A common line of questioning I get from my clients goes something like this: "Are generational changes best understood through the lens of life stages? Don't we all change and evolve as we grow older?" These are good questions. The answer is that both are valuable tools to help you understand your current clients and make meaningful connections with prospective clients.
Let's look at how an understanding of life stages might help us with event planning. Too often, advisors complain about how few people show up to an event, how they tried everything they could, how many people confirmed but ended up being no-shows and how they won't ever stage an event again.
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Events stink; they require a lot of effort, a lot of planning, and a lot of time and money. Worse than no one coming is only a few people coming. They look around and wonder: 1) whether your business is failing and they're the last to know; 2) how long they have to stay before they can leave without looking rude; 3) whether you're going to make your presentation only to them; and 4) whether all that wine is spoken for or if you'd notice if they put several bottles in their bag.
A successful event, however, leads to more successful events. Momentum builds as long as you don't throw one that's a dud. High risk, high reward.
Your clients' changing life stages are times when they need information about what's coming next; there's a significant shift, with a clear before and after. You can build a successful event around providing some of the insight they need.
