Sarah Fejfar 0:00
Yes, I'm all for keeping Secrets and Surprises presents a light all day every day. But the more that we can give that will alleviate the questions that people have, the better it will just give them this sense of warm and fuzzy and reassurance that one they're registered to your team is on it. And three, we need to show up.
Sarah Fejfar 0:20
How are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage? Ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create our own transformative events? So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of.
Sarah Fejfar 0:41
That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar 0:49
I bet you would love it when your customer service team is totally bogged down with tickets. No, I'm being facetious. No one wants that for their team, especially in the weeks leading up to an event. And the answer is an outstanding guest confirmation letter. And so I'm going to give you the ingredients the anatomy, if you will, right now, here's what to include. I've got a whole list for you. In fact, I wrote this out the whole letter, all the words, inside of live and Academy, but I want to bore you and read it while we're here hanging out together today on the podcast.
Sarah Fejfar 1:34
But I made a list of the important points. And so this might be one of those episodes where you get out a notebook and a pen, and write things down as we hang out together. Or perhaps even better yet, this is probably going to be one of those episodes that you assign as a task inside of your project management system to your integrator, your project manager or whoever your event planner is, have them listen and make them a task to not only listen, but then draft up a template that you can use over and over again for every single event that you do, so that it reduces the volume of questions coming in to your team.
Sarah Fejfar 2:21
During that super busy time leading up to your event. I don't want your team bogged down in the weeds of questions. I want them being proactive getting this information out to your guests so that we're less reactive to stuff coming to us. Because let's be honest, in the lead up to an event. It's an exciting time. There's lots of questions that come up, I know you've been there to where you're getting ready for a mastermind, or another special conference that you've decided to attend. And you've got questions, and you want answers because you're excited to go, and your guests are in that same space.
Sarah Fejfar 3:12
So let's get them the information that you need that they need. And protip here, you may even consider making some pieces of this into a video that you release on your social media and on your event website. As a way of creating a fear of missing out. For those who haven't yet made the decision to register. I think releasing a video like that sending sending in an email, putting it on your event registration site, putting it on social media with the tone of Okay, now that you've registered, I want to make sure you know what to expect.
Sarah Fejfar 4:00
Here are some details you need to know a person getting that video who has not yet registered for your event is naturally going to be curious. So that is a marketing pro tip for you. But there's going to be some stuff in this list that you obviously would not want to include in a video that is being released to people who are not yet registered, for obvious reasons, security and otherwise, you're not going to give them the exact venue, location times all that stuff. So let's get into it. I have seen this delivered as an email. I've seen this delivered as a product inside of Kajabi in kind of a like a on a Concierge page, if you will.
Sarah Fejfar 4:52
There's lots of different ways to do it. And I would say the more the merrier. The more places that you can get this information and into the hands of your guests, the better. I think this should go out as an email, I think it should be sent as a text, I think it should be. I love a Concierge page, a Kajabi product, something of that nature, where it's like a one stop shop hub for gas. The more places that you can show this to your potential guests, the better chances inside the community, the better the chances that they will see it.
Sarah Fejfar 5:34
And then it will answer their questions before they pro before they go out to your customer service team to try it and get their question answered. Okay. So let's get into it first, it should be extremely celebratory the first line should be yay, you, you're registered. I think there's a little piece of all of us who wants that feedback loop that confirmation that yes, we did all the steps properly. We did. But our card in there, it was accepted. They got our name and our email, right, we didn't fat finger and type it wrong.
Sarah Fejfar 6:13
Like we're registered, yes, let's, let's even if there's a confirmation email that goes out the moment that they buy their ticket, let's also use that language inside of this email because there's usually a gap. Now, my preference is that there isn't a communication gap between the day that a tickets bought and the you know, the week or two before the event when it's time to send out this guest confirmation letter. But let's say there was a gap, having that reassurance is always helpful. So so open with your registered yay full of excitement, energy, high energy, then I love to drop an agenda in there, because that's what everyone wants to know.
Sarah Fejfar 6:54
And even if your position is and this is the position I support, less is more in terms of you're not sharing when guest speakers are presenting, you're not sure sharing exact. And times are mealtimes and that's okay, give what you can give a little bit more than they maybe got on the registration sites so that they feel like that, that, that craving for that agenda has been satiated, if you will. So first, your registered language second, an agenda.
