Savings in event costs
Increase in customer attendance
Uplift in pipeline progression
Historically we would run two large separate annual events; one for customers, and one for channel partners. These would typically be held at different times of the year.
Our country Managing Director wanted to reduce the operational and cost burden these programs placed on sales, channel, marketing, and supporting teams.
Whilst there was not any resistance in principle, the challenges included competing priorities, varying stakeholder agendas, and the risk that the two streams would compete for audience, budget, and executional focus rather than the various teams working towards a unified goal.
I built the internal case for combining the two streams into one integrated flagship residential conference. To achieve that I had to align Asia Pacific/Japan marketing, APJ leadership, local channel leadership, business units, and Worldwide Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) around a single commercial objective.
Focusing on the belief that a unified program could serve multiple audiences more effectively, I brought together technical enablement, sales enablement, channel partner content, alliance participation, SME contributions, and customer engagement across multiple segments and verticals under one umbrella.
I kept stakeholders aligned by making the commercial benefits clear, setting realistic expectations, and maintaining effective communication and momentum through the planning and delivery process.
The integrated model delivered:
a 30% reduction in bottom-line event costs,
a 30% increase in customer attendance,
a 20% increase in channel partner attendance, and
a 15% uplift in pipeline progression
Stakeholder satisfaction also improved, with Net Promoter Scores rising by 7 points.
The program became more efficient, more commercially viable, and a benchmark for other events.