Why Sales Events Are Better Than Open Houses (And How To Sell Thousands In Services At One)!

Many of you know I started the company by doing onsite sales events, and we’ve done over 3,000 of them. Initially, this idea came to fruition because we were a training location, teaching people how to do energy-assisted lipolysis. Besides learning how to do this service physically, one of the biggest fears was how do we market it? How do we get our first 10 cases? What if they ask me if I have any experience or how many actual treatments I’ve done? This was a big fear with the doctors and still is with many of our clients. 

For a successful Sales Event, you want to consider the season we are in. For summer, the types of events that are popular are going to be muscle building, non-invasive body contouring, your feminine events, and injectable events. 

Who We Are:

For those of you who haven’t joined me before, I’m Kelly Smith, the founder of Projected Growth Consulting. 

I’ve been in this industry since 1999. When I started my med spa in 1999, we did quarterly events along with monthly cross-promotions. I’ve done this with my own money and team, and I know that this is a scalable marketing method that absolutely works. Again, these are sales events, whether virtual or in-person, or small or big groups. Still, it’s how we position the event and the benefits of the event-only pricing and educating our clients with a consultation in the round, followed by one-on-one consultations.

Sales Event vs Open House?

A sales event is targeted; it’s not selling everything you want! 

I recommend dividing the events up to a specific area, such as Body, Face, Feminine, or a VIP Event. Additionally, you might do an invitation only and they get an incredible swag bag for attending! Adding a bonus such as a swag bag, works especially well in the summer months or during the holidays when people are busier. 

You can do these as an all-day event with one-on-one consultations, where you spend an hour with each person. Or, you can do it with several different event times. The standard event we suggest is, once you narrow down on your focus, then you really want to highlight that. We explain to people, “Hey, we’re doing event only pricing. It’s RSVP, space is limited because we do a one-on-one consultation with you to make sure this is the right service with you.” We do a consultation in the round and explain everything about this new service, how it works, what to expect, pricing, our special packages. Those are the important keys. Then taking two weeks to really promote a virtual event and four weeks to promote a physical event.

Key Elements to a Successful Sales Event

• Decide if you want an all-day sales event or multiple event start times.
• Narrow Down Your Event Focus; is it face, body, feminine, or maybe something specific that you’re just launching? If it’s a brand-new technology that you’ve got, then we want to highlight that.
• Do a consultation in the round and explain everything about this new service, how it works, what to expect, pricing, and special packages. 
• Take two weeks to promote a virtual event and four weeks to promote a physical event.

You might think, well, why is that?

 It’s hectic out there, and the rule of seven is people hear things about seven times before they respond or notice it. 

You’ll have to put things on Instagram and Facebook, and you might try Eventbrite. You’ll email your clients, post this on your website, have it at your check-in desk, and talk about it as you greet people. You might say, “Hey, we’ve got our annual body sculpting event. Space is limited; would you like to know more information?” You can do that to every incoming call. It’s all about the processes.

Things To Keep In Mind:

 As you put your event together, all the details matter! 

How many posts need to go on social media? What sort of video invite do you need? What highlights will you have throughout the weeks while publicizing your event? Are you showing some video testimonials? Are you showing people getting the service done if it’s appropriate? Are you showing the machine if you can’t show someone getting the service done? All of those elements are critical!

Where We Start With The Process:

• Set the event date six to eight weeks out
• Narrow down the topic, so we know exactly what you’re focusing on
• Put together event-only pricing and packages
• Having door prizes throughout the evening is another way to soft-sell
• Let people know that space is limited, and RSVP is required
• Require a deposit for all attendees
• Post on your social media platforms, marketing this event at least four weeks in advance

Keep in mind that an informed client is your best client!

We encourage attendees to jump on the website and learn more about this service, bring pictures of what they’re aspiring to achieve, go on RealSelf and look at any questions, and bring any questions they have to us at this event because we want to go through all of that information when they are there. Everything you’re doing is trying to educate your patients on what they can do to look and feel their best.

We are your accountability coach.

• Are we doing your social media, or are you doing your social media?
• Do you have it set up, so it’s going to be seen every week?
• Send out weekly emails promoting the event to your patient lists.
• Launch call campaigns to boost RSVP count when needed.

We’re also educating the staff.  We remind everybody how this works, the mode of action, the basic questions, the basic contraindications, the packages we’re going to offer, and the savings they will get by attending the event. We can also give you a script to call a few of your favorite clients. Our team is involved and will walk you through the entire process. 

We let them know when the marketing will start so that they can answer anything about the event if they get questions in the room. We also like to put it out in six to eight weeks so that everyone can plan their childcare that day; we can change the schedule and close everything down a few hours before the event.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week, and see you next time!