"Space is limited so register now" is a powerful statement to motivate registrants. Scarcity statements like this one make events appear more exclusive, important, and popular. They create a sense of urgency that will cause potential registrants to act now!
Demonstrate Scarcity
The more clearly you can demonstrate that your event is exclusive - and that only a select few can attend - the faster people will sign-up. You can add believability to your space-is-limited statement by providing specifics. Spell out the actual number of people you are limiting your event to. Provide the actual reasons for limiting your event such as room capacity, web conferencing capacity, or a more intimate learning environment where no question goes unanswered.
Add Credibility
To add even more credibility, explain how your wait-listing works. Warn your potential registrants about booking non-refundable plane or hotel reservations prior to securing a spot at your event. And, if you have a history of sold-out events, definitely share that with your potential registrants.
Maintain the Sense of Urgency
Use your confirmation and reminder emails to reinforce that your event is limited and that notification is important if they are not going to attend so you can let people off the wait-list. This will also reinforce the popularity and demand for your event… in effect, reminding your registrants of the good decision they made in signing up right away. It will also increase your word-of-mouth power, because registrants will contact their friends and colleagues to remind them to sign up while they still can.
Be Honest with Yourself and Your Registrants
Be real with your limited space. If you promote a highly-interactive seminar limited to just 25 people, and there are actually 50 people there, some attendees may feel they are not receiving the advertised value. On the other side, if only 5 people show up, the attendees may feel the scarcity statement was misleading. It is ok to somewhat overbook your event if you take into account your no-show rates. Make sure to use a waitlist to manage your capacity so you can fill the inevitable cancelled registrations.
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: The #1 Myth about Online Registration Systems
We hear it over and over again. It's the number one myth about online registration systems that keeps many meeting planners from making their lives easier and their events more successful.
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: 6 Ways to Reduce 55% of Your Daily Workload
Industry-expert Corbin Ball estimates that only 20% of meeting planners are using online registration to its real potential. Meeting planners that are managing registrations using paper, emails, basic web-forms, in-house systems or installed software are doing 80% more work than they really need to be doing.
The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: The Trick that Doubles Client Satisfaction by Doing Less
We all know that communication is the most important component in any relationship; and that can be applied to business as well. The more timely the information provided to your clients, colleagues and suppliers; the smoother your event will run and the happier everyone involved in your event will be.
