Open House “Magic” After the Show
Waving a magic wand will not “Poof” make a successful open house happen.
Toastmaster clubs all over the world use the open house format to help increase their membership. Successful clubs use imagination, perspiration, and planning.
Envision your open house as something bigger and better. Use this opportunity to show both members and guest that you really care about their success.
You don’t need to spend tons of money or have a rock star to make an appearance (although if you know someone notable who can attend, it certainly helps!).
Rather, the secret to making your open house successful is to spend more time planning than executing — in particular, planning what happens after the show.
Get the Word Out
Market the event to your club members, prospective members, past members, members in nearby clubs as well as family, friends, and colleagues. Use e-mail, Web site announcements, Social Media and newspaper articles to your advantage. One often overlooked, inexpensive and effective marketing tool is the telephone. Call prospects and invite them to the event.
Have Plenty of Helping Hands
Make your staffing plans well in advance — this is certainly one instance where more members on hand is better. Have members on hand to take coats, help seat guests, serve refreshments and answer questions. Have your guest packets ready to hand out making sure that each one has a membership application form. And don’t overlook having guest sign your guest book. Role play the answers to some anticipated questions in advance to ensure that all members deliver a consistent message.
Finish with Follow Up
If everyone who attends your event says, “Wow, great stuff” then you’d have nothing left to do except gather membership applications and dues. But alas, that’s rarely the case. As most open house events a lot of ‘selling’ happens afterward — often more so than at the open house.
Do better than most clubs where veteran Toastmasters will tell you that it’s not uncommon for up to 70 percent of leads to not be followed up on!
To avoid that pitfall, preparation is again your ally. Make sure you plan to follow up, including with those who did not attend. This often an overlooked category of prospects. Includes people who wanted to attend but were unable to.
In addition, when you plan your open house follow up, include planning for multiple communications.
- Have thank you letters or postcards ready to go before the event and mail them the next day. Lots of people get email, few get a thank you in the mail.
- Follow up again a few weeks later with an e-mail that is more tailored for each prospect’s needs. This time enclose relevant collateral information.
Persistence, when it’s genuine and customized, will not be perceived as nagging and will typically yield excellent results.