We love going out to engage with our clients. It is probably the thing that we enjoy the most about our business. Taking the time to meet with people, in either a business or social setting, helps us to understand who they are, what is important to the them, and in the end, to work with them to Get THEM Noticed!
Too many companies do not take the time to get up and personal with their clients in ways that are different from the traditional meeting. By creating unique ways to interact, clients and potential clients are able to see you and your brand as being multi-dimensional, allowing you the opportunity to demonstrate your value in subtle ways.
Here are two examples of how we have used corporate engagement in the last 60 days to develop tangible evidence for our brand and left a long term, memoriable impression.
For the last eight years, every September, some good business friends run the Tee Cup Golf Tournament. This is a women’s only golf tourney that promotes having a great time, the ability to network with like minded business women and supports a worthy cause, Touchstone Family Services.
Being male, and banned from playing, it would be very easy to write a cheque, sponsor a hole and consider ourselves good corporate citizen. . . but what would the fun in that be? Our view, is that if you are going to sponsor something, SHOW UP AND ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES. There is little ROI in just writing a cheque as a sponsor. Yes, you get the tax receipt and your name gets put onto a donor’s board, but no one REALLY knows who you are or what your brand is all about.
When we sponsor a hole, we ALWAYS show up and ALWAYS have a game for them to play. This year, we put a box about 50 yards down the fairway in rough terrain. If you hit the box, your team got a hole in one and you moved onto the next hole. If you did not, you played your ball from wherever it landed. Of the 18 groups that played, we only had ONE winner. Everyone loved it and people were still talking about the game at dinner that night. Another thing we did to be remembered was bringing a cooler with ice and three cases of water. It was a HOT day and everyone was very happy to see me!
Another form of corporate engagement that we have done recently is having Open Houses. Recently, we went out to see our clients in Edmonton and Calgary. To do something different, we sent out invitations a few weeks ahead of time and had clients come visit us at a hotel in each city. There, we had food to eat, fresh new ideas for them to look at and branded gifts for them to take home with them.
The goal was to create a relaxed experience, outside of the office, where my clients could meet each other, interact and for us to show them new and innovative ideas that they would find valuable. We even had our corporate videos running in a loop by the gift table, so as people came to pick up their branded presents, they were able to hear about services that they might not have known that we offer. Subliminal marketing at its best!
In the end, we had many of our top clients show up, learn something new, have fun in a relaxed environment and walk away with a branded gift. A week later, I was still getting emails thanking me for inviting them and apologies from co-workers who could not make it, hoping to see me next time I am in town.
In the end, corporate engagement is about creating opportunities to be remembered. It is all about setting yourself apart from your competition and giving people reason to understand what you can do for them.
Let us work with you to create Tangible Evidence for your Brand the Gets YOU Noticed!
