Networking – Page 6 – Management Events

December 3, 2020

From B2B Networking To Partnerships: Benify’s Success With Management Events

Transitioning a prospective customer into a purchasing client is the most difficult yet rewarding part of a sales process, and Jenny Swartling Pizarro, the Head of Sales Large Enterprises Sweden at Benify, knows that the first step to building a strong business relationship starts with that all-important initial contact with a prospect.

Through the unique networking opportunities of Management Events’ 600Minutes HR events, Jenny can directly connect with top-level HR executives and other business leaders.

One such decision-maker whom Jenny engaged with is the HR Director of Lidl Sweden, a company that has since signed a deal with Benify to implement their solution in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Benify – A Global Benefits and Total Rewards Platform

Benify is an HR tech company that offers a global platform for benefits, total rewards, and employee communications with more than 1,500 customers and over 2 million users around the world.

Their solution helps employers create an exceptional benefits and rewards experience while reducing benefits administration, automating processes, radically improving the communication of their employee value proposition, and ensuring better data governance and management of benefit and reward costs.

Benify’s platform and employee app have reinvented the way modern employers engage with their employees, winning multiple awards such as the GOLD Stevie® Award for Global HR Solution Provider of the Year 2020 and the Bronze Stevie® Award for Achievement in HR Technology 2020.

The Initial Meet-Up

Jenny has represented Benify at the yearly 600Minutes HR events for approximately 6 years.

“At 600Minutes Leadership and HR in 2018,” Jenny recounts, “I had my first personal meeting with the HR Director of Lidl Sweden.”

Lidl Sweden is a food wholesaler, offering a range of Swedish and organic products with foreign delicacies and a varied range of goods for the whole home.

“It turned out that the director had read a report of ours on the benefits awareness gap,” Jenny continues, “so [the event] was a great place to start the conversation.”

“Lidl wanted to digitize their processes regarding employee benefits,” Jenny explains, “to make their benefits more transparent and accessible, as well as create opportunities to offer more benefits than they already did.”

She further elaborates that, “Their investment in a Benify platform was also part of a larger effort to make Lidl the best employer in their industry.”

Building The Relationship

The communication between Jenny and Lidl Sweden’s HR Director didn’t end at the event but continued to develop into a lasting business relationship.

“At 600Minutes Leadership and HR, we decided to book another meeting after the event,” Jenny relates, “which led to a pre-study and eventually a signed deal to implement our platform for Lidl’s more than 4,200 employees in Sweden.”

“After having happily used the Benify platform in Sweden for about a year, Lidl decided to also implement our solution for their 15,000 employees in the Netherlands.”

Relations between the two companies are going strong, and Jenny expresses that, “If [the Netherlands’ solution implementation] turns out as successful as the Swedish example, we are looking at a potential cooperation with Lidl across the entire Europe and the US.”

Business Growth With ME

As a 6-year-and-counting representative of Benify at the 600Minutes HR networking events held yearly by Management Events (ME), Jenny points out many benefits of the unique event concept.

“[The events] have given me opportunities to engage personally with HR directors and other relevant stakeholders from large enterprises that are otherwise difficult to get in touch with,” Jenny confides.

“The 15-minute meetings are very effective,” she declares. “Each representative specifies their interest areas beforehand, e.g. recruiting, employee benefits, or digitization, so you can prepare and focus on what you want to get across. It’s almost like B2B speed dating.”

Moving With The (Hard) Times

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jenny says that an increasing number of employers are seeing the value of Benify’s product in these challenging times, and are ready to invest again.

“With many physical events canceled, we were happy to partake in the digital version of 600Minutes,” she conveys.

“The atmosphere in the meetings was relaxed as most people were participating from their own homes. You held the full attention of each representative and were able to share your screen. It was easy to establish personal contact and get a good conversation going. All in all, a very positive experience.”

An Arena Of Opportunities

Overall, Jenny believes that Management Events offers a great arena for solution providers to meet with relevant stakeholders.

“In several cases, the initial contact at 600Minutes has led to further meetings, where we have been able to present our solutions more in-depth, and then perform customized pre-studies that in turn have resulted in signed deals.”

August 28, 2020

8 Actionable Tips on Virtual Presentation to Rise above the Competition

You received a memo informing you that your organization has canceled all international and domestic road trips or flights due to the ongoing pandemic. Including that quarterly regional sales convention you have been prepping for months or that invitation to deliver a keynote at a B2B conference. So now what? How are you ever going to exhibit your impressive numbers and showcase your presenting skills?

Thankfully, in the ever-growing digital workplace, virtual presentations are on the rise. Consequently, with the right planning, decent internet connection, and video conferencing tools, you can deliver a high-quality, engaging presentation to the rest of the team in a virtual environment.

