Disappointed with results from your client events? Low turnout? Minimal engagement? A questionable return on your investment?
Perhaps you’re using the wrong measurements.
Event specialists Elyse Stoner and Angela York, co-founders of the event consulting firm Event Advisors, say underperforming events often share a common flaw—they’re designed around what advisors think clients should know rather than what clients actually want.
Stoner and York recently talked with Ellen Rogin in a Horsemouth Live presentation.
“It’s about really focusing the event on what the client wants versus what the advisor either thinks they should have, or that they know about stuff and that they should be telling their clients about that stuff,” Stoner says.
Reframing the purpose: From ROI to ROM
The first step in transforming your event strategy is reconsidering how you measure success. Many advisors abandon potentially valuable event formats after judging them solely on immediate client acquisition—a metric that Stoner and York argue misses the point entirely.
“One of the mistakes that we see advisors make is saying, ‘I’m doing this event and I didn’t get any clients, therefore it was a waste. It didn’t work,’” says Stoner. “So, what we do when we work with our clients is we just readjust the mindset on that. And as we say, it’s not about ROI, it’s about our ROM, which is Return on the Moment.
This perspective is built on a broader marketing philosophy that Stoner illustrates through a visual metaphor: “We have these rivers with the rocks in them, and that’s our analogy for financial services marketing. Your marketing is a stream and all of the tactics and things that you do are the rocks in your stream. So, events are a rock in your stream and it is part of that relationship building.”
When viewed this way, success might be measured in increased social media engagement, deeper client connections, future event interest, or discovering new market opportunities in different geographic areas. An event without immediate client acquisition isn’t a failure if it strengthens existing relationships, generates positive word-of-mouth, or builds your brand in the community.
Learn what clients actually want
A critical revelation from Stoner and York’s work with advisors is that many events fail simply because they don’t align with client interests. The solution is straightforward but often overlooked: systematic data collection about client preferences.
“I get asked this question all the time: How do I know what my clients would like?” York said. “Because one of the biggest problems I have, I’m speaking from the advisor’s point of view, is people don’t come or not many come. And really that boils down to what are their interests. And we look at, we actually walk our clients through a questionnaire. Ask your clients what type of events they’re interested in. What topics for educational events are they interested in? What fun events interest them. What sports interests them? And collect that data.”
York recommends a multi-faceted approach to gathering this intelligence:
“It can be done via a survey. You can ask those questions or have a one-sheet in your review meetings. You can pepper in some questions in your emails, you can ask them in events. We always encourage advisors and their team to really make those questions part of all their conversations that they have with clients and make it casual.”
The information to collect should be comprehensive: Do they prefer educational or social events? Virtual or in-person? How far are they willing to travel? What topics interest them most? Which sports, hobbies or charitable causes resonate with them?
This client-centered approach addresses what York describes as the fundamental reality of today’s environment: “Because putting the hat on of the attendee, there’s so much noise out there right now and so many events and so much email and so many competing priorities. We want to attend events that interest us that we think are going to provide value to us. We’re not just looking to fill the calendar. Everybody’s calendar is already very filled. From the advisor’s point of view, if you host an event that speaks to those that you’re inviting, they’re going to come.”
The format decision: Virtual vs. in-person
The post-pandemic landscape has permanently altered event planning, leaving many advisors wondering whether to return fully to in-person formats or maintain some virtual presence.
According to Stoner, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all decision.
“The good news is it really is based on what that client or what those clients want,” she explains. “After Covid there was really, or during Covid, right, there was this big boom of all these virtual entertainment opportunities that either didn’t exist or we didn’t know existed, and then that kind of ran its course and people are like, “Oh my God, I’m tired of talking to my computer screen. I want to go back and be with people.” And it’s sort of like that pendulum swing where now I think it’s really, again, what does the client want?’
As a general principle, York advises: “The rule of thumb is if you can be in-person, host an in-person event,” noting that physical presence typically creates stronger connections. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean requiring all clients to come to your office location.
“So it doesn’t necessarily mean that they all have to come to your surrounding area,” York says. “We’ve actually done this with clients where you map out, pull out maps and pull out where your pockets of clients are, and you’ll start to see that more often than not, you have them in different clusters. So if your clients are based in a different city and you’ve got three, four, five of them, you create a little mini event, a mini dinner and bring them together either in an educational format or an in-person.”
When in-person isn’t feasible, virtual events can be effective with the right engagement strategies:
- Breakout rooms for smaller group discussions
- Intentional introductions between participants
- Interactive activities like virtual wine tastings, magic shows or trivia contests
- Experience-based components that can be replicated virtually
The key difference-maker for virtual events is facilitation of connections rather than passive content consumption.
Building community through events
The most successful events create what York calls a “community” effect that strengthens relationships on multiple levels.
