Karl Craig-West

Party Planning to win Business

Now it may seem odd but many businesses gain great marketing lengths when they organise parties for their clients. And I’m not just talking about any kind of party but a party where you (as the supplier) invite some of your best and most trusted customers to your office (or maybe even your house) for drinks and some food and social enjoyment.

Now, I know we are often reluctant to be compared to our American friends but they’ve been doing business at such social events for years. You might not be too surprised that it’s worked exceptionally well for them. And it’s beginning to work the same for those switched-on organisations on this side of the Atlantic pond who do the same.

The main reason is that the formality with which business used to be conducted is disappearing. Many more supplier-customer relationships are becoming more like friendships, especially since business networking events have become an established way of meeting on a regular basis.

Not only that but it’s just possible that several of your clients in the same room might be able to do business together, raising your esteem even higher as the person who made it happen.

The upshot is – as crazy as it may sound, having a party for your clients might just make it even harder for your clients to go somewhere else. Thus building in even greater customer loyalty and longer lasting business and personal relationships.