100% of post-event meetings led to a client or a referral

Paul Jones

00:00Hey, everybody. This is going to be part of our best practices series where I interview Bridgio's clients. Some of the bright spots that some of our clients are doing very well, I want to share with all of you to give you guys ideas on how you can better leverage your communities.

00:19And so today I've got Brea. She is with the Virtual Hive. And I think we're four months into building your community. And we have some interesting stories and we've been on an interesting journey together. But before we jump into that, Brea, tell us a little bit about you and the Virtual Hive and what you do.

Brea Sorrells

00:37Sure. Thanks, Paul. So the Virtual Hive is a online event service business. So we provide services to make sure that online events and hybrid events run really smoothly. We're really into creating a really great overall learning experience during trainings and workshops, even sometimes conferences.

00:58So very interactive, very involved. I'm one with the team, with the facilitators. So I usually like to know their goals and know kind of what their objectives are. And I'm very much involved in the event as well, helping with the technology, but also helping with everyone feeling safe and included in the event.

Paul Jones

01:18Now, Brea and I have worked together on a few projects. Last year, we worked on a big cab event for a huge India-based company that was pretty fun. So that's how I got to know Brea.

01:28So last year, so a few months back, we started discussing Brea's community and who she wanted to go after. And she basically had two personas in mind. We were talking about facilitators. And then we were also talking about event managers.

01:48And we did the Bridgio, on the Bridgio side, we did some research and correct me where I'm wrong, potentially Brea, but we did some research and we felt like there was a bigger opportunity with event managers, meaning it was going to be easier for us to recruit to that event. And so we decided to go with event management. And what I recall, and please add some details here, Brea, is we did that, was it for two months or three months?

Brea Sorrells

02:15I think we did it for three months.

Paul Jones

02:17Okay. So we did that for three months. We ran the recruitment on LinkedIn. We did the post-event meetings. Brea, how did the post-event meetings go in terms of quantity? Was it, were you seeing a lot of post-event meetings coming through?

Brea Sorrells

02:31Yeah, yeah, for sure. I was getting tons of bookings for post-event meetings.

Paul Jones

02:35But what was the problem?

Brea Sorrells

02:37The problem was they weren't leading to anything. I was connecting with these people. And really, my objective the whole time was to connect with them and build a relationship, potentially grow the network.

02:47But I had a hard time figuring out where I fit in into their challenges and problems of their workplace or their needs. And so I couldn't really insert myself into those conversations in a professional sense. Although the relationship sense, we definitely connected. I was able to kind of build that, which is great. But I just didn't find any point where I could be like, oh yeah, I could solve your need through my services.

Paul Jones

03:14Well, so with event, which is interesting because I mean, from a logical hypothetical standpoint, you would think that the pain point matches. What were some of the challenges that you would, most common challenges you were uncovering with event managers?

Brea Sorrells

03:28So the biggest challenges with event managers is that they're planning trade shows. A lot of trade social, they're product-based. A lot of their events are to show the products or test the products. So it's like potential clients. It's not, what I usually do is help with trainings and workshops and learning and development, things of that sort I'm more involved with.

03:49So I realized pretty quickly, a lot of their challenges were around like building booths for these trade shows or learning how to sell their product better or to work with the sales team and coordinating the events with the sales team. So a lot of the challenges were pretty apparent that they had nothing to do with a virtual producer. And a lot of them had said they don't need one because their events were just more candid. You know, they weren't needing to be a professional event.

Paul Jones

04:15So after doing this for a few months, we decided to make a pivot on your ideal persona and we started to pursue facilitators. So last month we had our first meeting and tell us what happened after that.

Brea Sorrells

04:29Yeah. So I've been getting, after our first meeting, I've been getting tons of follow-up meetings and it's really exciting because every meeting I've had has led to either a new client or a referral client. They have referred me to multiple people that could use my services. So it's been great.

04:48Almost everyone has been valuable. And if not, there is like future value to it. Like they can see using me in the future. So even if they aren't an immediate client, there isn't a connection there that I feel like could be really valuable as far as like resources later in, you know, in our careers. So I'm really excited about some of these connections, that I've been making with them. Yeah.

Paul Jones

05:10Yes. We're excited about that as well. So what I wanted to dive into that is, you know, sharing of, but in the spirit of sharing best practices in the post-event meeting, you have to balance providing value with also mapping pain to what you do.

05:26And so you, you don't want people to feel bait and switched, but I think sometimes our clients, like they, they overcompensate on, on being afraid of doing that. So then we're, we don't, we're not courageous enough in some ways. And so I feel like you've really struck that balance really well. So could you walk us through how you run your post event follow-up meetings?