Virtual presentations, like in-person presentations, need to be meticulously designed. Small mistakes can make or break their success, particularly when you may not see your audience, which introduces another tier of challenges. Therefore, as a presenter, there are individual things that you should and should not do to deliver a seamless presentation.

The following are some general considerations and suggestions for running any virtual presentation and transporting live activities into a virtual setting. Note that the specific tools, features, and technological capabilities available will vary by platform.

Tip 1: Choosing a virtual platform

Choosing the wrong platform can be the difference between having a poor presentation or a great one. As the host or organizer, you get to pick the virtual presentation platform for the event. Carefully consider the size of the audience, bandwidth limitations of other attendees, and available features.

As the visiting speaker at an external event, you probably have little to no influence in choosing the platform. However, once you are aware of the selected virtual platform, ensure that you familiarize yourself with the platform, particularly if you will be switching between slides and or screen sharing. As a host or co-host, ensure other facilitators and participants receive proper training.

Tip 2: Dynamic Presentation

During an in-person presentation, we habitually employ various vital tips and tricks to keep our audience engaged. These include using appropriate facial expressions, maintaining eye contact, and hand gestures. Similarly, in a virtual presentation, you have to maintain a dynamic presence. Otherwise, statistics have shown that a passive display is one of the quickest ways to lose audience engagement other than an overly lengthy presentation. According to a Barco ClickShare study, 72% of respondents agreed that using multimedia elements made presentations more engaging.

Future predictions indicate that Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology will be at the forefront of virtual presentations. Businesses have already begun leveraging augmented reality in presentations to engage their audience on an elevated level, sell their products and services more effectively, and more importantly, develop a memorable brand experience. However, for traditional slideshow presentations, endeavor to keep your slides minimal, clean & colorful; be creative and make use of multimedia (bold visuals, videos, and links) content to keep your presentation exciting and attention-seeking. The content they say is King in the virtual space.

Tip 3: Involve your audience

Another critical tip is the employment of several engagement tools to increase audience involvement, such as polls, quizzes, hands-raising, asking pertinent questions, with answers given auditorily or in the chat window. Notwithstanding, do not use these tools for the sake of inclusion. So, if a poll is inserted, ensure that the questions match your content and relevant to the presented topic.

Tip 4: The Three S’s (Stand, Stay Still & Smile)

Standing during a virtual presentation is an often-overlooked factor, particularly during the recent pandemic that forced most businesses to shutter their physical offices and workers to work from home. You may not always possess the choice of choosing whether to sit or stand. However, if you can stand, do so, as you may be able to convey more authority, avoid many potential presentation difficulties, and make it easier for your listeners to focus on you and your ideas.

Standing also improves your breathing by ensuring that you can breathe more quickly from your diaphragm and that energy can flow smoothly through your body. Additionally, standing makes it less likely for you to lean on a table or surface, which can be regarded as unprofessional. Employ hand gestures even when you are invisible.

While standing, it is crucial to remain still and in front of the camera. Balance your weight equally on both legs to keep your lower body still and minimize or eliminate shifting. Should your presentation involve moving around, gesture a bit higher than usual to ensure your audience can see them. Taking care not to move outside the camera’s viewing angle, keep your gestures contained and deliberate; doing otherwise would come off as amateurish and unprofessional.

Smiling or, at a minimum, keeping one’s facial expression neutral yet pleasant makes for a more relatable presenter. Do a few practice runs while watching yourself present. You may notice that you frown too much and or look overly serious in concentration. So, when practicing your presentation, also work on relaxing your face and smiling at appropriate moments. Eventually, you get comfortable with the content, and in turn, feel more relaxed and come across naturally.

Tip 5: Environment

Humans are highly visually stimulated animals, and our brains instantaneously register color. Thus, when setting up your camera, avoid setting up in locations with a messy or distracting background, as this may inadvertently draw the attention of your viewers away from you onto objects or other happenings besides your presentation.

Studies have shown that our brain registers color before anything else. Given that color is a powerful communicator, it helps to know how to use it effectively during presentations. Consequently, ensure you are correctly and adequately lit from above, wear neutral-colored clothing, and avoid all-black attires. From the viewer’s perspective, black-colored clothing tends to ‘swallow’ the presenter. If you have to wear black or a dark color, consider design and texture or introduce other colors to generate interest. Summarily, when choosing an outfit, think about how it fits with your overall branding.

Tip 6: Voice Modulation

Voice modulation is one of the most formidable weapons you can possess in your virtual presenting arsenal while delivering a speech. Not only does it reflect confidence, but it also helps in compelling your audience about your opinions or ideas. Many great orators have attributed their successful command over people partly due to voice modulation.

Use your voice to convey that passion and energy. When your audience cannot see you, your voice is all you have to keep your audience engaged. Therefore, your voice needs to be dynamic and engaging, or you will lose people’s attention. Practice by reading a script using exaggerated emotion, volume, and intonation. If you have a wireless headset on hand, get up and move around the room as you speak; doing this simple task may help you generate the right amount of energy in your voice.

