As the event marketing industry recovers, every BDRs aim when attending any event should be to build their network and learn from inspiring industry leaders. However, the goal should always be to get up close and woo your prospects!
Here's what you need to do...
10 tips for BDRs wanting to book meetings from events
1. Do your research beforehand
Being clued-up on your prospects is BDR best practice 101. So, before you even set foot in the venue, you should already have formulated an event game plan. To do this, make a list of businesses and key personas attending so you know who you want to speak with. Find attendees on LinkedIn and understand as much as you can about their background - this will help give you the foundations for a relationship and could help you secure a meeting!
2. Be organized
Finding out which companies are attending an event is so important. Researching which ones fall in your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) means you can focus your day and plan who you need to speak to. Some events will show a list of companies and contacts attending, sponsoring, exhibiting and speaking on their website. Planning where these contacts will be during the day means you can manage your time and energy - nobody wants to be doing a marathon around the venue!
3. Get social
Once you know which companies will be attending and filtered through your ICP, create an event specific SalesNavigator list. This means you will get regular updates on activity in the lead up and during the event - the trick here is to get involved.
4. Book in meetings before you go
For a large event with over 30 exhibitors, always aim to book in five meetings before you get there. Use every channel possible to do this - email, call, use LinkedIn, send Direct Mail, make use of apps, and meeting booking technology. A top tip here is to make sure every message you send is relevant to the event and honest about the purpose of the meeting. Remember: don’t sell the solution, sell the meeting.
5. Use tech
Technology is there to make our lives easier, so use it! Apps like Brella make it so easy for people to connect. Two days out from an event people start making a lot more noise and try to book in meetings. Make sure you are making use of every app associated with that event to keep up to date with what's happening and where people will be - time and place is everything for a BDR! LinkedIn has a great scan feature in the search bar which can save a lot of time.
6. Be personable and genuine
When people attend events, they are either looking to learn, buy, or sell. Selling to someone who has paid to exhibit at an event can be challenging, but if you catch them at the right time then they will more than likely hear you out. Make it obvious that you would like a of couple minutes of their time to see if you can help them solve an issue. Don't get nervous about an attendees job title - remember that they're only human. So, make them smile, tell a cheesy joke, and show a genuine interest in who they are, what they do, and how you can solve their pain points.
7. Stand out
The best BDRs can make themselves heard by standing out amongst the noise - so use those skills at events! Companies such as TripActions, Cognism, and Drift have stood out at events by being creative, using everything from caricatures to headshots to raffles and champagne giveaways to impress potential prospects!
8. Set yourself goals
Go into any event with an idea of what you want to achieve. Hold yourself accountable by setting tangible goals, like having five conversations, booking three meetings, or attending two events per month - this will help push you to succeed!
9. Follow up
Make sure your follow up is hyper-personalized! This person has taken time out of their busy day to engage in a conversation with you. Take a couple of minutes to write a note on what you discussed during the conversation and plan what next steps you’ll take post-event.
10. Stay top of mind
Be creative in your follow up. Send people a gift straight after the event with a handwritten note summarizing your conversation (think champagne, brownies, or cupcakes). The first seven days after an event are crucial to building that relationship, as the event and the conversations your prospect have had are still fresh in their minds.
Wrapping up
As events take off again, BDRs should make the most of the opportunities they present. If you want to find out more about how to use direct mail to power your events, take a look at our field marketing gifting playbook.
If you see us at any in events in the future please do come and say hello! We can’t promise that we won't try to tell you about the power of direct mail though...