Brea Sorrells

05:47Sure. Yeah, I am a very methodical in them, but I try to be extremely candid and friendly during the event. They wouldn't know that I'm methodical in it. I actually have a form that I set up. So I remember what questions to ask, but really, I mean, it's about building that relationship.

06:03I let them know right off the bat, this is a connection call. I want to, you know, make it this network work for you and I want you to help the network. And so we're building each other up. So I make sure, make sure it's really clear what I'm there for.

06:17I first off ask them like how their day's going, you know, about their family, about their personal. And sometimes people aren't willing to share and they want to dive right into the logistics of it all. And some people are so excited to share about their lives and about their grandkids and kids. And I usually take notes in the background as I go, because, if I ever meet with them again, I want to follow up on some of those things. So I'll typically, you know, like to know about something personal because people love that you remember that.

06:42The next thing I do is I try to explain to them that one of my objectives in that meeting with them is to learn of some of the things that they've been, they've accomplished in their career or recently as some successes that they're very proud of. And then also kind of know what some challenges that they're experiencing or, or are currently experiencing so that I can maybe, help them tap into the network and be able to find benefits from other people that have experienced those, those challenges or have experienced those successes so that they could definitely build each other in that sense. So I start with their successes. I go through some of the things that they're very proud of.

07:22Sometimes they're very recent. Sometimes there were years ago. And that really tells me a lot about that person. First off, it tells me what they value.

07:28Like some of them, it's like a whole project and it's a whole thing. And some of them, it's just so simple. Like, Hey, I'm, I'm proud that I got my email box empty today. And I'm like, great. That's awesome. So it gives me a little piece into what they value, in their, in their work and in their life. Which I love.

07:49And then I'll put it, I'll pivot to, I'll usually do a little overview. I'll say, Oh, from what I'm hearing these, this is what you're proud of. Is there anything else? I love these and I'll try to like really praise them for those.

08:01Cause I think it's really cool that I think it's good for people to, to remind themselves and to be able to verbalize things that they're proud of. And I think sometimes we don't do that enough. So I really like try to reiterate, this is awesome. So great. Like I, I'm inspired by you and this is so awesome. Cause I usually am.

08:15But then I'll put it and I say, I would love to know what, what are your challenges? What are some things that you're, you're finding to be difficult right now? And I'll, I'll be taking notes in the background as well as I go.

08:26And, you know, some of the challenges I find that they're saying, um, especially with all the master facilitators, they all kind of relate, but, I start to make connections and some of them, if, if their challenges, spark something in my mind, as far as connecting them with someone else in the network, I'll let them know, Hey, can I connect you with this person? Cause they're really great at this. They're great at this skill. And I want, I want you guys to collaborate and talk with each other.

08:51Typically they say yes, but also if their pain points are something to do with my services, I'll, I'll kind of plug that in as well. But usually that, that is secondary. My primary objective is to listen to them and to really like get a full grasp.

09:05And so if they give me a challenge, I'll dive into that challenge. Like if I'm not fully aware of what they're saying, or I would need more details, I'll dive into that and say, tell me more about this challenge. Like what, what exactly is going on here? And how do you feel like there's, what's the solution and what have you done? That gives me a really good picture of what, what's on their mind, what they're worried about, what they, how, how, how invested are they into solving these challenges?

09:31And then we'll usually for, from me asking them these type of questions, I'll, I'll thank them and I'll just say, thank you. I, I know that the, it can be hard to say these challenges and successes, but I love learning more about you. And typically it opens up the door for them to ask me what I do. Nine times out of 10, they'll ask me what I do because it just comes naturally. Like, you know, they've been talking for 20 minutes. They'll ask me.

09:54And so I'll give them a little plugin about my, my business and what I do. I'll relate a lot of what my, what I business do to what they've told me so that they can kind of find how it could maybe be incorporated into what they do. So I could say, I could go back to, Hey, you had this challenge like that. That's something that I could like my, my services actually relate to that. I actually solve those problems or I can help with those.

10:19So I really try to connect the dots there. And so that they're making, they're almost, uh, they're almost connecting the dots themselves. I'm just helping them.

Paul Jones

10:27Right, right, right, right.

Brea Sorrells

10:27Suggesting that to them.

Paul Jones

10:27Well, and you've shown restraint. I mean, they may be talking to you about challenges and you don't cut off and say, well, I can help you. I can help you with that.

