No matter how phenomenal of an event planner you are, if you can’t shine during the big client presentation, you aren’t going to grow. Entrepreneurs today leverage all kinds of methods and strategies for drumming up new leads and attracting event prospects. But if you can’t close the deal when it counts, you’ll walk away empty-handed. Discover the best insights for boosting your confidence and nailing the big client presentation every time. And start growing your New York event planning business to new heights!
1. Housekeeping Before You Go
A homerun client presentation starts with homerun preparation. You have to have a game plan going in, complete with in-depth research about your client. Practice your pitch ahead of time, allotting moments throughout your presentation to address questions. (Don’t do a formal Q&A at the end – more on that later.)
Prepare your equipment and make sure everything works. Bring backup gear should you encounter connectivity problems. And create physical copies of your presentation to hand out to all participants. However, you won’t hand those out until after you’ve finished presenting.
Pro Tip: Make the cover sheet or title page of your presentation the client’s logo, not yours.
2. Make a Brilliant First Impression
When you do show up to your presentation meeting with your big event client, you’re going to need to make a brilliant first impression. That means always get to your meeting first – whether it’s in person or online. Give yourself enough time to get organized or set up. And be fun, enthusiastic, and charming when greeting everyone and making introductions.
Pro Tip: You’re an event planner – bring your personality and excitement. Clients expect you to be prompt, professional, and presentable. To impress them, you have to go above and beyond.
3. Start By Outlining Your Presentation Plan
Demonstrate how much you know about them. Cut to the chase, too. Don’t linger too much with small talk or irrelevant conversation. Describe in your opening statements what you plan to do. In other words, outline with your clients why you’re there, what you plan to share with them about your event ideas, and how you intend to address their pain points.
4. Address the Client’s Pain Points
Use stunning visuals and videos of past events to acknowledge their pain points and bring an entertaining wow factor with your opening slide. Bring proof points to support any claims you make about the impact of your events. And reiterate problems the client’s already shared with you about the process, positioning yourself as the logical solution.
Pro Tip: Remember, presentations should be back-and-forth, engaging conversations and NOT one-sided speeches. Get your clients involved, ask questions throughout the presentation, and build trust in engagement.
5. Include a Precise Call to Action
You set the tone and pace of the presentation with your opening statement. And you’ll flow through each point in your outline or slide in your show, capturing specific concepts and ideas with each. Open the dialogue with your client throughout the presentation, not moving on to the next point until you know everyone’s with you. As you wrap up your presentation, be clear about what you want your audience to do next. The call to action has to be a no-brainer, logical decision to move forward with your event planning services. And you should outline precisely how your client does that.
6. Reiterate the Benefits of Working with You
If you want to land clients with every presentation you execute, you have to be a master at positioning your event services as the best value. You HAVE to be THE solution. If it’s the first time your client has entertained working with an event planner at all, you’ll hit home the advantages of hiring a pro. If they’ve worked with other planners in the past, you have to hit home with your unique differentiators as a planner. Address every aspect of the event, positioning each through a lens of ROI and your unique abilities to deliver.
7. Close with a Story, a Recap, or a Quote (Not Q&A)
We’ve mentioned a few times to allow for questions throughout the presentation and not at the end. This more common strategy only does one thing – it fizzles your excitement. It might work for other topics or industries. But when you’re an event planner, you have to sell the sizzle, not the steak. And boring Q&A will only dilute your impact.
Instead, close out your presentation with a bang and story. Maybe it’s a testimonial video and a recap of a high-profile event you’ve planned. Or it can be a lively recap of what you’re bringing to the table. And some event planners achieve success by closing with a resonating quote. However you choose to close out your client presentation, do it with an exclamation point.
8. Learn More Client Presentation Strategies at The Event Planner Expo 2023
If you really want to improve your client presentation skills and results, you need to get in the room with top event planners who have high records of closing their deals. You have to be at The Event Planner Expo 2023! Thousands of event planners, successful event services professionals, and industry experts will be there, sharing their tips, strategies, and knowledge. It’s the one place you can go (for three full days) to learn actionable insights for boosting your business, marketing techniques, and proven sales methods.
Start hitting home run client presentations with these insights. And be sure to get your All Access tickets to The Event Planner Expo 2023 this October!
