For a Successful Open House

More Open House attendees lead to more potential new club members. For stellar attendance at your next Open House, follow these FASTER steps.  ​

STER steps for a Quality Open House Experience
A ___  Start Advertising early and in the appropriate channels.
T ___  Know your Target market.
S ___  Host a guest Speaker who appeals to your Target audience.
F ___  Get Feedback and Follow-up with guests.
E ___  Engage the audience.
R ___   Refresh and Reflect.

Advertising

Start 4 weeks in advance. Use:

1. Word of mouth- invite a friend
2. Use properly branded flyers – see templates
3. Online sites and social media are typically free and an easy way to get the word out. Use sites like nextdoor.com, meetup.com or any of the “free event” ads available in your area.
4. You may also be able to get an article posted in the local neighborhood news or on radio, especially if you are hosting a keynote speaker with a popular, timely and attention-getting topic, such as “Three Job Interview Tips that are Sure to Get You Hired.”
5. Corporate newsletter, club newsletter or Intranet.

For community or open corporate clubs, all media listed above are relevant. For closed corporate clubs, only #1, 2 and 5 may apply.

Target Audience

Before you decide anything else for your open house or other marketing event, decide on the target market. Are you trying to attract?

•          Employees from surrounding businesses?
•          Residents who live close by?
•          People from a specific job category, like medical professionals?
•          People from a specific demographic, like retirees?

Knowing your target helps you decide WHERE and HOW to develop your advertising plan.

•          If you are targeting employees from surrounding businesses, take flyers to each gatekeeper and ask if they can be left in the break room. Be sure the flyers have a contact email and phone #.
•          You can reach local residents through nextdoor.com.  For that particular zip code or through the neighborhood newspaper.
•          Contact local retiree groups like AARP to reach their members. (We have a long list of associations with various groups we can provide to you.)

Guest Speaker

Turn your open house into an EVENT by hosting a dynamic guest speaker who can draw a crowd. Find presenters who can speak on “hot” topics that will attract your target market. For example, to attract young professionals, you might offer a topic like “How to Develop Your Personal Brand and Land the BIG Job.” Or for a more established career crowd, try “Five Proven Ways that Toastmasters Improves Your Career Success.”

Follow-up and Feedback

Finally don’t forget to gather feedback from your guests and follow-up with them. Thank and visit with everyone who attends your meeting. Find out what they liked and didn’t like about the event. Determine how interested they are in Toastmasters. If you can, close the sale. If you can’t, let them know you will be follow-up up with them in a week. You can do this 2-3 times over the next six weeks before you will begin to have diminishing returns. Some people just take a long time to make decisions, even in their own best interest. For many, they will be more likely to invest in your club, if they see you are invested in them.

Follow-ups can and should be something simple and useful to the individual. Maybe you read an article that reminds you of them. You can forward it with a note that says simply: “I remember you were interested in this.”
If you actively listen and can provide the potential member with something that THEY SEE as valuable, then you are more likely to get them as a new member.

Engage

If you get the audience involved and get them saying “yes” to little things, you are more likely to get them to say YES to join your club. This is a well-known and time-tested sales technique.

Refresh and Reflect

People are more likely to show up when there is food involved.  Be sure to feed them. Then once the event is over, reflect with your team about what went right and how the event can be even better the next time.