Brea Sorrells

10:35Oh no.

Paul Jones

10:35Instead, it's just, you're taking the back seat in a lot of ways. And then the law of reciprocity takes place. Oh, I've just been talking about myself. Well, tell me about you.

10:45But then you put what you do in context to their challenge, which is something that Sandler training teaches. This is exactly what Sandler training teaches you to do. And why I think you're experiencing so much success is because rather than, you know, telling, describing what you do, which people are going to forget, you put what you do in context to their current situation, which makes you a lot more memorable.

Brea Sorrells

11:09Yeah. Yeah. It's been really fun. And, you know, how I, how I actually express what I do and how I explain it. I, I get a sense of how their mind works from the 20 minutes we talked to you before about, about their morals and their values.

11:23And so sometimes people are very logistical and they need, uh, they need like very tangible things. So I'll tell them exactly tangible things that come from hiring me. Some of them are like, are more emotional side or they, they want like kind of more of a, an experience. And so I'll tell them how this can improve the experience or, or the feelings of their participants or stuff like that. So I definitely try to adapt to what I'm feeling their, their, communication style would be, I guess.

Paul Jones

11:55So if someone says, so after they hear about what you do, you're saying nine out of 10, nine out of 10 times people ask, okay, what do you do? And then you go into what you do. What happens after you describe what you do and put it in context for them?

Brea Sorrells

12:06So typically they'll ask for, prices, especially if I'll, if they, if they hear some connections of how I can make, solve that challenge, they are more interested and they want to know prices or they want some more information. So what I do is I, I typically try not to give them a price right off the bat that might scare them. So I'll just tell them about how I'm, you know, I price per project and it really depends on what your needs.

12:31And I'll kind of go into more about maybe some needs, some, some like secondary services that I offer, which is a really great marketing tool because they didn't think about that. Like sometimes my services are only displayed as like the main ones, but there's lots of others that I offer. And so, I usually tell them to kind of give them a range. If they start pushing back on the price, then that's when I might give them a little more and say, okay, this is, this is kind of the range you're looking at.

12:58And then I'll tell them that I'll send them a follow-up email with, my business summary that I've created that, gives them an overview of my services and also gives some project, some, some ranges of prices. So they kind of know where that project may land if they're looking at hiring me in the future. Um, so yeah, I do.

13:17And then after that, I thank them and just, you know, just really excited for the connection and then I'll send them a follow-up and I'll, I'll, I'll mention some of the successes in the email that they've mentioned to me and how that inspired me to be a better person. And I do better in certain areas. So I really try to be specific that into those areas and then I'll add my business summary.

13:37And usually, you know, if there's a follow-up, I'll try to always try to do a follow-up. Like I'll follow you in a few months on that project or, you know, let me know how this proposal goes. I'll follow up with you to see how it goes. So I definitely try to keep them in the loop.

13:51And then with my notes on the side, I always, you know, add any other notes to it. And then I rename it with their name and add it to a lead folder so that when their names come up again in my email or, pop up in my mind, I can go back and remember everything that I wrote about them and I can follow up with them on those things, which I think, I mean, it's all about building relationships. That's really what it is.

14:10People aren't going to remember what you, what you sell. They're going to remember the feeling that you gave them. And to me, it's just making them feel really important and valued.

Paul Jones

14:19I love that, Brea. Thank you so much. Yeah, this is great. I hope that, you know, in, in recording this, it gives our other clients some, some great ideas and definitely some best practices.

14:29One of the caveats I was going to add there is that I think the way that you're running this play is perfect. And when someone seems to be interested for those of you out there that, you know, have sales forces, you can say, well, let me get you in touch with my account, my senior account executive. Let me get, they can help, you know, manage this project because now, now you're adding some buffer and you're keeping yourself in that nice, comfy community space while still generating a lead that allows someone to scope out the project and have pricing conversations. So if you have the sales force, that's what I would recommend doing. If you don't, then, how Brea is going about this as she is the one that, uh, does go out and capture, revenue for her company. I think that's a great approach.

15:16So Brea, thank you so much for sharing this. This is going to be very helpful for a lot of people. And, thank you so much for your time.

Brea Sorrells

15:21Yeah. And I'm happy to share the form I create as well. I'll send that to you so you can add it.

Paul Jones

15:26Okay.

Brea Sorrells

15:26Yeah.

Paul Jones

15:26I'll add it into the drive. That's perfect.

Brea Sorrells

15:30Cool.

Paul Jones

15:30Okay. Thank you so much.

Brea Sorrells

15:30Yep.