The past year has introduced plenty of changes when it comes to networking and client discovery. As a result of social distancing norms in 2020, many companies have shifted their efforts to discover new clients remotely via workshops and seminars.
While this may have been unorthodox before COVID-19, it has become increasingly common for companies to host online discovery workshops to network with potential clients. What are remote client discovery workshops all about, and how can you use them for your business’ benefit in 2021?
How to Best Prepare for your Remote Client Discovery Workshops
What is an online discovery workshop? It is a type of interactive event in which companies present their product and service portfolios to potential clients and customers. Given that they are “workshops”, they involve direct interaction with stakeholders around the world in hopes of finding common ground and interests.
They can be aimed both at B2C (customers) or B2B (corporate networking), depending on your company’s goals and resources. So, what are the things you need to prepare ahead of your remote client discovery workshops taking place?
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Assemble a workshop team, as they will be in contact with stakeholders and represent your company
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Make sure your team has all the hardware they need to run the workshops successfully – these include a stable internet connection, fast laptop devices, webcams, and microphones
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Plan a discovery workshop agenda – do you intend to pair companies in your network with potential clients, or focus solely on B2C with your company’s interests?
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Set up a remote management platform – there are plenty of cloud-based platforms such as Asana, Google Classroom, and Trello which offer invite-only workshop interfaces
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Create spreadsheets and templates necessary for the workshop to take place before stakeholders arrive
1. Pace your Discovery Workshops over Several Days
Whether you work with B2C or B2B stakeholders, they are bound to get tired after 3-4 hours of remote sessions. Instead of pushing all of your sessions, seminars, and presentations into a single day, break them up into several days or an entire week.
This will give people plenty of time to reflect on their networking workshops and to decide how interested they are in your company. You can also introduce homework-based exercises for them to think about and then talk about during the following workshop. Be more pro-client-oriented by taking their mental and physical wellbeing during the discovery workshops into account – there’s no need to rush.
2. Stay in Charge of the Workshop by Being a Facilitator
Workshops and discussions among clients or customers can get carried away without proper facilitation. Don’t simply monologue your company’s mission and agenda and then let things go unfacilitated. Become actively involved in the workshops by constantly monitoring the workshop’s progress and pitching in with tips and insight.
You can also use anecdotes, practical examples, and testimonials that are relevant to the workshop. People who’ve devoted their time to your workshop want to get something useful out of it. Never leave things to chance and stick to your agenda by being a proper facilitator.
3. Use Ice Breakers and Conversation Starters to Ease People into the Workshops
While your stakeholders may know one another if you run a B2B discovery workshop, B2C clients might feel uncomfortable opening up to others. Ice breakers are a great way for people to get to know one another through remote online workshops.
These can help you create cohesion in your session’s group and for them to cooperate on the workshops more closely. As before, you should lead the charge and share something about yourself to humanize your brand in people’s eyes. This is a quick and easy fix for workshop participants who are shy or otherwise reserved when facing new people.
4. Screen Share During Workshops and Insist on Everyone Using their Cameras
Even though we live in an era where people want to keep their identities anonymous online, remote client discovery workshops don’t support that. Their purpose is for you to find clients to work with or to match the companies you collaborate with to other companies or clients.
Common courtesy dictates that everyone shows their faces and speaks openly as individuals with names and last names. Write the need for a webcam and microphone into your workshop application form so that people are completely aware that this is a must. No one wants to share information or work with people who won’t even show their faces to them. Make sure that your workshops are based on professionalism and face-to-face communication.
5. Use Group Whiteboards and Templates on Remote Management Platforms
When your workshops are underway, you don’t have to stay completely corporate and reserved during the many sessions. Allow people to express their creativity and ideas through group whiteboards on whichever remote platform you choose to use.
Group whiteboards will allow people in your workshop to scribble, doodle, and write down notes on a single blank page like in a classroom workshop. This playful yet useful method will allow people to engage with the workshop topic more closely and have some fun along the way. Most importantly, any workshop result that they produce will be a team effort rather than a set of unrelated individual results.
Wrapping Up
There is a lot to consider when it comes to organizing and implementing remote client discovery workshops. However, with proper planning and careful execution, you will have plenty of converted clients and customers to look forward to.
You can schedule new workshops periodically and use the performance data from previous instances to improve your networking even further. Beyond that, inviting outside lecturers, coaches, and industry experts will lend credence to your discovery workshops and encourage even more people to convert into clients.