Practice speaking at a measured pace, not too slow and not too fast. Occasionally, pause for 2 – 3 seconds when you have made a vital or transition point. Because your audience is reliant on your speech, a stillness will not only catch their attention but also return them to you.

Tip 7: Bring in a guest speaker or co-presenter.

When possible, particularly on lengthy presentations, consider bringing in a guest speaker or co-presenter to mix things up a bit. The changes in voice and style from having two presenters can keep the presentation interesting, and the audience engaged.

Still, it would be best if you choreographed the collaboration – as only one of you should be speaking at a time. Resist the temptation to interrupt each other or talk over each other. Depending on your content material and the audience, excessive inside jokes with your co-presenter might not be a good idea, as it can make the audience feel excluded.

Tip 8: Keep it short.

Lastly, presenting in person is already in itself a challenging experience. As discussed above, when we take presentations virtual, those challenges increase exponentially. During in-person presentations, we employ hand gestures, intentional body movements, track the audience’s engagement levels, use deliberate eye contact to connect with a drifting individual or sections of the audience, and redirect their attention back to us.

Virtual audiences can turn you off with a mouse click or a tap on their mobile device. Thankfully, this does not mean that all hope is completely lost. It is better to create or cover less BUT engaging content in the virtual world while keeping your presentation’s overall length to 10 – 15 minutes.

“It is not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.”

– Patricia Fripp (Executive Speech Coach and Sales Presentation Skills Trainer)

Final Thoughts

Paying close attention and integrating these tips will undoubtedly assist in creating an engaging virtual presentation. Virtual presentations are here to stay. They are convenient, cost-effective, and gradually becoming the preferred choice for many organizations.

However, it will take some time and effort to radiate a strong virtual presence for the less experienced. Highly ranked and engaging presenters have had much-structured practice and development feedback under their belt to become masters of the art. Some have undergone coaching from skilled orators and presenters. All these merged made them the excellent presenters they are.

As time goes on, your virtual presentation skills will get better. Your knowledge and mastery of the software and various other complementary tools will improve. You become more efficient, taking less and less time to produce engaging content.

June 30, 2020

Post-COVID-19 Survey H2: The New Normal

COVID-19 has led to unprecedented changes in socio-economic conditions globally. Organizational priorities have reformed across the board, with key objectives and focus areas being re-strategized for the post-COVID-19 environment.

Management Events sought how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the European business community and what restrictions have been implemented for the second half of the year to ensure business continuity. These surveys reflect the views of almost a thousand EU delegates and solution providers that joined us in transitioning from physical to virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the responses.

The results show that at least 70% of the respondents will not be attending any external or physical events, despite companies not setting a clear policy.

As the health crisis continues, studies predict an increased demand for virtual event platforms. At Management Events, we strive to broaden your network by connecting your business to 20,000 top decision-makers and 2,500 solution providers. Join us at our upcoming virtual events.

Blanket bans among the EU Member States against international traveling have been in effect since the first half of the year 2020. The survey results show that over 80% indicated their organization placed restrictions against international business traveling. Consequently, ICAO estimates a record-breaking -62% decline in world passenger traffic.

Interests in international traveling increased as the situation seemed to improve in September. However, the infection rates rose again, resulting in a dip that is consistent with the resurgence of cases. Employees are encouraged to work from home as much as possible and only meet physically or work from the office on crucial matters.

June 2, 2020

Creating Lasting Impressions with CxOs: Closing Sales in the Digital Space

As digital transformation is solidified, business leaders and salespeople are making the best of both virtual and physical spaces for their professional dealings. In fact, HubSpot found that 63% of sales leaders believe that virtual sales meetings are just as or more effective than face-to-face meetings. On the customer side, 75% of B2B customers prefer remote sales interactions over face-to-face, according to McKinsey.

So, while the age-old skill of reading body language to gauge interest levels and finishing a meeting with a firm handshake can still play a part in your in-person sales meetings, the virtual space holds just as much promise.

McKinsey predicts that hybrid sales strategies will dominate by 2024, meaning that salespeople need to continue honing their in-person skills while building up further virtual communication capabilities to ensure success.

As a salesperson, how can you leverage the best of both worlds to make a lasting impression with CxOs and successfully close deals in a digital space?

1. Network

The fundamental tool of any salesperson, networking has evolved in recent years to encompass both physical and virtual events. The refinement of virtual networking has rapidly solved the issue of distance for many professionals, enabling the creation of vibrant digital communities where people can make connections, work together, and share knowledge regardless of location.

Getting involved in different LinkedIn groups, for example, can be beneficial when trying to establish a network of people in specific industries or shared interests. They’re already in the same space, ready to connect with you. This greatly increases the quality of contacts you can make and allows the easier establishment of relationships.

