Pre-scheduled meetings are having a moment. 67% of event organizers revealed they are looking to run one or more pre-scheduled meetings programs at their events in the next 12 months. But why is this?
The answer lies in business leaders’ desire to establish and maintain good quality relationships. No wonder an overwhelming 97% of event organizers said they’d like to increase the number of valuable B2B relationships made between participants at their events.
Serendipity is a highly regarded attribute of face-to-face events. However, structured meetings programs deliver more measurable customer satisfaction, value and revenue than ad hoc hallway encounters.
Whether its suppliers meeting interested buyers or new strategic partnerships being forged for the first time, the power of a good business matchmaking and relationship building is immeasurable. And now organizers can measure–and monetize–these connections. By providing pre-scheduled meetings and selling meeting packages, organizers can be more deliberate about helping their participants forge valuable relationships.
This is a win for the participants who know exactly what they are buying: meetings with pre-qualified people that lead to longer-term relationships.
For organizers, they can now demonstrate better ROI to participants and grow their events at the same time. This is evidenced in our survey which found 72% of organizers agreed they would generate more revenue, if they offered pre-scheduled meetings.
How much revenue? Well, online revenue calculators show that organizers could generate over $900,000 in additional revenue if they simply hosted pre-scheduled meetings at their event (e.g. for a financial services event with 50 suppliers and 15 meetings per supplier).
While the concept of pre-scheduled meetings (also referred to as one-to-one, guaranteed and structured meetings) as part of conference and business-event programming has existed for several decades, a surge in pre-scheduled meetings programs has accompanied the post-pandemic return to in-person events.
To understand the reasons for the rise, DAHLIA+Agency collaborated Grip. The B2B Relationship Report is the culmination of this research partnership. In it, we examine the findings from our survey, one-to-one interviews and define a new four-step discipline, Event Relationship Management (ERM), to help organizers deploy this event strategy.
As the demand for pre-scheduled meetings increases, advancements in artificial intelligence will define and empower programs and platforms. Event organizers are on the cusp of a relationship-building renaissance.
Download the B2B Relationships Report and transform your events with pre-scheduled meetings.
