3 ideas to improve your pre-event cash flow

The two superpowers that i’ve always craved for are avoiding the unavoidable and  expecting the unexpected. And even though the first still seems to be unachievable, experience brought me closer to the second. Or, to say the least, taught me that no matter how much I prepare myself things can still go wrong (what can i say…the world is independent of my will).

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And planning an event makes no exception when talking about things that can go wrong. Although you want to make sure that your marketing strategy helps you sell all the tickets (Fully Booked sounds great, i know) it’s crucial to have a strong financial plan. Assuming that you are not the happy owner of a Platinum Business Credit Card and that, like the rest of us, you too have to work for a positive cash flow, here are some ideas you can use:

An event’s main income sources are:   

Sponsorships and Advertising Revenue

Registration Fees and Ticket Sales

Merchandise Sales (T-Shirts, Mugs, etc.)

Audiovisual Material Sales (CDs, DVDs, etc.),

so let’s see how we can use these revenue streams to better our pre-event cash flow

Sponsorship and Advertising Revenue

This is the category that, by tradition, helps you start. But you have to choose wisely. Don’t waste your time by not researching first; make sure that you approach the right company or person. Research will help you see which companies are omnipresent sponsors, what companies are willing to associate with your event’s theme (ex: if your topic is “Sustainable Energy” you may try approaching someone from the Energy field) or who is interested in your audience’s demographics.

Registration Fees and Ticket Sales

Remember the days when you had to wait until after the event for your money? Those days are over! Today’s technology offers you the possibility to have instant access to your ticket sales income. So, if you start selling tickets 6 months before the event (using an event registration software), your event cash flow will start 6 months in advance (and you can therefore balance your budget better). A quick example is that you can use the early bird strategy for a limited number of seats. This way you can make sure you have cash to pay some suppliers.

Merchandise Sales and Audiovisual Material Sales 

This is the real fun part when it comes to pre-event income. Today you can have instant access to not only ticket sales cash but also merchandise sale. You can set a special ticket category where event entrance is bundled with a T-shirt, a mug or a DVD. You can use Oveit’s addons and benefits to make this happen.

Cash flow seems to be one of the main reasons for which startups or events fail.”A recent study showed that as many as 82 percent of startups fail due to poor cash flow management”, sir Richard Branson has said. So, when planning the killer event don’t forget to make a solid financial plan and to use these tips if you need the extra cash.

How to maximize event registrations and sales

One of the most important aspects to event business is the ticket sales. After all – that’s what makes it a business. Planners try different tactics in order to get the right people to register and attend their events. Of course, this is no easy job, considering that the industry is so competitive. There are many reasons to attend an event: to have a good time, to learn and network, to spend time with peers.

Oveit can help organizers optimize their sales with some interesting features that are available as soon as the account is created.

Real Time sales reports

First thing is first. When it comes to ticket sales, the best tool you need to have is a real time sales report. This is a vital tool, because you need to know at any time how many tickets were purchased up to that point and by whom. Oveit offers its customers various reports that give information regarding the number of tickets sold in a day, as well as the sums that were generated by the sales, split by events or ticket types.

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With these reports, the event planner can see at a glance whether the promotional campaigns are working and what their direct impact is on actual sales. If you plan a concert and decide to have a Facebook ad campaign for one week, you can see how that campaign affected the sales. If you observe that sales did not record a boost or an increase in numbers, then it is obvious that you need a shift in your promotional campaign. On the other hand, if you observe that the graphs are going sky high, it’s time to put some more money in that specific type of media, as it is clear that it’s working. This is viable for all other forms of marketing campaigns dedicated to promote your event and increase the number of tickets that are being sold.

Relevant customer data

It would be nice to get to know your attendees, wouldn’t it? With Oveit you can find out anything you want from your customers.

The form setup. You can choose from text, dropdown lists, email, dates and file uploads

The form setup. You can choose from text, dropdown lists, email, dates and file uploads

By enabling Oveit’s forms function, you can request any sort of information that is relevant for you. You can find out the attendees’ names, e-mails, positions in their companies, or even ask for their CVs. Why is this relevant for sales? Sales, in today’s world, is data. The more you know about your potential market, the better.

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The check-in section. Search for attendees, edit their details and see order details.

Of course, it is important to ask the right questions to attendees. A large list of questions can go unanswered and the purchase flow is interrupted.

We recommend that you ask the customer her e-mail and basic data (name, company, position in the company), as these are the essentials. If you do this right, you will build up large data base collected and organized by Oveit, searchable and editable, which will always be available to you. You can also connect other applications you might have (for example a CRM) to our API and streamline data management. You will be able to see the customers’ activity and even reward your loyal customers at future events (for example with discount vouchers for loyal customers).

Active Media Partners

All events have media partners. Bigger events attract important media partners, but don’t worry if you plan a smaller event. You will definitely find media channels that are interested in your event. All you need to do is define your target audience and see where they get their news from. Once you have signed the media partnerships, you can use Oveit for something awesome: actively involve the media partners into ticket sales.

Copy, paste, embed and sell anywhere.

Copy, paste, embed and sell anywhere.

How? By using the embed function that Oveit has for every event, customers can purchase tickets directly from your media partner websites. The embed code functions just like any you would expect from an embed code and is compatible with any kind of website or screen resolution.

Customize the embed widget and make it fit your brand identity.

Customize the embed widget and make it fit your brand identity.

Your media partner just copies and pastes that code in the advertorial dedicated to your event. There you have it. Partners become sales channels. With this feature you can now have a full sales force directly from newspapers, online magazines or even blogs. You have full control over the data, at any time, so you know exactly who was the most prolific partner/seller.

The perfect check-out

The customer experience starts when the payment ends. This is the beginning of your customer relationship. She having a nice experience at the concert is entirely your job as an organizer.

Oveit can only help you with access management and all the other tools required for ticket sales. But even more, Oveit can help you stay in touch with your attendee. By keeping her attention and interest alive, she can become your loyal customer and will definitely attend to your future events.

A start to this new relationship between the planner and the attendee is the Oveit Check-out settings section that will enable you to send personalized e-mails to your attendees. By doing so, the customer will enjoy the attention you are offering her and be more receptive to anything you are doing or saying.

Also, you can create a small ‘Thank you’ page on your website so the customer will be redirected to it after ticket purchase. If you follow the previous advice and sell tickets directly from the media partners, this URL link is mandatory, as the customer can be redirected on your official website where she might find out more details about the event and about upcoming events.