How to Plan & Execute a
Seminar
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &
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Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Objective: sell ____________________________
 What constitutes success?
 # attendees
 $ sales
 Strategy:
 Develop a detailed plan
 Coordinate marketing & sales
 Execute flawlessly
 Leverage the VAR/ISV ecosystem…
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Marketing
Sales
Technical Sales
Follow up and sell
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &
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Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
Planning the Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Set the key details ASAP:
 You cannot begin promotion until these details
are locked:
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Date
Location
Topic & Time
Today: planning kickoff
Setting the Date:
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Consult the calendar and back into a seminar
date based on your promotion schedule
Give yourself a week to plan the basic
logistics and develop promotional materials
At least 3 emails, 3 weeks of promotion
Do not hold events on holiday weeks
Do not hold events on Monday or Friday
Event date: Thursday March 3rd
A reminder/confirmation email & call
campaign a day or 2 before the event
Weekly sales call campaigns
Presidents
Day
Reminder email + phone
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First email promo
Second email promo
Third email promo
Fourth email promo
Event Date
Planning the Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Set the key details ASAP:
 You cannot begin promotion until these
details are locked:
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Date
Location
Topic & Time
Setting the Location:
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Choose a location that is central and convenient for your prospects
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If you can’t name 10 pipeline accounts within 100 miles of your seminar location then don’t do a seminar.
Do lead generation instead.
Make sure your facility has the appropriate technical setup (projector, internet if necessary)
It is OK to rent a function room at the local Holiday Inn for an end-user audience, but perhaps not for an executive
audience
FREE: your own training facility, or a PTC office
A local university, a local country club
Planning the Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Set the key details ASAP:
 You cannot begin promotion until these
details are locked:
 Date
 Location
& Time
SettingTopic
the Topic & Time:
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Do a half-day seminar, in the morning
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Resources for seminar topics:
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People are too busy to take a full day out of the office
You can plan an optional second half of the day (golf, etc.)
Seminar Materials on the Marketing page of the PTC Partner Portal
Marketing Toolkits on the Marketing page of the PTC Partner Portal
Don’t necessarily use the title of the sales presentation as the seminar topic
Shift your perspective: It’s not about what you want to sell, it’s about what your sales prospect wants to learn
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &
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
Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing – Sales
Coordination is perhaps the
single most critical factor for
success:
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Planning & goal setting
Augmentation of the marketing
database with the sales Rolodex
Weekly status updates
Weekly sales call campaigns
Technical Sales/demo
Presentation “dry run”
Day-of-event execution
Post-event sale follow-through
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &
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Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
The Registration Form on your Website
 Registration form should do the following:
 Brief copy to promote the seminar topic, date, & time
 Capture registration information for you to manage
 Ask registrants to pre-submit questions on the form
 Send an automatic confirmation email to the registrant so he
knows he is registered
 Connect the registrant to an Outlook calendar invitation
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Outlook calendar invitation should have the topic, date, time,
and brief promotional copy
Link to Google Maps directions
List any parking options
A pop-up reminder set for 1 day in advance
Create it in your Outlook calendar, then save it as an
ICS file.
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Post that file to the web and link to it from
your registration confirmation page and/or
confirmation email
Use of a ICS file will improve your attendee rate
and reduce no-shows
The Registration Form on your Website
 Link to the form in all promotions:
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Email blasts
E-newsletter
Website banners
Sales emails
Telemarketing/Telesales (vanity URL)
Twitter/Facebook/blog posts
Etc.
 Sales: resist the urge to email marketing about contacts who have verbally
committed. Failure to take all registrations through the form will make it
very difficult to manage the registration list, send reminders to
registrants, follow up after the seminar, etc.
The Invitation
 Writing a good Seminar Invitation
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Sell the offer, not the product
Convey the value of attending
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What will they gain from attending?
From whom will they learn it?
Remove reasons for hesitation
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When & where is it?
How do I get there?
Is there parking?
Will I have to skip a meal?
Is it really for me?
The Invitation
 Writing a good Seminar
Invitation
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A good formula to follow:
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A compelling subject line
Short opening (You’re invited…)
Seminar title, location, date, time
Register today [link]
What you will learn (3 bullets)
Presenter bios
Who should attend
Register today [link]
The Invitation
 Email Blast using SharedVue
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Compose and format your email in
MS Word. Print a hard copy.
The Invitation
 OFT Email
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Perfect for sales enablement, one-onone emails from a sales rep to a
prospect or customer
How to create one:
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Compose and format your email using
Outlook’s formatting tools
Add hyperlinks to registration form
Delete your signature from the bottom
Click “File > Save As” and select the
“Outlook Template (*.oft)” file type and
save it to your desktop.
Attach the OFT file to an email and send
it to your sales people.
When they double-click the extension it
will load as an email from them, perfectly
formatted and hyperlinked, ready for
them to enter an email address and click
“send.”
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &




Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
The Seminar Presentation
 Shift your perspective: It’s not about what you want to sell, it’s about what your sales
prospect wants to learn
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Customer pain points and questions
Business solutions
Benefits
 PTC Presentations are available:
 Marketing page of the PTC Partner Portal: “Seminar Presentations”
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Creo Seminar-In-A-Box in the Creo Marketing Toolkit
Tech Sales page of the PTC Partner Portal: “Demo Library”
 Line up technical resources ASAP
 Tech Sales page of the Partner Portal: “Standard Demo Request Form”
 3rd Party Validation
 Customer (PTC Performance Partner)
 Analyst
 Editor for a local publication
 Trade association rep
 Professor from a local university
 End with…
 A next step in the sales engagement (PDPA)
 A special offer (TLO)
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &




Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
The Day of the Event Logistics
 Registration Desk
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Have it staffed before the seminar and during breaks
Registration list on hand (keep track of who attends and who does not)
Preprinted name badges (include some blank badges & a marker for any unregistered walkins or messed up names/titles)
Handouts:
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Agenda
Print-out of the presentation deck
Product collateral
Business cards of sales staff
Satisfaction Survey (final question should be open-ended, a chance for them to ask questions or
express their needs)
Flyer for special offer
Have emergency contact info on hand for:
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All presenters and event staff
Facilities staff
A/V supplier
Caterer
The Day of the Event Logistics
 Catering
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Be sure to have coffee, water, juice, danishes, fresh fruit, etc.
Note: be sure to highlight the fact that refreshments will be served on your reminder
email/phone campaign – it will reduce the no-show rate
 Door prize(s)
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Include a small gift for every attendee (a t-shirt, a nice pen with logo, a memory stick with a
logo)
Perhaps raffle a larger prize for one lucky winner (an iPad or other gadget, a free license of
software). Conduct the drawing at the end of the event.
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Tip: Reach out to hardware software partners who might donate a door prize in exchange for a brief
sponsor message
Note: be sure to highlight your door prize on your reminder email/phone campaign – it will
reduce the no-show rate
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &




Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources
After the Event Follow-Through
 “Thank you” email for attendees
 “Sorry we missed you” email for no-shows (offer to come to their office to
present the content)
 Follow up emails should have some engagement:
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Related white paper
Special offer
 Write up the highlights of the event for your newsletter or blog
 Update your marketing database with any new/changed contacts
Agenda
 Set Your Objectives & Strategies
 Planning The Date, Location, Topic & Time
 Marketing & Sales Coordination
 Marketing Execution: Registration Form &




Invitation
Seminar Presentation
Day of the Event Logistics
After the Event Follow-Through
Resources