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Recognise your venue's unique value and turn it into steady event sales and bookings using these five strategies.
You understand the unique value your venue brings. Now, let's convert that into a consistent stream of event sales and bookings. Here are five key strategies to help your clients imagine their ideal event and enhance your event sales.
These strategies will help you create engaging stories that showcase what makes your venue special, build a bond with potential clients and boost your sales performance.
How to boost venue event sales
1. Experiment with venue and event sales material
We've all seen standard venue sales collateral – a list of capacities, dimensions, and perhaps a few carefully staged photographs. While this information is necessary, it rarely ignites the imagination. Your potential clients aren't just acquiring venue space; they're investing in an event experience, a moment in time they want to be memorable. This is where storytelling comes into play. Instead of leading with features, lead with possibilities.
For example, for a corporate gathering, paint a picture of how the natural light flooding your venue spaces will foster a sense of openness and collaboration, or how your seamlessly integrated AV technology will ensure their keynote speaker's message lands with impact. Tailor your narrative to each specific event sales enquiry and, even more crucially, to the individual client's expressed vision. Ask insightful questions to understand their goals and then weave your venue's attributes into the story of their envisioned success. This shift from feature-listing to experience-selling creates a far more compelling connection for a potential event sale.
2. Cultivate niche appeal with specific events
The saying "try to be everything to everyone and you'll be nothing to anyone" holds weight in event sales. While you might be capable of hosting a diverse range of events, identifying and cultivating specific niche markets can significantly amplify venue sales efforts. Identify your venue's inherent strengths and what makes it truly stand out. Perhaps your architectural design lends itself to cultural events, or maybe your location and layout are ideal for corporate events and expos. Once you've identified these strengths, actively target specific markets.
Develop specialised venue packages and offerings that directly address the unique requirements of these niches. By positioning yourself as a go-to destination for specific event types, you not only attract a more focused and enthusiastic audience but also establish yourself as an expert in that domain, contributing to higher event sales conversions.
3. Nurture event sales leads the right way
The journey from event enquiry to signed contract often hinges on the effectiveness of your follow-up strategy. However, the key is to move beyond generic check-ins and create a genuine connection. Establish a clear and consistent follow-up schedule, but ensure each communication is personalised and provides value. Reference specific details from your previous conversations, the event type they're considering, or any unique needs they expressed. Go the extra mile by sharing relevant information they might find beneficial – perhaps a newly released catering menu that aligns with their preferences, an insightful blog post on event planning tips, or a case study of a similar successful event hosted at your venue.
Use your venue management software CRM system to track all interactions and set reminders for timely follow-ups. The goal is to position yourself as a helpful resource, not just a salesperson. Clearly outline the next steps in the process and what the client can expect from you.
4. Expand your reach with venue partnerships
Operating solo can often stifle creativity and limit event sales potential. To open the doors to a whole new audience, focus on building a network of partnerships with other businesses in your area that offer event-related services. Consider key services that event planners and clients usually need, like catering, dependable tech teams, transportation options, and entertainment.
To make these partnerships work well, set up clear agreements where both sides benefit, like sharing commissions or promoting each other’s services. You could even create special packages that combine services from different vendors to offer appealing deals. Engaging in joint marketing activities to maximise venue exposure, like running social media campaigns, or organising networking events that bring clients together. Building a list of trusted vendors that you can confidently recommend helps add value to your clients’ overall experience when planning their events, making the whole process smoother for them.
5. Use venue data to make more informed sales decisions
While intuition and experience are valuable in event sales, they take on more credibility when backed by data. Venue management software like iVvy acts as your central hub for all important venue data, including detailed records of past event sales, allowing you to identify trends in event types, sizes, and timings. It also shows where event leads are coming from, sales conversion rates, and marketing performance. Using this data, you and your venue team can identify clear patterns in your revenue streams, as well as see where there may be room for improvement.
Using venue software data helps you go beyond guesswork and make smart decisions. By gaining a real understanding of how customers behave and what’s happening in the market, you can directly increase event sales and overall profits.
Ready to elevate your event sales?
Schedule your iVvy demo today
Imagine having a centralised platform that streamlines these efforts, providing you with the insights and tools you need to effortlessly manage enquiries, create compelling proposals, and increase your event sales. Ready to see how iVvy venue management software can help to increase your event sales leads and conversions?
Click here to schedule a demo and discover the difference data-driven efficiency can make.
