Humans have a natural tendency to communicate with images, not with text. Today, we see it more than ever in the ways we communicate online. Visual social networks like Instagram and Snapchat are taking the spotlight. Meanwhile mainstays like Facebook and Twitter are responding by doubling down on photos, video, and live video streaming. Visuals are simply a more efficient way to communicate and a more efficient way to boost your event venue sales.
The average person can identify objects in images in as little as 13 milliseconds.
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(try reading 140 characters in the same amount of time)
What’s most important to planners when choosing a venue?
In a recent survey conducted by Social Tables, we asked meeting and event planners what factors are most important to their decision making process during the site inspection phase. Surveyed planners indicated that aesthetics and logistics had the most impact on site selection. That means that it’s up to hotel sales reps to demonstrate that your event space can physically accommodate a planner’s needs, and do so in a way that fits their vision.
So how can you apply a more visual approach to the way you pitch your property and increase event venue sales? Don’t worry, the answer isn’t to use emojis in your contracts. Actually, the best way is by starting the conversation with interactive floor plans, and helping clients visualize their events at the earliest stages of the sales process.
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What’s the most important factor in choosing a venue during the site inspection process?
For more info on what planners are looking for during the site selection process check out our recent report: The Site Visit Revisited.
32% of meeting planners say that aesthetics are the most important factor in choosing a venue.
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Convincing planners with interactive floor plans.
Believe it or not, a hotel can win or lose deals based on the quality and level of detail of their floor plans alone. In the earliest stages of the sales process the most important thing you can do is earn trust. That trust comes from giving planners the reassurance they need; not only that your venue is a good fit but also that you have their goals in mind.
The best way to earn trust is by being completely transparent. Lay your cards on the table and walk prospective clients through accurate floor plans of your event spaces. Planners need to be able to visualize their event in your space. Interactive floor plans make it possible to work alongside prospects and collaboratively draft a version of the event, long before locking down a new batch of event venue sales.
Aesthetics: 3D Diagrams
Tools like Social Tables enable you to act as a true partner, and design the event with the planner. So you can quickly come up with ideas and make suggestions. They won’t always take your recommendations but by contributing ideas you can truly show planners how invested you are in their event. It demonstrates a level of creativity, and an understanding that your property can offer what they’re looking for. This isn’t a distraction from your traditional sales pitch, this IS the pitch. Think of it like a test- drive, where the planner is behind the wheel, and you’re sitting shotgun.
Think like an event planner: What would it take for a sales pitch to “wow” you?
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Once you’ve created a mock-up diagram of the event, Social Tables makes it easy to convert a 2D birds eye view of the room, into a 3D diagram that allows you to virtually walk the event. It’s the closest you can bring prospects to a fully realized version of the event prior to the site visit.
Logistics: Communicating Peace of Mind
Often function spaces and event floor plans need to prove that attendees can easily move about the premises. When you tell attendees that the general session is in Ballroom A, but lunch is being served in Room G6… they panic. “How am I going to get 200 people from one room to another?”, “How can I make sure that everyone makes it back from the networking sessions in time?” In this case, how would you assure a planner that it can work?
The best way to earn trust is to be completely transparent.
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That’s where using accurate floor plans as a sales tool can help build trust will planners and deliver new event venue sales. Show off examples of floor plans from similar sized events that were successful in the past, and they won’t even have to take your word for it.
Accuracy: Planning with Precision
Don’t forget that the smallest details can give you leverage in any negotiation. Put yourself in the shoes of an event planner working tirelessly on a specific room-set. Imagine that after you spent days finalizing a floor plan (and your team approved the design) you learn that your event doesn’t meet fire and safety codes. “Where are the doors and the fire exits?”, “How close are the tables and the chairs?” Interactive floor plans that are designed at 1:1 scale can automatically prevent such violations. Make it easy for planners avoid the back and forth with the fire marshal by getting the room set designed right the first time.
Pro tip: Turn on the “Fire Safety Info” setting in Social Tables. If you’ve placed chairs too close to each other, the diagram will automatically let you know. Learn More About Social Tables Here.
Change is happening all the time. Properties are always looking for the best ways to connect with high value clients. That means you have to stop pitching as a supplier, and start pitching as a partner. Making clients feel reassured can be one of the hardest things for a sales person to communicate. By communicating visually and using the right tools you can significantly grow event venue sales and establish trust.
The post Show Don’t Tell: Why Modern Event Venue Sales is All About Communicating Visually appeared first on The Social Tables Blog.
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