The Tale of Two Services Webinars

Consider the following stories about two services Webinars.           

A Services Webinar That Succeeded

A small services company wanted to successfully launch one of its core services into a new, target market. They had a small budget, but were able to recruit a speaker well known to the niche to talk about a topic of high importance to their target market. In addition, they were able to invite the speaker’s contact list along with their own opt-in email list. By combining the two lists, a compelling topic, and a known speaker, the event was highly successful. Eighty-four prospects registered and 61 people attended or watched the Webinar archive. And, because of a well-planned lead conversion strategy, two proposals were generated within 48 hours of the event. This small services business increased overall fees 22% over the next 12 months fueled by this Webinar success in the new market.

Next, let’s examine a Webinar that fell short of its promise.

A Services Webinar That Failed to Meet Expectations

A mid-sized services firm had been very successful with event marketing, using trade shows and live seminars to generate sales leads and prospect appointments. But these leads were getting costlier to create. Also, trade show attendance was dwindling at the key shows for their market. So they needed a more cost-effective way of generating leads with events. This company tried their first Webinar using their own, internal speakers and internal email list, and also spent a significant sum of money on placing online ads and mailing post-card invitations. The results were disappointing. The number of registrants was less than the average, live seminar. They also ran into Webinar delivery issues so that they did not create a viable recording. In the end, they gained only a handful of sales leads. They walked away from the experience thinking, “Webinars don’t work for our business.”

Webinars in professional, financial, legal, technology, or other services can successfully:

~ Generate sales leads,

~ Reach and influence decision-makers,

~ Launch a new service, or market an existing service to a new market,

~ Position your firm in the market place ahead of the competition, regardless of your size, or

~ Up-sell or re-sell existing clients.

Webinars have leveled the playing field so that any services firm can appear to be the market leader.

What did the first firm do differently? What are the proven Webinar marketing and sales strategies the successful firm employed that any services business can use? What are some common mistakes to avoid that were made in the second case study? How can your firm increase fees and get new clients with Webinars?

This paper …

~ reveals strategies to create a winning Webinar program,

~ offers proven tactics to get more leads and sales from your marketing budget, and

~ discusses the increasingly important role of Webinars in marketing and selling services today.

And, by following these proven guidelines, your firm may also experience sales increases of 22% or more in a single year.

Continued Tomorrow in… Part 2:  Creating a Winning Services Webinar Program

 
About the Author
Bob Hanson is the President of lead generation and conversion consultancy Quantum Leap Marketing and creator of the Must-See Webinars TMsuccess system. He has also published a recent guide to online lead generation, the “What’s Working Now in B-to-BLead Generation Guide: Success with New Media: Webinars and Goog/e Ads.”