What do April, March and October have in common? These are the top three months for professionals and consultants to host a teleseminar.
To make teleseminars fill your pipeline with qualified leads, first scrutinize your proposed topic by asking yourself some hard questions. If prospective clients attend this teleseminar, what beneficial information will they receive? Is this information that my competition either cannot, or does not, offer? Is this information a strong enough pull to justify them spending their precious time with us?
Next, examine how you spread the word. Do you have the right email list for prospects (they gave you permission to email them) and mailing list for suspects (these are strangers you don’t know yet)? Maybe email and direct mail alone are not enough to deliver enough prospects to your next teleseminar. A key to attracting high-level executives is to reinforce email direct mail messages with phone calls. These calls also can provide valuable feedback on how prospects view the seminar topic and subject matter.
Event letters or invitations should be mailed or emailed approximately four weeks prior to the event. Another email blast a few days before and event can also work well. Give registrants the option to call the 800 number, fax, email or utilize the on-line event registration application on the Internet to register for an event. When possible, it is helpful to provide an overview of what will be covered.
Here are some business-to-business teleseminar scheduling guidelines:
- No business teleseminars on weekends
- Avoid Monday and Friday
- Avoid teleseminars in a holiday week (Fourth of July, June commencement)
- Check for conflicting industry events
Telemarketing calls can increase registrations five percent beyond the registration rate from direct mail. Calling is conducted one to three weeks prior to the event. Many seminar experts recommend three calls attempts per contact with voice messages on the first and third attempts.
Typically, only 40-50 percent of those who say they will attend a free teleseminar actually attend. To minimize no-shows, confirmation e-mails are another option to consider. Send an e-mail confirmation 48 hours prior to the event. The e-mail confirmation will act as a reminder of the event and provide them date, time, location and directions. E-mail confirmations can greatly increase the attendance rate at the event.