Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

4 Things to do When Your Event Runs Long

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stop being lateToday I left an event 45 minutes later than it was scheduled to end. And yeah, I was super annoyed. By now you probably know I’m an organized person (so organized, I married a CPA) and I like events to start and end on time. Nothing annoying me more when networking than an event that starts late and ends late. It’s disrespectful of the event attendees and makes me wonder what you’d do if I gave you my money.

Here’s the deal – sometimes your event will run long. Sometimes you may want to leave the event open ended, especially if it’s a networking event, and that’s FINE. Put a schedule around it (5:30 event starts, 6:00 remarks, 7pm raffle, end ???) and I’ll know that I’m free to leave after the raffle (or before, but I LOVE free stuff).

If you’re hosting events, here’s 4 suggestions for what to do when your event runs long:

  1. Make an announcement at the time the event was supposed to end – This is being respectful of your attendees. “Hey it’s 2:30 which is when I said this would be over, I think we’ll be about another 20 minutes, but I understand if you need to leave now.” and I would have been a happy camper.
  2. Start on Time – Sounds simple right? But so many people say “let’s just give folks a few more minutes to get here.” Guess what? We all knew when this event started. Yes parking sucks, yes traffic sucks, yes I left 10 minutes late so I could get ONE MORE THING DONE but that’s not the host’s fault. If I’m late and I walk in and the event has started I’m OK with that. I knew I was late. Start with some simple housekeeping and introductions so stragglers have a chance to come in but not interrupt too much.
  3. Cut out the fluff – We arrived at 1pm and at about 5 after the event host said that we were going to informally network for about 15 minutes, so we just talked to the people next to us, but it was a small enough group we could have just done group introductions. WHICH after the 15 minutes we did. So…yeah, there’s 20 minutes that could have been saved.
  4. End on Time. Test this stuff folks. You know how many people you’re expecting and how long activities might go. You know what you’re talking about and how long that content will go. YES you’ll have long winded people in the room, learn how to cut them off politely, trust me, the rest of the room will thank you for it.

Customer Service Lessons from 6 Hours on a Train

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CYPNh4FUAAAvyiYLast month I attempted a quick overnight trip to Seattle to attend a retirement party for a friend. I usually drive to Seattle, but with winter weather and traffic I thought I’d finally try out the train. A couple of friends have been down to visit on it and raved how easy it was (in May, yes). So, after our train departed an HOUR late, because we were waiting for an engine (which seems important so why wasn’t it already there?!) we got going.

And then stopped. Trees on the tracks. Obviously outside their control (but of course, I wonder if we’d left on time…) by the time we got going again it was clear I wasn’t going to arrive till the party was over. I knew it’d go long but as we waited and waited I was losing faith I’d arrive in time for my departure the next morning. So, I called Amtrak figuring that was easiest and they said I could jump off at Kelso and go back. I talked to the conductor and he gave me a super informal slip of paper to give the other conductor and I could go back. So, I did.

Then I called Amtrak to get a refund for that useless trip (they said they couldn’t refund/process till the trip was complete) and 6 hours spent on trains to literally go nowhere (because if you’ve driven past Kelso you know this is true). Everyone I talked to was nice and helpful along the way, but all I got for a day of lost time was a credit to my account for the half of the trip I didn’t take.

As is often my problem with customer service folks, they aren’t given the tools to ACTUALLY fix the problem. They’re given the lowest common denominator: don’t spend money, don’t actually make the customer love you. I did ask if there was anything they could do, but no of course not, that’s their policy.

I took to Twitter, and ZERO response from them. Which is a disappointment, but not a surprise. If you’re on social media BE on social media (my other favorite rant…)

And so, I’ll continue to drive to Seattle or fly, because Alaska Airlines knows what they’re doing and I wouldn’t have missed the party.

Where Does Your Business Come From?

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santa-marking-checklist-21785140Earlier this week I was challenged to make a list of all my clients in 2015 and identify the referral source for them.

It was a GREAT exercise that I don’t know why I haven’t done before, or with regularity! I included clients I’ve been working with for a few years, not just ones acquired this year. I knew exactly where each client came from. Networking, referrals, and my newsletter were my major sources.

And, now as I move into 2016 I know where to focus my marketing efforts. I’ll continue to attend those networking events that are bringing me business, I’ll continue to work with those referral partners who send me new business and will refer back to them as well. And that monthly newsletter will continue to be monthly.

In this last month of the year, it’s a great time to take 15 minutes and make a list of all your clients from this past year, and where they came from. You may be surprised at the lead sources, you may not be. But making the list and seeing just how much business someone gives you is a pretty good gift to give yourself this time of year.