Spreading the Word: The Power of Referrals

Spreading the Word:

The Power of Referrals

We’ve all heard the saying “Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster,” and that certainly rings true in the Group Sales world. We know that news of a poorly planned or executed event can spread like wildfire throughout the local community and can make it difficult to overcome objections. Avoiding 100% of negative reviews and comments is an unrealistic goal, as things out of our control do sometimes happen. However, we can certainly make a concerted effort to achieve perfection and, subsequently, promote all of the great reviews and praise that we DO receive.  Harnessing your referrals and positive feedback is a great way to help build brand confidence in potential clients as well as loyalty in your existing ones!

Bottom line: The goal in Group Sales is to build business and the best promoters of your business are the people who have experienced your venue and had a wonderful experience. If there was a tool that you could use that would tell other prospective clients how great your venue was or how amazing the service was, or how much fun other guests had during an event, would you use it? How valuable would that be to you? The good news is that it exists, and it is free… but how to go about getting these referrals and positive reviews takes just a little bit of effort.

Make a Lasting Impression

First impressions are everything. From the way you answer the phone, to how you respond to an email, to how clean the venue looks, and even what is showing on the TVs and monitors when you do your walk-thru and during the event… it all matters! (And most of this is before the event even takes place!)

It is important that you “customize your event”—i.e., each party planner should feel like they are your most important client. Imagine you’re a client looking to book a 200-person corporate event for a new product launch. Upon entering the venue for your site tour, on the monitors you see your logo along with a welcome message. In the event room, your company colors are displayed in the linens and table décor. Although these may not seem like life-changing details, the client will notice, and this demonstrates the various customizations that are available to them for their event along with your attention to detail.

But don’t forget about the event itself. Clean, shiny banquet equipment and glassware, professionally attired event staff, and friendly, smiling faces can make a dramatic difference in the overall impression of the event for the event attendees but also the host. Of course, we know we must provide stellar guest service, exciting entertainment options, and out of this world food & beverage experiences as well!

Knowing that the venue itself (and everything inside) can and will be its own selling point is a major factor to keep in mind.

Systematic Follow-Up

You’ve just completed a fantastic event. You made sure to be in contact with the host throughout the event to ensure that everything was going smoothly. You’ve heard rave reviews from guests about the food and service, and you’ve seen smiles from guests all night long. That’s great! Now what?

Add a step onto your final event close-out process to reach back out to the host in a formal (feedback form) or informal way. Not only will all the great details of the event be fresh in his or her mind to share with you, but it will also give the host an opportunity to discuss any potential issues that arose that you may not have been aware of and provide you an opportunity to remedy them immediately (in hopes of avoiding negative reviews). In that case, it is important to gather as much information as possible, relay the details to the operations team for feedback, and then get back to the client with a response as soon as possible.

Assuming you’ve received a glowing review, and the client was thrilled with the event, it’s time to take the next step. Even if the event is executed to perfection, we can always get better in our quest for perfection. After each event, conduct a post-mortem with the management team, identifying from your team’s perspective what went right and areas for improvement.

Ask for the Review/ Testimonial

It may seem awkward at first, but you never know unless you ask! Most clients are more than happy to leave a review on certain websites, or even just write a quick blurb about their experience in an email. If you are looking to increase your Yelp rating, for instance, you might want to include the link to your Yelp page in your email, or to Facebook or whatever platform you choose to use.

If anonymity is important to your client, ask if you could use their first name and last initial and perhaps just the type of event they held (Holiday Party, for example), as opposed to the company name.

Once you’ve established rapport with your client, and feel comfortable doing so, after the conclusion of a successful event, directly ask the client if he or she wouldn’t mind spreading the word about your venue and what a great time was had! As with most companies, various departments and locations host an assortment of events throughout the year, and this is an easy (and dependable) source for new leads. If the company is large enough, this could keep your sales funnel full for months to come, and that is just with intra-company referrals! Imagine how powerful this tool can be throughout your local community.

Share your Success

You did it! Great reviews and positive feedback should be shouted from the rooftops for all to see! Add a section to your website with testimonials, post a great review on your social media pages, and use these to your advantage when trying to secure a similar type of event. Clients like to know that ‘you’ve done this before’… so anything that you can have in your pocket that might help push them over the edge and to give them the confidence to book with you versus your competitor is a win!

We’re all in the business of selling fun, and nothing says ‘fun’ more than watching your event sales numbers grow through referrals that you’ve received from past (and current) clients. When you do receive a referral, let them know. Send a quick thank you note or even a small token of your appreciation (maybe it’s a gift card or a piece of logoed merchandise). A small gesture like this can go a long way and can help keep those referrals coming!

A final word

Reviews and referrals have the potential to make or break your Group Sales budgets. They can reiterate positive company and event experiences and contribute to additional revenues, or they can become burdensome obstacles when trying to overcome potential client objections.  Again, it’s impossible to avoid all negative reviews and experiences, so how you leverage the positive ones to your advantage can really make a difference to the bottom line