Recently one of my clients asked me to explain exactly how his salespeople and executives can get the most out of their upcoming hospitality event.

I assembled all the tips and ideas I’ve picked up from clients, salespeople, and executives, added some psychology from Robert Cialdini, and went to work.

Any sales and negotiation trainer will tell you it's essential to know your counterpart. Engaging and influencing another person is much easier when you understand their perspective.

That's a key component to successful events, too.

Great images tell a story about the event - who was there, what happened, and what did people think about it.

10 Lessons Learned in 2022 and Carried Forward in 2023

For over 20 years, I’ve wondered why my magic and mentalism always seemed to land so well with engineers, heavy industry executives, doctors, lawyers, and business people. They called me to their events year after year.

Their marketing departments and event planners seemed to think they were crazy, too. “Why would magic be a good fit for this event?”

Now I know.

Hosting over 300 players every year, The Medinah Classic is one of the largest club invitational tournaments in the US. Medinah’s General Manager Robert Sereci takes a few minutes to dig deeper into why entertainment is an essential part of the club’s member/guest success.

Exhibitors: What’s your strategy for “the networking reception in the exhibit hall?”

The organizer has given you a huge opportunity! The show attendees - including the ones you want to meet - will be on the show floor!

But how do you get them to your booth and “networking” with your sales people during the show?

Pepsi’s biggest problem was that everyone already knew what Coca Cola tasted like. Believe it or not, your best conference and trade show prospects are ignoring you for the same reason…

Probably the most irritating thing about virtual events is their limited viewing capability. Most people watch them alone because it’s hard to get two or more people gathered around a device.

We figured out a better way…

Probably the most common complaint we hear around virtual event is “everyone has Zoom fatigue,” which is quickly followed up by “people have short attention spans.”

Neither of these ideas are true.

Here’s a “quick and dirty” example of how to smoothly integrate sponsors into your event. We took the idea from the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, where Jerry used celebrities and corporate donors to support MDA. Jerry would do a quick segment with the the sponsor, tell a few jokes, and accept their donation.

In the re-opening, how will you entertain, amaze, and engage your clients without spreading the COVID19 virus?

I don't know about you, but every day I'm presented with a huge stack of decisions that I have to make, many of which are based on incomplete information.  The quarantine has added more decisions and less information.  There's more "decision fatigue" than ever before.

Entertainers have a responsibility to keep everyone’s spirits high and put smiles on our faces during times of crisis.

Here in The Secret Magic Library and Bunker, I’ve been posting some magic videos to keep the fun going.

Bezos said that everyone asks him what will change in the future, and really dismissed the question as interesting but irrelevant.  

 Every trade show attendee is going to eat dinner, go out for drinks, and probably seek some kind of entertainment - why shouldn’t your best clients and prospects do that with your sales team?

The people who sign up for these events want to feel like they’ve “met” the celebrity. They want to feel like they’ve exchanged some conversation and authentically connected with this person. 

But if you’re hosting a celebrity golf tournament where the celebrities are your headline entertainment, that’s a problem. 

If you can show that you’re driving revenue and making sales, no one will cut your budget.  Accountability is immunity.

Imagine if your "thank you" event did more than just say thank you to your customers and clients...

• Could it drive traffic to your trade show booth?  

• Could it encourage more people to attend your speech or convention session?

• Could it encourage your guests to answer follow up calls and emails?

• Could it help you schedule appointments?

It can.  It should.  Here’s how…

To successfully connect your sales person to your customers, the buyer/seller barriers must come down.  If they don’t, your clients won’t feel the connection that compels them to answer a follow up call or open an email, much less schedule an appointment.