Why You Should Have A Virtual Meeting To Build Pipeline
Learn the value of a virtual meeting, and how it can help increase your network and build your pipeline in this post.
RELATED: 4 Key Reasons You Should Use Virtual Events for Lead Generation
In this article:
- Use Virtual Meeting to Build Your Pipeline
- How to Do Virtual Meetings
- How We Started Hosting Virtual Events
- How We Built Our Speaker Profile
- The Virtual Sales Development Summit
How to Hold a Virtual Meeting
Virtual Meeting Definition: A type of meeting conducted online that allows people from all over the world can join. A virtual meeting or event allows participants to share information real-time even though they’re not physically together.
Use Virtual Meeting to Build Your Pipeline
Which is more difficult — building pipeline or closing pipeline?
We at XANT conducted a survey among Sales Leaders and asked them this question. We learned that for Sales Leaders, building pipeline is almost two times harder than closing pipeline.
To build your pipeline, you have to be creative. One of the ways to do this is to hold a virtual meeting or virtual event.
Sales Pipeline Definition: This represents sales prospects and where they’re currently at in the buying process. The sales pipeline provides an overview of a sales rep’s account. It also lets the team see how close they are to reaching their quota.
How to Do Virtual Meetings
Participating in a virtual meeting with a laptop
You can host a sales summit or marketing summit conducted webinar-style. The speakers can be from within your company, or you can also invite other industry leaders as guest lecturers.
If your main purpose for conducting a virtual event is to build your pipeline, then you should consider having synergistic partners. Your partners will help you promote your event to their own networks so you can gain more participants.
Promoting your event with synergistic partners can yield more turnouts than doing it on your own. Based on our own experience at XANT, we were able to get 20,000 to 40,000 participants with the help of our partners.
If you aren’t conducting a virtual meeting or virtual event in your own industry, you’re losing out. It’s an effective way to build your community, get a following, a killer lead-share program, and a killer pipeline program.
This is something your sales and marketing team should have on their radar when it comes to planning events.
Webinar Definition: A contraction of “web-based seminar,” this is a presentation, meeting, workshop, or lecture conducted using video conference software. A webinar is a type of virtual meeting where participants can share and discuss information in real-time.
How We Started Hosting Virtual Events
Here at XANT, we hold the Virtual Sales Development Summit. We pioneered this concept around ten years ago. You may ask, though, how did we get into hosting virtual events?
We all know that events are awesome. It’s a great way to meet people in person, network, and participate in the event activities.
The problem is, there are a lot of cons that come with physical events.
- It takes time out of everyone’s busy week.
- Also, more often than not, people have to fly in and pay for expensive tickets and accommodation.
Part of our company practice is to work and do things remotely. We want the members of our organization to be able to balance their business life and home life.
Years ago, I told our team, “What if we could take the very best of what people experience in a physical event and put them in a virtual format?” That’s how we came up with the idea to host a virtual sales event.
We also thought about how we could kick it off with a bang, so we invited the Guinness World Records to witness our event. We pitched our virtual sales event as the largest virtual meeting ever, and we actually had nearly 60,000 people register for one of the first ones we held.
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How We Built Our Speaker Profile
Speaking at a virtual meeting remotely
Our virtual events have big-name speakers. They are the movers and shakers who continue to create an impact in the sales industry.
We were able to reach out to sought-after speakers like Guy Kawasaki. When we invited him, we asked him to participate in something really cool that no one has ever done in the sales space.
It was true. During that time, no one has ever brought together the top thought leaders in sales and put them together in a virtual lecture format.
This allowed people from all over to attend the lectures at their leisure. They could tune in through their smartphone, tablet, or computer.
We also offered the virtual event free of charge for sales reps and managers. They can watch it at any time during a certain period, so it’s very convenient for them.
Instead of having the speakers fly out to give their lecture, we had them record their session. If they had to, they could also pre-record it. They only had to send us their video file and they could go back to their daily business.
I remember some of the early conversations we had with our speakers. They hesitated at first because they hadn’t done anything like this before.
The reality is, all the speakers had to do was to find a quiet place and spend 15 to 20 minutes to share their sales secrets. We only had a few live sessions, and the majority of them were pre-recorded.
From our experience, all the speakers we invited wanted to participate in something that was different and unique. Also, it was very easy for them to give their talk because they could do it at their own time.
Eventually, we got more of the best sales speakers, trainers, and practitioners to partner with us in mounting the event. This is how it became a brilliant pipeline generation tool for us.
The Virtual Sales Development Summit
Over the last years, we decided to create a niche virtual meeting. Instead of targeting the sales industry in general, we went for a specific persona.
That’s how we came up with the Virtual Sales Development Summit. It’s the largest gathering of sales development reps and managers.
We’ve got a lot of speakers who are some of the biggest names in sales development. They committed to giving their time to conduct short, but powerful presentations.
What You Can Expect
We prepared two agendas for the summit. The first day is for Sales Development Managers and Leaders. Here we talk about structure, systems, people, and pipeline.
The second day is for Sales and Business Development Reps. We share here what I call the “4 Steps of Sales Development” — identify, contact, qualify, and pass.
We also have the “Sales Development Awards” where we recognize the best thought leaders and sales reps in the industry.
It’s a really fun event, and best of all, it’s almost free. The cost for us to mount this is minuscule, but the ROI is out of this world.
In sales development, prospecting is such an important topic. Pipeline is a huge challenge for most of us, no matter who you are or what company you’re from.
Events like this sales summit attract a lot of people, which can help you with prospecting.
This is a must-attend event! You can learn more about the Sales Development Summit by visiting our website.
Take advantage of the technology we have today to build your pipeline! Like us, you can use a virtual meeting to increase your network and generate prospects.
Virtual events in the form of webinars and sales conference can boost your profile and business. It can also open new opportunities for growth which you had never thought possible.
How else can a virtual event help your business grow? Share your ideas with us in the comments section below.
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