From one flagship event to a revenue program

The situation

A growing company's event calendar ran to hundreds of events a year, but it hosted only one: a well-regarded annual flagship event that roughly paid for itself and never produced a measurable return. Two junior staff ran all events with no events manager, and marketing alone was responsible for filling seats.

The work

• Set a revenue target for company-led events for the first time. Every event was measured on pipeline that originated at the event and was tracked in the CRM.
• Added a series of regional events built to sell. The flagship became a mix of education and sales. Four new regional events ran in the markets with the most potential buyers, and only prospects were invited.
• Built the agenda around the buying decision. Speakers covered the whole business case (return on investment, new capabilities, how to put the product to work), not just the product. Live demonstrations turned interest into sales conversations.
• Made sales share responsibility for attendance. Registrations went straight into the CRM, and sales qualified the leads.
• Put a leader over the events team. Hired an events manager above the two junior staff and trained the existing team. Introduced project management tools, standardized how the work was divided, and brought in an agency for specialist capacity the company couldn't hire full-time.