Marketing With Seminars

You may not think of yourself as as expert, but your customers do. Seminars let you leverage this expertise into higher sales and lower churn.

by Jason Zigmont HowToSell.net [October 29, 1999]

While some people think that the definition of 'an expert' is anyone that comes from more then 50 miles away (or from New York City) Internet users look to their ISPs to be the experts in all things related to the Internet. This 'expert' status, if used appropriately, can help you draw new users in and retain existing users. Hosting seminars and educational sessions can demonstrate just how much of an expert you truly are.

Seminars can be an especially powerful tool in getting yourself into a market— showing potential customers (or your current users) that you are real, you are knowledgeable, and that they can put their trust in you. (Remember, the cornerstone to selling any service, especially Internet service, is trust.)

Tailoring your seminar to your audience is essential. Start by separating your seminars into two categories, seminars for business users, and seminars for residential users.

The business segment
Seminars for business users are likely to include topics such as "Developing a Web Presence," "Telecommuting," and "Getting Connected."

Keep in mind that with the business market's growing dependency on the Internet, a bad choice of an ISP could cost someone his or her job. If you're able to demonstrate to business people that you are a knowledgeable company that they can trust with their job, then you'll get their business.

Keep in mind also that business people tend to be busy and therefore want to know up front that your seminar will be a productive use of their valuable time. So, design your business-oriented sessions to be short, to the point, and informational.

You might consider lining up a knowledgeable 'expert' from outside your company (preferably someone with a big name or important title), to speak at some of your sessions. Business customers tend to appreciate knowledge the sessions impart, and are more likely to buy services—or additional services—from you after you have proven your expertise by helping them.

The residential segment
Residential seminars tend to be more beginner orientated and include topics like "Internet 101," "Creating Your Personal Web Page," and "Getting the Most Out of the Internet".

Residential customers—and potential customers—often require considrable hand holding and personal interaction, but in return for special care, they are more likely to sign up for your service at the seminar than business users. In any case, if you provide seminars on Internet basics for your existing users, they are less likely to call tech support with basic questions later on.

Venues
Seminars can be held just about anywhere, but ISPs usually draw on their relationships with resellers or affinity groups for seminar locations. [Click here to read more about affinity and reseller relationships.] Affinity groups often want guest speakers to come in and give a presentation tailored to their special interests. Affinity-oriented presentations tend to work well for business users, but sometimes lose the personal touch that residential users prefer.

On the other hand, seminars given at ISP resellers, such as computer stores, often work better for residential users, as group size tends to be smaller and the setting more intimate.

Regardless of the setting or the audience, if your seminars contain solid, userful information, clearly presented, the result will be good will and, as mentioned earlier, enhanced trust. If your users trust you, then you are leaps and bounds above your competitors and are sure to do well.

—End

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