Virtually networking also presents a larger opportunity to network with executives who are farther away – allowing you to break into newer markets – and communicate on the go. The digital space gives salespeople the opportunity for a more targeted approach to networking.

Having said that, it’s important nowadays for salespeople to learn how to bring digital connections into the real world. For example, you could attend in-person networking events and connect with prospects that you’ve already linked with online. Meeting face-to-face after establishing a virtual connection is a great way to strengthen that professional relationship. The same can be done and vice versa – where you meet a prospect in-person and continue to strengthen that relationship in the digital space via LinkedIn or follow-up emails.

Adopt a multichannel approach to networking.

2. Be Active in Insights Sessions

More and more businesses are offering online events now that allow participants from across the globe or a specific target region to come together in a virtual space. From panels to forums, trend discussions, and knowledge sharing by experts – these are all excellent spaces for salespeople to not only keep up with the latest trends in their market but also to meet prospects.

Of course, there’s no point in attending these virtual events if you’re not going to participate and be heard. As a salesperson, you need to make an impression. When you’re in a virtual space where you are either a tiny little box on someone’s screen or not even visible in the session, the only way to stand out is to speak up. Ask questions, offer insights, and talk about your own experiences where relevant.

Being engaged in insights sessions with prospects is a surefire way to get yourself noticed. This will translate to prospects remembering you and therefore being more open to talking to you. That’s a foot in the door. From there, you’re free to work your sales charm and get a meeting!

This can look like connecting with other attendees on LinkedIn who were vocal during the session by commenting on their questions or insights. Share your thoughts on what they said and start building a relationship with potential new prospects.

3. Be An Excellent Listener

Once you’ve connected with a prospect and secured a meeting, you must continue bringing your A-game. As a seasoned salesperson, you understand the value of listening during a sales call. Online, you won’t have the ability to properly read body language. This leaves you with the alternative of clear and precise communication which can only be achieved with active listening. When you listen to your prospect with empathy, you will be able to ask the right open-ended questions to generate better discussions in your sales meetings.

At the end of the day, people want to buy from those they trust and who they feel care about their well-being, understand their pain points, and actively seek to alleviate their concerns. This is the same both offline and online. Work at creating a lasting and memorable impression of yourself as a valuable business asset to your clients, not as a salesperson.

Once you learn to effectively build trust by asking the right questions and matching their answers to your solutions, you’ll find that deals will flow like wildfire even during trying times.

Check out our 5 Virtual Sales Meetings Tips to help you impress CxOs at your next meeting.

4. Maintain Confidence

Confidence in sales, whether face-to-face or online, will always stand to have the most chance of securing a deal. As businesses start to emerge on the other side of a pandemic – and are navigating an accelerated digital transformation wave – it is natural to uncertain in unchartered waters. CxOs may be more cautious with their investments and business strategy. As a salesperson, your job is to try and cut through that hesitance.

An effective way to maintain your confidence is to plan out your meeting agendas and have a strong closing prepared when networking or during sales meetings. A well-thought-out closing strategy will help greatly in calming your nerves and being prepared for both expected and sudden client situations.

As per The Ultimate Guide To Closing The Sale by Resourceful Selling, be a top seller by “remaining upbeat, even when dealing with pessimistic prospects.”

“[Top sellers] don’t feel bad for themselves, even when a sale fails to close. They maintain enthusiasm by repeating positive affirmations to themselves, such as, ‘I will close the sale because I have the best product.’”

For a further boost on how to ensure a successful virtual meeting with a senior prospect, check out our article on 7 Tips To Rock Your Virtual 1-to-1 CXO Meetings.

5. Be Prepared to Handle Objections

You are probably familiar with objections. Facing these online can seem daunting, given the lack of body language cues and the ability to turn on your sales charm for prospects. However, learning to handle sales objections online can save you a lot of grief and time.

A key factor in successfully turning around objections is to be prepared for them, especially since virtual meetings with prospects tend to be short. However, the added benefit of virtual spaces is that you can instantly pull up relevant information, stats, or case studies to address unexpected objections. Did your prospect ask a question you weren’t expecting? No problem. You can immediately look up the right information during the call to address their objection and turn it around.

Embrace sales objections as part of the process and take it as a chance to nudge your prospects along their journey. Be on their radar to ensure visibility and make sure to follow up – with an email, perhaps with an in-person meeting to demonstrate your solutions in more detail.

Read our article on How to Handle & Turn Around Sales Objections for more insights and tips.

“It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” – Patricia Fripp, executive speech coach and sales presentation skills trainer.

In Conclusion

We are firmly in the new normal and online meetings have become permanent fixtures in most organizations. Mastering the hybrid sales strategy means finding ways to leverage both in-person and virtual spaces to your advantage. Focus just as much on perfecting your skills in virtual meetings as converting your digital connections into the real world. Effective and efficient communication, especially, is a key differentiator that can significantly separate you from your competitors in creating a lasting impression among CxOs, closing sales, and enhancing your brand in the digital space.

