VIP Dinners

VIP dinners are an exceptional way to foster trust and build community while driving both growth and retention. Here are my best practices and observations:

• Engineer every aspect of the pre-, during-, and post-event experience to be high-touch, white glove, prestigious, and expensive. Ensure every attendee feels like they’re part of something tailored to their needs and interests.
• Seating assignments are a must!!!!
  • Seat prospects between their salesperson and a happy client
  • Seat people next to true peer ‘birds of a feather,’ people in similar roles from similar sized companies; this is especially important with senior executives
  • Do not seat +1s next to their colleague
  • Use name tent cards. Simple is fine and handwritten is a nice touch.
  • Expect to scramble a bit right at the end to adjust for no-shows
• Ideal mix;
  • 40% clients
  • 40% prospects
  • 20% your company (inclusive of partners)
• Attendees from your company should be extensively prepped/briefed so they are ready to speak with attendees. Know your objective with that person as well as information about their role, company, interests, etc. That being said, you want to come off as thoughtful not creepy.
• Target dinners of 8-14 people including your team (net of inevitable last minute cancellations and no shows)
• Hold events in the middle of the business week – Tue, Wed, or Thurs.
• Strive for attendee homogeneity in terms for job role, job level, and company size. Don’t mix CEOs with non-CEOs or CxOs with VPs unless truly equivalent. Don’t invite your investors to events with prospects & clients.
• I have mixed emotions about inviting partners. If you do invite them, they should be very senior. Partners should be no more than 10%. Also, you may consider doing joint events with partners – this can also help if you are extremely budget constrained.
• Only your most senior people should attend. It is a sign of respect that if you invite CxO, then your CxOs show up. Sales reps are a possible exception but even then, you should err toward your sales leadership.
• Strive for attendee heterogeneity in terms of all things DE&I. Remember, your attendee mix will mirror your invitation list.
  I target 50/50 male/female as a rule.
• When people accept, encourage them to bring a +1. If a sis white hetero-normative male accepts, let him know you are supporting diversity and encourage him to help.
• Send personalized reminders both the day before and the day of the event.
• Do not pitch, present, give a speech, or even pause the table conversation to just “say a few words” during the event. This is all about building human connections by letting your happy clients sell to your prospects. It is not necessary to go around the table with introductions. If you do, make the ask short, comfortable, and value added – perhaps name, title, company, and one question that allows people to share a value-added insight.
• Do not have sponsors.
• On invitations & confirmations:
  • Start the invitation process 4 to 6 weeks in advance of the event
  • Have the invitations come from your executive who is hosting the dinner. This is best due to the gravitas of his/her title and because it will come off as less sales-y. If the person does not respond to your CxO, then have AEs (or, worst-case, SDRs) send invitations.
  • When possible, share the names (not just company names) of other attendees
  • Send confirmations 1 week in advance and 24 hours in advance
• On the dining (or other special) experience:
  • Budget $10K (though the range is broad from $5K to $15K)
  • Book unique venues. Hip/fun places and/or those with Michelin stars ideal. Restaurants should be at least 3 out of 4 $$$. Avoid steakhouses, chains, and especially chain steakhouses.
  • You do not need a private room. I’ve found dinners far more lively when you can feed off the energy of the main dining room.
  • Arrive early and host cocktails (informally) at the bar
  • Ensure beverages never stop flowing and food is plentiful. Order a selection of desserts for the table so the wait staff does not ask.
• VIP dinners are relatively easy to pull off in NYC even on a monthly basis. They are harder in the next tier of cities such sa Atlanta, DC, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Palo Alto, LA, or Austin. In most other cities in the US, they are impossible to pull off since you just cannot get critical mass. (Note: Traffic in the Bay Area is such that San Fran, Palo Alto, and San Jose are completely different locales.)
• Follow up within 24 hours