On the surface, it might seem easy to meet new people through events. Of course, advisors specialize in seeing the full picture, not just the surface — and understanding intricacies leads to stronger connections and better results.
With that in mind, referral coach Bill Cates, author of numerous books about referrals (including “Get More Referrals Now!” and “Beyond Referrals”), and Tristan Karl Robert Hartey, a seven-year MDRT member from Chester, England, U.K., helped clarify a variety of questions you might have about how to host and attend events that lead to referrals, both in person and virtually.
Am I better off doing small events or large events?
“Smaller events tend to be better than the larger events. The purpose of an event is to connect with people, with clients, with prospects. It’s not just a wave. It’s not just to shake a hand and say, ‘Welcome. Enjoy yourself,’ and wave as they leave. It’s to really have a bit of a conversation and build that nonbusiness conversation opportunity with guests and with clients. The larger the event, the less likely you can do that. Now, if you work in an office and you have other advisors or agents, you can team up and get some economies of scale. But each of you doesn’t have a lot of people.
“What do I mean by small event? If it’s a dinner, probably one round table of eight, 10 or 12 people at the most. So you’re not table-hopping. I’ve seen people put on big events at movie theaters and luaus and baseball games. And it’s fun; clients appreciate it. The challenge is, are you making good connections with people? If you start with smaller events, it’s not so daunting. You don’t have to hire an event planner, but if you haven’t done events before, they’re not very expensive relative to the opportunity that you’re going to create.” —Cates
What mistakes should I watch out for as I plan?
“We do our client appreciation events now at round tables. The first one we did was all set up in little rows for some reason because we hadn’t been specific enough. The problem with rows is you can’t walk around to talk to people. If you’re going between two or three round tables, you can. You could sit at a table, or you stand at the side of the table and have a conversation with the table. And that was quite a big error because it basically meant we couldn’t create any personal connection with anyone other than what people sat in the front row because you couldn’t get to the people in the next rows.
“Also, location is quite important. If you pick the wrong type of place and the service isn’t very good, that reflects on you. We had a bit of a horror scenario where the service was horrendous. It basically meant that the event was a waste of time for us because of the experience that the people who came to it had. If you’re doing an event, try to have as much control as possible, but ensure that the service that is out of your control is also really good. So maybe go a couple of times yourself beforehand just to experience it.” —Hartey
“Go to the venue at the same time of day that your event will be held. I worked with a gentleman who went to the venue during the day, but his event was at night. And what he didn’t realize is the parking lot that was rather large wasn’t very well lit. And he had a few older clients who had to park farther away. I wouldn’t say they were mad, but they weren’t comfortable. They complained a little bit. So pay attention to those sorts of things.” —Cates
Should I test my virtual events in advance like I do
“Now, you can buy online game shows, online trivia contests, and other things you can get and use with clients. I would definitely test those out, maybe with some friends or family members. Just test the mechanics of the app and that sort of thing. You don’t want to be learning how to work the app and fumbling through with clients. You want everything to be smooth.” —Cates
“I think the one big thing about any Zoom events is you’ve got to keep them shorter than in person. In person, you can go for an hour or two hours. But on Zoom, you’re probably looking at about 45 minutes
and then people start to switch off.” —Hartey
“When my advisor did bingo, it definitely went longer than what my wife and I were interested in. A few rounds were fine. But he did have things sent ahead of time; it came in the mail the day before. Everything was just handled very nicely. It’s worth experimenting with. Do it with the clients who love you, and let them know it’s your first attempt. You can be so transparent with them and say, ‘Look, this is my first time trying this.’ ‘Oh, don’t worry. We love you. Yeah, sure. We’d love to try it out.’ And if they know that, then they’re not expecting it to be perfect. But past that group, you don’t want to experiment, because they judge you by how you’d be able to facilitate these things.” —Cates
I hosted an event and didn’t get many referrals. Should I try again?
“You can’t expect to get 50 referrals the first time you do an event. In fact, if you get one, it’s a massive success, because the first time is a trial event. The amount of people I’ve met who said, ‘Oh, we did this event once and didn’t do it again because it didn’t work’ — I say, ‘Well, why not run it five times?’ I guarantee by the fifth time, providing there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the event, it will work. You just have to do it multiple times. Patience is probably the key.
“People expect instant results. If you want to get a taxi, you go on your phone and you click on Uber, and three minutes later, it’s at your door. So they think that when it comes to handing over money or doing life insurance, people want to just do it exactly the same. But they actually don’t. People who you should probably be chasing still want that level of service. They’re going to take their time to decide because you’ve got to build that level of trust, especially at these events. Expect to have to do that multiple times rather than just once or twice.” —Hartey
Sometimes I ask
“I teach three types of events. If you do the right type of event, the answer gets easier. First, there is the appreciation event, online or in person, where we’re just saying thank you. And you can say, ‘Feel free to bring a guest’ if you want, but you’re not expecting it to happen. You’re not disappointed if they don’t. The purpose is just to say thank you. And there’s a lot of value in just saying thank you to your clients, and people who come together who like you and trust you leave liking you and trusting you more.
“Then there’s the special invitationevent. The purpose of the event is for introductions. It’s not just, ‘Oh, by the way, feel free to bring someone.’ So how you talk about it to your clients is a little different. We found that one of the best ways to meet folks who want to meet someone like us is in a social setting where we’re not talking about business. We’re getting to know each other socially, but they know they’re there to meet us. And they’re open to that, and they’re probably open to a follow-up after the event in most cases. We’ll send you an invite, we’ll follow up. So it’s very purposeful.
“The third type event, which we call a celebration event, is kind of like an appreciation event for an individual, a guest of honor or a couple. So it could be a retirement party. It could be a small birthday gathering. I’ve met many people who’ve built very successful practices with these little birthday events. The week of the birthday, a few colleagues from where they work come and join them, and it just naturally turns into business. It could be an anniversary. When people know they’re being invited to meet you in a social setting but for a business umbrella surrounding that, then it’s much easier.
“If it’s not that, then you usually want to get on the phone with the guest of honor or the person who invited the guest and say, ‘I was thinking about calling the Joneses. We had a great conversation. What do you think about that? What’s going on in their life that’s important to them? Do you want to be involved in that introduction to make sure they feel comfortable?’ So you want to reach out to them and make sure you’re doing the right thing in the right way.” —Cates
If a client invites me to an event like a wedding or a backyard barbecue, how should I identify myself to other guests?
“Check with your client and say, ‘I appreciate this, looking forward to the event. Some people may ask me how I know you, is it OK if I tell them I’m your financial advisor?’ Most of them will say, ‘Yes, sure. Of course.’ First of all, that’s good because now if someone asks you how you know them, you have permission to mention that. But also, what you can now do is ask other people, ‘How do you know Mr. and Mrs. Smith?’ They’ll tell you, and then they will turn and say, ‘How do you know them?’ And that then gives you permission to mention the relationship there.
“You’re not at an event like that to prospect, so please don’t think about that. However, you can meet people, and then you go back to the Smiths and say, ‘I had a great conversation with George and Martha Washington. Can we talk about maybe a more formal introduction, or how do you feel about me reaching out to them?’” —Cates
Contact
Bill Cates billcates@referralcoach.com
Tristan Hartey tristan@harteywm.co.uk