How to host a grand client appreciation event

The following components are critical to the success of a well-planned event: 

• Plan the event near the beginning of your seminar marketing season, so the "buzz" from it enhances attendance at your next several workshops.
• Hold it on a Tuesday or Thursday evening, as those days are the least disruptive of people's midweek church or weekend travel plans.
• Choose a centrally located venue with ample parking, where the kitchen staff is capable of stepping up their more routine menu offerings to a four-star experience.
• Offer three or four different entrée items, such as duck, filet mignon, lobster or salmon as well as seated appetizers and a salad. Remember: You're not doing this to "save money," you're doing this as an act of appreciation and gratitude.
• Have excellent entertainment, either musical or comedic, scheduled after dessert has been served, and encourage audience participation.
• Optional: Between the plated appetizers and after the placing of their dinner orders, consider giving an economic or market forecast presentation of no more than 20 minutes, plus a Q&A opportunity. This reconnects your clients to you as an expert, and gives their guests a sense of your knowledge, presence, poise and skillset, all of which will dominate the table conversation once the main entrees are served.

Important: The one factor most crucial to a great experience is the care you take in matching people's backgrounds and temperaments when you design your assigned seating chart. Paired correctly, clients who were strangers will become dear friends and socialize long after that event is over — and thank you for introducing them!