In theory, getting a group of like-minded individuals together to discuss a topical subject of interest to all and then to share ideas and best practice sounds relatively straightforward – surely just a matter of agreeing a date and organising a venue ? Not so. Experience shows that for seminars to be a worthwhile use of everyone’s time and budget, they need to be carefully planned and meticulously organised.
The Process
- Hot Topics
Considering what content will appeal to your current and prospective clients is a key part of the planning. Our experts can prepare a shortlist of possible topics and even research them with clients; we can also investigate guest speakers to give your seminar added kudos.
- Attracting the right audience
What’s important is that you keep the invite list focused, as it’s better from a business development perspective to have a smaller number of key clients and targets, than a room full of time wasters. Once criteria has been agreed as to the type of people you want to invite, we will then send out or email the invitations – acceptances will be logged and acknowledged, and we will also follow up any contacts who don’t reply.
Getting details of the event out to clients and the wider world as far in advance as possible is vitally important. This is why we will build into the project plan time to work with you to prepare your delegate list and collate all the data for the mailing or email – this in itself can be quite an exercise, since data is frequently stored in all sorts of formats and locations.
We will also prepare and distribute press releases to publicise the seminar with the aim of gaining coverage in relevant media.
- Logistics
A well-run event does not happen by magic, rather good planning is required.
Our Marketing Consultants all have wide-ranging experience of planning and managing events – whether in-house or external seminars or fringe events at a conference or exhibition. We will work to a detailed plan, including:
- liaison with external venues and any contractors, e.g. AV equipment and catering;
- inspecting access and layout details;
- assistance with preparing information packs;
- compiling speaker presentations
- preparation of any display materials and handout items;
- re-confirming attendance in advance.
- On the Day
Having someone on hand to take care of all the details frees you up to do what you do best - talking with clients and prospective clients.
We will attend as part of your team but with a defined role – to make sure things run smoothly – registration and badging up; catering; technical issues regarding presentations etc
In our experience, before any seminar or client event, it’s important to run a briefing session with everyone who will be involved from your firm to ensure the key messages are consistent and the right lawyers speak with certain delegates.
At such sessions we are happy to provide invaluable tips on how to network and “work the room”. If you feel your Fee Earners need some help in this area, talk to us about including our Marketing Training Service in your training programme.
- Feedback
We will design a feedback form for delegates to complete before they leave the event, so you understand what worked well and if anything needs to be improved. We would also suggest running a de-brief immediately after the event with your staff to glean further feedback. This is something we would be happy to lead.
- Follow Up
This is the most critical part of any event. The seminar gets you in front of your target audience and now having made contact the work of further developing the relationship begins. Immediately after the event hot leads need to be assigned to your lawyers and their progress monitored. Our Marketing Consultants can help with this process to ensure that you make the most of new business opportunities.
Getting started checklist
Before announcing a seminar programme it is important to consider:
- Who are your key clients and targets?
- What are they interested in / what’s important to them?
- Which legal services do you want to promote?
- Who are your best speakers?
- What’s worked well in the past?
- Timeframe and budget
Fee Structure
As clients want certainty on fees we will deliver either a one–off seminar or seminar programme for a fixed fee. The fee will vary according to the type and size of event, the quality of your data / invite list and the time needed from our side to deliver an effective event. Please call David Gilroy now on 0117 325 0202 to discuss costs or any other element of the service. We look forward to hearing from you!
