Unfortunately, only about half of the people who fill out online registration forms will actually complete it. That translates into a lot of lost revenue. Imagine how much more money you could make if you could turn those undecided people into buyers. This is why automatic follow up with registrants who bail out before they are done is so important. Online registration makes life far easier on both event planners and registrants, but the right system can also increase attendance and decrease cost for your company. If you don’t have an automated way of tracking folks who abandon registration forms half way through and following up with them, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
Let’s say you’re shooting for 200 people at your event. And let’s say 300 people hit the registration form. If 50% of them bail out during the registration process, you’re left with only 150 registrations. But if you’re able to capture even 20% of those who started to register but didn’t finish, that’s an additional 30 registrants! Of course, the numbers will be different for every event. And, the larger the expected turnout, the larger the impact. This is where the automatic follow-up comes in. If you have this capability, you can often persuade 20%, 30%, or more to come to your event who would not have come otherwise. If you’re a full-time event planner, you’ll look good in front of your superiors for increasing attendance. And if you’re a business owner, you’ll experience the joy of a fatter bank account. Right now, most event registration systems do not offer automatic follow-up with people who started to register but didn’t finish, but it’s a capability worth searching for because it can offer you great rewards. Make sure to find a system that will encourage fence sitters’ to come to your event rather than give up on it because it is an easy an effective way to increase your attendance and profit for every event.
Joshua Gair – Impact Entertainment Services
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