's his big takeaway? To get sales involved, you have to make the event about them, not about marketing. Here's how:
“If we don’t make it about sales, then they won’t be invested in it.
Marketing is sometimes guilty of planning events on their own, and then asking for sales’ help to get people to show up once their planning is complete. Instead, we need to bring sales into the very beginning stages of planning.
Sales has the insights we need to plan a successful event -- what types of events will resonate with their contacts, where and when to host these events, and who we can expect to actually show up. To attract the right people and drive them through the funnel, you have to start with what sales actually knows and needs. And, bringing them into the planning process gets them bought into the event from the very beginning.
We’re also guilty of planning events around our own ideas and wants as event marketers.
But keep in mind that while we’re the experts with events, we’re not experts with how to close deals -- that’s where the sales team comes in.
Sitting with sales and understanding how they’ve effectively used events to help expedite and close deals is important info you need to shape the overall event experience. For events that will truly help close deals, combine your team’s knowledge of event execution with the sales team’s expertise of closing opportunities.
On top of getting help from the sales team in areas they know best in, you also want to be careful in how your offer up your own expertise to them. Don’t try to push decisions in any certain direction or take complete control of the event’s reins.
Instead, present to sales the options and ideas that you’ve seen work well. Sit down with them and provide guidance on the experience you think you should create based on the targets you want to show up.
As marketers today, one of our core responsibilities is to support our sales counterparts in their quest in drive revenue. When planning your next event, remember Craig’s rule: change your sales collaboration approach from “here’s a marketing event, I need your help with it,” to “marketing is going to help you throw a sales event."
