Open houses are a great means for prospecting. Each time you host an open house, you can do your presentation of your SFI business and open the doors to the opportunity to meet prospects, establish relationships, and expand your network.
What are the benefits of holding an open house?
- A chance to meet interested people as your potential prospects face to face.
- It allows you to present your SFI opportunity by showcasing your achievements such as E365 champion plaque, Fast-Track Member certificate, Lapel Pin, etc. to impress your prospects.
Points to consider for having an open house get together to present the SFI opportunity:
- Who are your target audience?
Defining your target audience is a very important step for this kind of event. From this all the other decisions will fall into place in terms of format, content, cost of hosting an open house, etc. This structured approach will also help you to stay focused on achieving specific goals and not allowing the scope to become too broad or watered down.
- Jot down the details.
Make sure to include everything such as refreshments, accommodations, content of your presentation, SFI X-Cards, your business cards, etc. Everything matters, when deciding to have an open house get together event. You need to think about the program content, determine the number of people that you can accommodate and the direction where people can find your open house get together event, etc.— everything counts. And your audience will attribute everything to you and…your brand. Making a list will ensure you don’t overlook things.
- Have a clear purpose for holding the open house event.
Make sure to have a clear understanding of the purpose for holding this kind of event. Are you doing it because you want to generate leads or create awareness of your SFI business opportunity?
- Know your limitations.
Ideally your goal is throw a great live event so that your prospects will have positive experience. You should be aware of what you can or cannot realistically do, be it budget or time-wise. If you decide to throw a live event in a week’s time, plan for a more intimate affair. If the budget is small, you may have to counterbalance with creativity and a lot of do-it-yourself work.
- Getting people to attend.
Even if you’re considering organizing a small open house event, it’s important to create a marketing plan. The more organized you are, the more professional your open house event will be.
Use Facebook Events to announce to your Facebook Network that you’re holding an open house. You might want to think about promoting the post and choosing a focused demographic Facebook Audience that is local and might be drawn to this open house. Make sure that you define what you’re doing at your open house event. The key is, don’t lose the connection with why you want this particular audience clamoring to get in. Don’t forget to include date, time, contact information, and if you will include refreshments and any kind of give away.
The easier way to scare people away is by having analog registration (faxes, bank draft or at the door only). Offer online registration to secure as many attendees as soon as possible, which will help to forecast numbers and release budget soon.
Here are key points to consider during the open house get together event:
1. Set your expectations carefully – then deliver. Ensure that the audience has a great experience; and that you give them what they expected from attending.
2. Consider the relevance of your open house event to your attendees. Make sure you are offering content that is relevant to the audience. The audience must walk away being enthusiastic with your SFI opportunity presentation and they must feel your energy of enthusiasm. Speaking about your SFI business and what you do, without offering your prospects what they need, is a waste of time and money for all.
3. You know your SFI business, but do not assume that you know how to put on a presentation.
Practice giving your presentation, answering questions and handling difficult and confrontational members of the audience. The more prepared you are the better.
Conclusion:
Producing your own open house get together event to present the SFI opportunity requires forward planning. It's vital to decide what you want to achieve and who you want to attend. Be realistic about your objectives and set a budget - costs can quickly escalate.
The success of your open house get together event certainly depends on getting the right people to attend. You need to make your event attractive and convenient for your target audience. Send personal invites and customized direct mail with compelling reasons to come along. Exclusivity is a good incentive and sending an invitation-only launch can be a good strategy.
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