Sarah Fejfar 7:30
Third, the location, give them all the specifics that they need in order to get there, whether it's virtual or in person, give them the information they need. If it's virtual, you're going to want to and this is a link, you're gonna want to resend that about a million times after this guest confirmation letter, but it doesn't hurt to include it here. Fourth, is registration. So is there going to be on site registration? Or is there going to be virtual registration where people are going to have to check in, get a badge get additional information?
Sarah Fejfar 8:08
Give them that those that information here? If there's VIP information for people who have upgraded included here, and yes, even if they're not VIP, I wouldn't say segment your list for this. Because I always think Fear Of Missing Out is a major driver of action. And so when you put information that is just for VIPs inside this email, it tells the people who haven't yet made an upgrade for their ticket that exactly what they're missing out on.
Sarah Fejfar 8:45
And so you can include a link here to upgrade if you still have upgrades available, and give that information to to everyone else all all. At this time. I think that's great. That's the excitement is there. They you might get a few more VIP registrations out of this. And I would say though, if there's any sort of special, let's say a VIP reception would not be putting location in this. You could be putting like the weather in the wet or you could put the like the when and maybe the what, but I would definitely send a separate email with that information, just the VIPs so that you don't have people showing up that have not registered as a VIP.
Sarah Fejfar 9:35
Also, number six policy stuff. All sorts of stuff under this umbrella category. This includes things like if they've got a friend that wants to come what to do, what if they need to cancel? Do you get refunds? What if they show up late to registration like at the event No, they're they're not coming right at the beginning. What's your videography policy? What's your photography policy? Will they have to sign a waiver when they get there? Just policy stuff. So you know what it is for your community?
Sarah Fejfar 10:15
Let's make sure that kind of the rules, the regulations, the policy stuff, it's all kind of covered right there. So it's not a surprise. Also, another umbrella category is is hospitality stuff. So things like, what's the internet Wi Fi situation going to be like? What's lost and found? What about a tire, which they'd be wearing? How about things like sleeping rooms, or air or ground transportation or parking or the fitness center, I love to give people all the information that they might want to have a comfortable experience not only inside of the event, but off hours as well.
Sarah Fejfar 11:03
Maybe it's even where to get a running map. So I think, think through what questions have come up in past events, and just continually upgrade your guest confirmation letter with that information so that people get their questions answered. Again, this is all about proactively sharing information with them so that you don't have to be reactive and have your team answering all sorts of questions before your event. And then lastly, just keep that energy level high about your excitement over the upcoming event about their arrival. Them being there.
Sarah Fejfar 11:51
I need you to remember that you're still selling, you're selling them showing up. Do not forget that your communication between them registering for the event and them physically being there on site or being like dialed into the Zoom, logged into the Zoom. It's it's all about selling, you're still selling, showing up. I've told you before I bought tickets that were more than $1,000 Each for myself and my husband to attend an event and we did not go. It just seems ridiculous that I would flush money like debt that down the drain, but I did.
Sarah Fejfar 12:36
And still bugs me a little. But I didn't show up. And I think it's so important that we as the CEOs, the leaders of this event, remember, we're still selling, showing up. So remember, number eight is keep the energy high, keep the excitement high, you are still selling the event. And at this point, you're selling them showing up. Okay. I hope this has been helpful. I hope this helps you feel empowered, that you can take charge of that volume of customer service tickets that comes in before an event by more proactively sharing more information about the event.
Sarah Fejfar 13:39
I mean, yes, I'm all for keeping Secrets and Surprises presents a light all day every day. But the more that we can give that will alleviate the questions that people have, the better it will just give them this sense of warm and fuzzy and reassurance that one they're registered to your team is on it. And three, we need to show up. So give this episode to your integrator, assign them the task of drafting your guest confirmation letter, send it out as early as you can. I love that two weeks out timeframe.
Sarah Fejfar 14:22
That's usually when the questions start to bubble up and people start to think forward thinking in their in their calendar. and have some fun with this and share it everywhere. All right. I hope this was helpful. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today, making it outstanding rest of the week. Take care. Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram and be sure to tag at zero favor and let me know why you liked it. And what you'd like to hear more who you'd like to hear from in the future that'll help me know what to create for you.
Sarah Fejfar 15:04
Also, if scaling events in your business sounds like something you want to tackle this year and you need a coach, let's connect to see if one on one coaching is for you just go to greenroom central.com. You and I can work together one on one throughout the course of the year and dive deep into the inner workings of your events, business. To receive mentorship, personalized feedback, and customized guidance to define your goals and achieve your next level of success. Just go to green room central.com Right now, to apply.
Sarah Fejfar 15:34
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going, keep learning if you want more head over to Greenham central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