“That’s the key word right there, Ellen. You hit the nail on the head—community, developing that community for you and your clients and your clients in between each other, whether that’s virtual or whether that’s in person, that’s such a strong force because then they feel connected and they have that relationship with you,” says York. “They develop that relationship with you.”
This community-building aspect creates a cycle of deepening trust. “It’s this circle that comes full circle because if you’re not personalized, you’re not getting to know them, they’re not trusting you. They’ll learn to trust somebody else and you don’t want that,” York adds.
Strategic seating assignments at in-person events can connect clients with complementary interests or needs. Follow-up can then reinforce these connections: “I saw you were sitting next to Angela. Were you guys able to exchange contact information? I’ve asked her and she said it’s OK for me to share that with you.”
Inviting family members creates opportunities for deeper relationships that extend beyond the primary client.
These multi-dimensional connections create what York calls a “sticky client relationship” that naturally leads to referrals and introductions to beneficiaries and adult children.
Avoiding common event-planning mistakes
Before diving into best practices, it’s worth examining where many advisors go wrong with their events. Stoner identifies two primary pitfalls:
“I think number one is that content piece. Who is this event actually for? So that’s that first one. They make a mistake saying, ‘I think they should know about Social Security.’ Or, ‘I’m a tax expert. I’m going to talk about it.’ And then people don’t show up and they can’t figure out why.”
The second major mistake involves expectations and measurement of success. “I think another mistake that people make is in their expectations,” Stoner notes, circling back to the importance of reframing outcomes around relationship-building rather than immediate client acquisition.
Other common mistakes:
- Failing to collect client data before planning events.
- Not involving team members strategically during events.
- Neglecting post-event follow-up.
- Missing opportunities for community/charitable components.
- Overcomplicating virtual events rather than focusing on connection.
The follow-up advantage
Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of successful events is strategic follow-up, which Stoner insists should be planned concurrent with the event itself.
“One of our favorite sort of tricks, if you will, it’s about follow-up,” says Stoner. “One of the things that we find is very important is to actually plan your follow-up while you’re planning your actual event. So, what kind of information you want to either get from the attendees or how you can connect them.”
This includes determining what information you want to collect from attendees and how you’ll use it post-event. Rather than general questions like “Did you enjoy the event?” Stoner and York recommend pointed inquiries that yield actionable intelligence.
For example, after a wine tasting, rather than asking if someone liked the wine, ask which specific variety they preferred. As Stoner explains, “The savvy advisor has that database open going ‘Pinot Grigio. When is Ellen’s birthday? When is her anniversary with our firm? When is her child graduating from high school?’ It’s a great data resource.”
This approach transforms casual conversation into relationship-building opportunities. York emphasizes that these exchanges should feel casual to clients but be intentional for advisors: “Put those little pieces of information in your memory bank…and then when you are back in the office, you can make those notes.”
The charitable dimension
A particularly effective enhancement to client events is incorporating charitable components, which resonate deeply with many clients while often reducing overall event costs.
“Most people like giving back,” notes Stoner. “Most people have a thing that is important to them.”
The experts suggest three primary approaches to selecting charitable components:
- Advisor-driven. Choose causes personally meaningful to you or your team.
- Client-aligned. Support charities important to your top clients.
- Community-focused. Participate in local initiatives that matter to your community.
These elements can range from hands-on service activities like school painting or food bank volunteering to incorporating charitable gifts instead of traditional corporate swag. Rogin shared her own evolution: “When I first started [doing events], it was all like swag with our company name on it. As my clients got older, I got older, I’m like, no one wants more stuff.”
Her solution was selecting client gifts that benefited charitable organizations, such as cookie boxes from a bakery employing developmentally disabled adults. This approach aligned with her core value of generosity while providing more meaningful takeaways for clients.
Implementation roadmap
For advisors eager to elevate their event strategy, Stoner and York offer their “Signature Event System,” which includes detailed planning templates for different event types.
“What we’ve done is we’ve created this timeline with everything that we have experienced and all the little things you need to do and some things you won’t need to do for an educational event. Some things you want to do for a social event,” explains York. “And it’s in a template eight weeks before, six weeks before, day of follow up and peppering that throughout. And you can customize it and make your own template and use it for all of your events and create a client event template.”
The system covers various event formats with customizable templates that address common pain points in the planning process. “Being prepared allows you more flexibility in the end than not being prepared at all,” notes Stoner.
The bottom line
Strategic client events represent a significant opportunity for practice differentiation and growth in an increasingly competitive advisory landscape. By shifting focus from immediate ROI to relationship building, systematically collecting client preferences, facilitating meaningful connections, and executing thoughtful follow-up, advisors can transform their events from obligatory expenditures into powerful practice-building assets.
As York concludes, well-executed events create a natural cycle that builds sustainable practice growth: “You have an event they’re interested in, it creates conversations while you’re there. Then you take that back to your meetings and the relationship you have, and that just turns into a very sticky client relationship. Naturally referable, natural introductions to the beneficiaries and the children. It just goes on and on.”