May 14, 2020

4 Actionable Steps After An Online Meeting

After a successful online meeting with a C-suite, it is time to keep on working towards your business development goals. If you think that once the meeting has taken place then there is nothing left to do, think again! Pair your prospects with proper follow-up(s) and you’ll increase your chances of success.

A well-planned follow up not only complements your initial success from the meeting but also paves the way for subsequent actions. Check these 4 actionable steps that you can take to successfully follow-up with a prospect after a meeting at an online space.

1. Meet with your team

Within the next 24 hours after a successful online meeting has occurred, you need to discuss with your team. Take time to review everyone’s notes and group them into themes. The main strategy of B2B sales is prioritizing each theme and analyzing how they connect with the C-suite’s objectives.

Together, you should create a list of the themes you created. Organize them according to the C-suite’s priorities or timeline-based. Determine who will be responsible for what within your organization and when it can be delivered.

This online meeting will also allow you and your team to exchange feedback for future internal sales meetings. There is always room for improvement and learning.

2. Send a note or email to the C-suite you networked with

“CEOs are human beings, and therefore are, in a way, just like you — they’ve just had a different set of experiences in their careers”, Polly Sumner, Chief Adoption Officer, Salesforce.

Immediately after discussing with your team, it is vital to contact the C-suite you networked with. Particularly in B2B sales, this is something that should also take place within the next 24 hours after your online meeting with the prospect and it can be something as simple as a note or an email.

Start this communication by reminding them who you are and what you have talked about briefly. Then, thank them for their time, support, and/or participation. Continue with the list of themes that you developed and organized with your team. Include also who will be responsible for each of the tasks and follow-ups on your side and ask who will respond from their team, if you do not know already.

You can close the email or note with a commitment to deliver the status of each theme, as you previously discussed privately with your team. Thank the C-suite again and send it.

Be careful not to make the email or note too casual and with a lack of focus. Consider the client’s needs and be as concise as possible.

3. Be prepared to meet again soon

Even if you’re a novice at B2B sales meetings, it’s always better to be prepared. Whether it is for following up on the project or discussing new ideas, conditions, or details, a new meeting could likely happen at any time.

Therefore, it is important to make sure that you know all of the intricate details of the project you are discussing, its status, and any other information that can be useful. Having all of the data will make you look very professional and it will also show respect for the C-suite’s time.

4. Connect on LinkedIn

After you send the follow-up email, do connect with the client on LinkedIn (if you haven’t already). This will allow you to further strengthen your professional relationship.

Contacting and meeting constantly with C-suite executives may seem intimidating at first, but it is something that requires practice. If you prepare well and do a proper and professional follow-up after an online meeting, the chances for success increase. Take every opportunity as a lesson for both your personal and professional journey and always do your best.

“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end”– Abraham Lincoln.

April 21, 2020

Getting Everyone Engaged in An Online Networking

As the nature of business networking is to increase revenue, most entrepreneurs and thought leaders value a strong relationship with other like-minded professionals they meet during a networking event.

With the recent pandemic impacting the world of enterprise, it could be relatively challenging to establish a memorable bond in online networking. That being said, you have to make sure that all participants are engaged to optimize online networking.

This requires a few basic rules and being proactive throughout the session, and this will help in transforming them into a potential business partner. Here’s of how it will work.

Utilize video calls

Most business professionals have little to no difficulty getting results in a networking event. The familiarity with body language and facial expressions is a natural factor to create an instant connection. To obtain a similar experience with face-to-face networking, utilizing video is necessary to feel the presence of every participant in the same room.

The principle to take note is that, making eye contacts create an invitation to the recipients to be engaged in the conversation. There would be a high chance your potential business partners lose interest in the conversation if there are no visual contacts. This disrupts the flow of communication.

Video calls mimic the experience of the in-person connection. It encourages participants to signal facial expressions to convey their responses that summons for a reply leading to an exchange of dialogue.

Create human connections

To build a world-class network that revolves around the digital world, powerful tools and platforms like Linkedin can be a great way to establish human connections. As opposed to face-to-face networking, these platforms can still be beneficial in establishing a human connection from the start.

You can use it to your advantage to identify the participants’ backgrounds through their professional LinkedIn profile and company website, primarily to matchmake their interest with your expertise. To some extent, this is a source to break the ice within the first 5 minutes in the online networking session.

This helps to create a comfortable atmosphere for everyone to be able to open up and actively participate in the conversation.

Exploit interactive approaches

Building a connection with high-profile thought leaders requires considerable different approaches to stay engaged. Alternatively, leveraging on the tools provided at the platform could be useful to encourage ongoing conversation.

One of the best ways to engage the participants is through interactive polls to spark interest and represent their opinions. This encourages them to be more responsive during the conversation.

