If you don’t know what to say to prospective event clients, then you’ll meet people who might be interested in working with you, but they’re not going to be drawn to you.

They’re not going to know what the next step is.

They’re not going to know how to interact with you. They’re not going to be excited about the possibilities of working with you.

You have to be able to say the right things.

Inevitably, you’re going to go somewhere and people will ask you, “So, what do you do?” You’ll want to say something that attracts event clients to want to know more or to want to hire you.

If somebody says, “Hey, what do you?” you could say, “I’m an event planner and I help corporate sales teams 2x their sales” or, if you’re a wedding planner you could say, “I’m a wedding planner and I take care of all the details, so you don’t even know they’re happening.”

If you say something like that to a prospect, what are the chances that they’re going to be interested in working with you or want to know more about what you do?

They’re pretty high, right?

Get Event Clients

If you just said, “I’m an event planner…” you probably won’t get much interest.

However, if you say, “I’m an event planner and I help corporate sales teams 2x their sales” now it’s like, “Whoa! Hold on!”

You’ve got their attention. People will be drawn to you.

If you said something like that, that’s going to be a lot more compelling than just saying, “I’m an event planner.”

It’s a lot more compelling than just saying, “I’m an event planner,” because you’re talking about the results that people are looking for. When you have the right words, people are going to be drawn to you.

In this video let’s talk about the life cycle of getting event clients, the journey they go on to decide whether or not to work with you, and how to keep them as long-term clients so you don’t constantly have to start from zero.

(Skip to .47 in the video)

(In the video, I refer to Business Bootcamp, which is now part of our Boost Your Event Business program: https://eventplanningblueprint.com/byblearnmore)

I’ve put together a list of suggestions for what to say for all of the major event niches. Feel free to use them or tweak them as needed.

Corporate Planner

I’m an event planner and I help corporate sales teams 2x their sales.

Wedding Planner

I’m a wedding planner and take care of all the details so you don’t even know they’re happening.

Fundraiser

I plan charity events that sell tickets and increase fundraising efforts by 10% over your previous 3 years.

Social Planner

I’m a social event planner and I create memorable events for my clients that has their guests reminiscing about the event for years to come.

After you tell them what you do and they say, “Really? How do you do that?”

You can answer with this response:

“It depends on the _____________ (Insert: person, company, leader, relationship, child, or whomever you work with).

“We look at their goals, the challenges that they are facing, and opportunities they might be missing. We also uncover any hidden problems that might be stopping them from achieving the result they want.

Then we create an action plan and implement it together so that they finally get the results they have been looking for but were unable to find. And of course, we address challenges that come up along the way.

“The best way for me to assess all of this is to have one of my complimentary sessions, so if you are looking for (insert results), this might be a great place to start.”

Then, schedule the appointment right then and there!

How to Show Up

You have to have the places to go, the words to say, and then it’s all about how you show up.

This last piece is probably the most important of all because if you show up to these places and you’re really needy for event clients, it doesn’t work.

Neediness can come from fear of rejection. “Oh, please like me, please like me,” or it can come from, “Holy sh*t, I have to pay my mortgage.”

Needy vs. Generous

Instead of being needy, you want to be generous.

If you go to a place where you’re trying to get-get-get, people will be repelled from you even if the words are great, even if you’re in a target-rich environment.

On the other hand, if you go into these events or communities and you’re generous and give advice and give support and help people, then you can become a leader within the community. Even if it’s not your own community, you can become a leader within the community and people will be drawn to you. They’re going to want to know, “How can I work with you?”

Insecure vs. Confident

One of my clients, Erin, was getting her hair cut and the stylist asked her, “So, what do you do?” She was prepared with her response and aid it with confidence. The stylist said, “I need you. Can I have your card?”

Then the woman who owned the hair salon overheard the conversation and came up to Erin and said, “Tell me more about what you do because I think I need your help, too.”

So it doesn’t really matter where you go if you say he right thing and you show up the right way.

Another one of my students, Jennifer, gave a 60-minute talk to 10 people about event design. She had just gotten hired full-time by a local hotel and was excited to do that because she was in the process of quitting her own event and decor business.

She did this talk anyway because it was a previous commitment. She didn’t make an offer for event planning or decor during the talk, but one of the people there followed up with her and said, “I’d like your help so what can I do? What do we do next?”

So she said, “Well, we can do an intro session.” So Jennifer took this woman through the process in our Boost Your Event Business course called the Offer to Serve, and the client signed up. Jennifer wasn’t trying to get any new clients, so she quoted what she thought was a ridiculously high fee. The most she had ever charged before was $1,500 an event.

She thought to herself, “If I take on any clients, I don’t really have time because I’m working full-time now for the hotel.” She decided to raise her event decor rates to $3,000 an event and the client signed up at that rate for 6 more events ($18,000).

A week or so later, one of the other 10 people at that small 60-minute talk Jennifer gave, also followed up with her and said, “Hey, I need your help. What do we do?” Jennifer took her through the Offer to Serve and signed her up for $3,000 an event for another $12,000.

A while later, Jennifer signed up another client. Not from the same speaking event but someone she had met two years earlier who had said no to her lower rate. This person also signed up at her new higher $3,000 per event.

When you show up the right way—powerfully, confidently, with the intention to give—people are going to be naturally attracted to you. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter where you go.

You can get clients anywhere you go if you know the right things to say and you show up in the right way. If you’re showing up afraid, scared and timid, people are not going to think, “That’s the person who can solve my problems.”

On the other hand, if you come in and feel confident and self-assured, people will be drawn to you like bees to honey.

If you’ve ever been in an audience where there was a speaker and the speaker was nervous and not doing great, you probably felt very uncomfortable. You felt bad for them and it made you feel uncomfortable.

On the other hand, if the speaker was confident, you probably felt relaxed. When you know you’re in good hands, you feel like you can relax. When you can show up at a networking event with confidence, people are going to be drawn to you.

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