You can also use screen sharing to project your points precisely to attain effective communication. This is the time where you could be more creative and include gamification or other fun activities to keep everybody engaged and active.

Act as a moderator

Online networking for business growth can be frustrating sometimes. More often than not, some people tend to be more talkative and longwinded throughout the session. Hence you can take a step forward to act as a moderator and control the conversation.

As part of an effective and pleasant networking strategy, utilize your persuasion skill to keep the energy of the conversation flowing by limiting the spotlight of each individual. A 5-minute rule could be practical in this scenario where everyone is allowed to speak within 5-minute periods.

Try inviting conversations to create engagements with participants by regularly asking open-ended questions. This requires individual inputs that encourages everyone to articulate and voice out their perspectives.

Have a roundtable discussions

It takes more than a single communication to leave a memorable encounter while networking. Hence, the common thing to practice is by initiating a roundtable discussion about the keynotes or presentations they have attended. Networking discussions, such as our Campfire sessions, bring peer-to-peer networking to a more exclusive experience.

Plan ahead and utilize these platform to encourage two-way conversations – from takeaways in earlier sessions to the implication on each other’s business operations.

April 17, 2020

Breaking The Ice At Online Conferences

Networking is an important aspect when attending online events as you can use these connections to nurture potential partnerships with clients, suppliers, and solution providers. Many of these contacts can also become powerful collaborators that string together relationships with other businesses.

The hardest part of networking, however, has always been drumming up the courage to talk to strangers (even in pre-arranged face-to-face meetings) and overcoming the awkward 10-second silence after you greet each other.

To help you with overcoming those moments, we’ve compiled several approaches that you can use to break the “online” ice when attending online conferences and optimize your online networking.

Keep up with the latest industry trends in the 90Minutes Insights webinar series. View the full schedule here here.

Prepare your topics and questions in advance

Preparation is the key to success and it’s no different when it comes to meetings with key decision-makers. Having a set of topics or questions at the ready will make it easier for you to lead the conversation and not have any awkward pauses with each other.

Ideally, you would want the topics and questions to be business or event-related, such as “Why did you join this event?”, “What is the focus of your organization?”, or “What do you intend to accomplish in this conference?”.

But, don’t be afraid to ask general questions to keep the conversation going. Ask them how the experience has been for them to attend the event, what they ate for lunch, or even what type of music they listen to.

Having a list of questions or topics at the ready will ensure that you won’t run out of things to say when you’re having a 1-to-1 meeting and avoid pockets of silence.

Share your music playlist or favorite artists

Speaking of music, one of the best ways to immediately connect with the people you meet for the first time is through music. Sharing music can be a great way to find a common interest, especially if they have the same taste in music, leading to great conversations between a mixed group of people.

Share your music collection or your Spotify playlist, create one on the spot to share, or ask for their favorite types of music or artists that they frequently listen to. If you share the same interests in music, ask if they have watched any of their favorite artist’s online concert. You can even ask for recommendations on any local online concerts live stream that they watched recently.

You’ll be surprised to see how passionate (and talkative!) people can get when discussing their favorite artist or music genre.

Have fun with your camera/avatar

With many people now adjusting to the new normal of online meetings and working from home, it can get a bit boring seeing the same background over and over again when you’re having a video chat/meeting.

Play around with your camera by changing the background via Snapchat filters or use the built-in fun backgrounds as a way to lighten the mood and break the ice with people. If you have a digital avatar, customize it and use it to talk with other people.

All this can be a fun way to create talking points and transition into other lighter topics to keep the conversation going.

Have a (n online) drink together

Nothing breaks the ice faster than sharing a drink with the person you’re meeting with. While the current situation might not allow you to physically toast your drinks together, you can still experience the same relaxed and conversational ambiance by sharing a drink online.

And, the drinks do not have to be alcoholic. Even sharing a cup of coffee (or a fruit juice if you’re feeling healthy) can be enough to kickstart your conversation. Once you’ve bonded and started talking, it’ll be easier to transition to other topics or segway into your sales pitch.

Ask them for advice

Asking them for advice can be an easy way to break the ice. People love it when you ask them for help. It makes them feel like they are important and will be more inclined to talk and share with you.

Ask for recommendations on which keynote or presentation to attend, management advice or organizational pointers that are related to your industry, or even how to maximize the benefits of attending online conferences.

You can even take a lighted-hearted approach and ask for recommendations beyond work such as what movies to watch, or cooking and recipe tips. These questions can be an easy kick-starter to any conversation.

Wrap up

Networking and establishing connections with high-level executives is a chance you can’t afford to miss. And most of the people who attend online conferences are hoping to break the ice but aren’t sure how to do it.

With the ice-breakers that we’ve listed above, you can make it easier for everyone (and yourself!) to make new contacts and make the entire experience memorable.

April 14, 2020

What You Need To Do Before Attending An Online Event

Today, the world is in unprecedented times with the pandemic COVID-19 that leaves individuals to stay safe at home in an effort to flatten the curve. Still, businesses continue to run, and many are being innovative by encouraging remote working and work-from-home initiatives.

Attaining new insights and collaborations activities are still on-going, and many decision-makers are looking at online events as the new normal for establishing business connections during this scenario.

You can maximize the benefits that online conferences offer by having a checklist to make the experience smoother. You may refer below; an essential checklist that could help you to prepare before attending an online event.

Networking with a digital business card

Attending an event online shares a lot of similarities with attending face-to-face networking functions, and making business connections is one of the aspects that should not be missed.

With the recent pandemic outburst, businesses and organizations are quickly transitioning into digital processes.

This includes using digital business cards. And while it has been around for some time, it would be fitting to utilize them during an online event. Leverage on the benefits of attending an online event by creating a business card digitally and incorporate your details to ultimately establish better rapport for networking with potential partners.

There are tons of apps that you can use, such as Haystack or Switchit, that lets you create a professional-looking digital business card in an easy and simple manner.

Ensure a strong internet connection

As most companies embrace online meetings to achieve a common goal, having a strong internet connection is important for effective communication throughout the meeting. Surely, a home Wifi may work flawlessly for daily internet activities like checking emails and web searching, but for heavy usage such as multiple video streaming, it might underperform.

This is why the first thing you need to do before attending an online event is to identify the speed of your Wifi signal.

Ensure your connection have less to zero interruptions especially during peak hours of internet usage. This could be done by testing the internet speed with free tools in which a minimum bandwidth of 3 Megabits (Mbps) is required to stream online events. However, it is advisable to have a bandwidth of 25 Mbps for ultra HD streaming to fully experience what online events have to offer.

Prep up on the agenda beforehand

Productivity at home demands a stricter discipline considering that you are more vulnerable to distractions. Particularly having to juggle between internal meetings, on-desk tasks, and at the same time attending an online event, all of it can be quite challenging.

That being said, with online events, the event agenda offers you the ability to plan your time and achieve maximum efficiency by staying on task throughout your day. In order to remain focused in the face of distractions, analyze the agenda thoroughly prior to the event date to help in scheduling specific times for completing various tasks.

This could also help in prioritizing your preferred topics and speakers, where you are able to have a quick research and prepare a set of questions to get clarifications or discuss with speakers and other attendees.

Read up and understand the FAQs

Research and read the Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs) in advance for a thorough understanding of how the online event would work at every session. Alternatively, it is best to ask the host directly if you have any concerns.

The FAQ holds all the information that you need to know, such as the do’s and don’ts during the session and where the presentation materials would be available. Since it is held online, you also have the advantage to leverage the session by recording it and re-watching it again for future reference and revisions.

In sum, attending an online event can be as powerful as a face-to-face event with the right preparation. Use the points listed above as a road-map for your event strategy to attain the most benefits, opportunities, networks, and potential partners for your business pursuits.

April 10, 2020

Online Connections: A New Normal For Online Events

Events are considered ubiquitous in most industries, especially those that focus on B2B. In-person events and conferences have always been seen as the most effective way to build and connect with other decision-makers.

However, the current global pandemic with COVID-19 has forced physical events to a screeching halt. But the temporary halt of physical face-to-face meetings does not mean the end of business connections.

We understand businesses still need to network and communicate with each other, even though we can’t be in each other’s physical presence. As such, we want to push the boundaries of business conferences by experimenting with online events.

Meeting and Engaging In An Online Space

Unlike web seminars, where it’s often one-sided in terms of engagement, online summits and online conferences can be highly interactive while giving a similar look and feel to physical events.

The current situation regarding COVID-19 has forced everyone to be stuck at home and many executives are struggling to find ways to expand their professional network. Without a means to network and communicate, many organizations are missing out on opportunities to establish business connections.

As such, online events are quickly becoming the means of communicating and networking for decision-makers and industry leaders. Given the bleeding-edge nature of this technology, online events can become the ultimate networking platform for many solution providers and businesses in the future.

Those unfamiliar with online events might be hesitant to jump straight in. Thankfully, today’s online conferences act similarly to conventional conferences and can be highly engaging.

Those attending these online conferences have the luxury of deciding which streams or sessions to attend. And with the help of modern technology, you can engage with speakers via polls, chats, and even live Q&As.

Sign up as a member of our Executive Business Network Aurora Live, to connect with leading CxOs across Europe all year round.

The Same Winning Matchmaking Formula

One of the key factors that make our events unique is our business matchmaking sessions.

With the power of technology, the same formula can be applied to our online events. While you might not be able to give a handshake to potential business partners, you can establish important business connections online through our digital events.

And yes – you will still get keynotes, speaker panels, 1-to-1 meetings, and tailored content pre-and-after the event. The only difference is that everything will be delivered to you online, at the comfort of your home.

Establishing Business Connections Anywhere

With online events, the notion of “being at the right place, at the right time” is out the window.

While the majority of businesses practicing remote working or work-from-home initiatives, online summits will be an indispensable outlet for CEOs, CFOs, and other high-level executives to network with each other while still getting the latest industry insights from thought leaders and influential speakers.

This Is The New (Online) Normal

It can’t be overstated how impactful the effects of COVID-19 has been towards businesses and major industries around the world. The scramble to transition towards digital communications and means of networking is now a priority for many organizations looking to adapt to the situation.

While there’s no denying the power of a meeting someone in person that can spark new ideas and opportunities through naturally engaging conversations. Due to the viral nature of COVID-19, the way face-to-face meetings are done will have to change, at least for now.

It will take some time before people are confident enough to be part of major physical events. However, just as one door closes, another (online door) opens and these online events will be the main outlet for people who are still keen to network with other executives and gain the latest industry insights.

April 9, 2020

4 Tips To Maximize The Benefits of Online Events

For many executives, online events can be quite intimidating as there are a lot of moving parts that they might not be familiar with. Especially if they’ve only ever attended in-person events.

However, entrepreneurs, businesses, and solution providers are exploring new avenues of networking and online conferences/summits can become the ultimate networking platform for many executives given the current circumstances regarding COVID-19.

If you’re a first-timer, it’s can be hard trying to figure out ways to maximize the benefits of attending online events. To help you out, we’ve highlighted a few tips that you can put into action and help make your online event experience a success.

So, are you ready to maximize to benefits of online events?

Tip #1: Managing and Scheduling Your Time

One of the biggest problems with attending conferences is finding ways to manage your time. While you might think that having a completely online event allows you to be a bit lax when it comes to punctuality, think again.

Timing (and being on time) is still important and since all presentations or keynotes will be digital, you can expect it to start and end on time. This is why, when you have access to the event’s schedule, you should manage and decide which speaker or showcase that you want to attend to beforehand.

Do a quick research on the speakers and determine which ones are more likely to give you insights. Set up a reminder in your calendar for their presentations and the meetings that you want to attend, but don’t forget to leave room for any other seminars that you might be interested in joining.

The flexibility of an online event also means that you don’t need to rush to an event hall and miss out on any keynotes from being late. Even if you’re currently working from home, all you have to do is just prepare your laptop and log in at the right time. So, there are no excuses to be late!

Tip #2: Actively Participating and Constantly Engaging

We know face-to-face networking is the most sought-after experience for physical conferences but when you’re in a presentation or keynote, all forms of communication are on-hold and the experience tends to be one-sided. This makes it hard for you to discuss with others until the presentation is over and the floor is opened to the audience.

With online conferences, some of the most engaging and informative discussions can occur during the online presentation as attendees can actively participate by talking directly to the speaker or with each other.

Since you’re participating in the discussion in real-time, the presenters themselves and the moderators can see and react instantaneously to your comments and thoughts on the presentation without disruption. This gives you plenty of opportunities to gain insights directly from the speakers themselves.

Tip #3: Constantly Networking With Everyone

Online conferences/summits have a much wider geographical reach which allows attendees from all over the world to join the event. With that, you now have a deeper pool of people that you can network and develop business opportunities with.

Many deals and profitable business relationships start over (online) drinks at a conference event and you shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet with like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, event speakers, and event organizers to pitch yourself as a potential business partner.

Be active and participate in roundtable discussions, or our Campfire, and discuss with your peers and the speakers on the keynote presentation. By doing so, you’ll gain access to insights and industry knowledge that you normally wouldn’t get in a typical in-person conference.

Talk and engage with other attendees in the chat during a presentation. Exchange emails and social media links when you have your online 1-to-1 sessions. Follow up with each valuable connection that you’ve made during the events and fully optimize your online networking experience.

Tip #4: Taking Advantage of The (Digital) Convenience

Since larger conferences tend to have multiple sessions overlapping or running at the same time, you often have to choose which sessions you want to attend. This is why you need to take advantage of the unique conveniences that online events offer by having the ability to attend multiple sessions at once.

And the process is as simple as having multiple windows open for the session that you want to attend, and just switching between them when you want to move between the different keynote presentations.

Of course, a big convenience that online events offer is to remove the logistical issues that you often associate with physical events such as traveling, accommodation, and just having enough time for 1-to-1 meetings.

While it’s by no means able to completely replace physical events, you have greater conveniences as you have more access to different sessions and more time to network with the right people.

Final Thoughts

Gathering like-minded people in one location is one of the most powerful aspects of conferences and while online events might not be able to completely replicate the same face-to-face connections, you can still maximize the benefits of online events by following our actionable tips above.