Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from sales reps asking why it’s so difficult to get prospects to answer calls or respond to emails.
Here’s what I’ve been telling them:
1. Message Saturation & Digital Noise
- Prospects are overwhelmed by the volume of sales outreach across channels—email, LinkedIn, phone, and more.
- Event organizers compete not only with other events but also with broader marketing spend options like digital advertising, content marketing, and owned media.
- Sales messages often blend together, making it hard for any one outreach to stand out.
2. Increased Buyer Sophistication
- B2B buyers are more informed and conduct much of their research independently before speaking to a sales rep.
- They expect tailored, insight-driven outreach—not boilerplate messaging.
- They often seek ROI-based justifications and want proof that the event delivers measurable outcomes (leads, visibility, thought leadership).
3. Declining Effectiveness of Traditional Tactics
- Cold calling and generic email blasts have diminishing returns.
- Buyers are less responsive to traditional sponsorship decks and more receptive to customized proposals that address their business objectives.
4. Competitive Landscape is Expanding
- Many industries now have multiple events vying for the same sponsors and exhibitors.
- Emerging virtual and hybrid events offer alternative platforms for marketing, often with lower costs and easier metrics tracking.
- Global competition means that event organizers are no longer just competing locally or regionally.
5. Shorter Sales Cycles with Longer Consideration Phases
- Sales teams face compressed timelines for closing deals once interest is shown.
- However, initial consideration and budget allocation periods have lengthened, requiring earlier and more consistent engagement.
6. Internal Challenges in Alignment and Enablement
- Sales teams often operate without sufficient support from marketing, especially when it comes to:
- Targeted messaging
- Audience intelligence
- Sales enablement content
- Many lack training in consultative or strategic selling, making it harder to differentiate in conversations.
7. Higher Expectations for Personalization and Relevance
- Buyers expect personalized communication that reflects knowledge of their company, market, and objectives.
- One-size-fits-all pitches are quickly discarded.
8. Shift Toward Account-Based Selling
- Successful teams increasingly use ABM (account-based marketing/selling) approaches, focusing on key accounts and deeper engagement.
- This demands more research, coordination, and customization, which can be resource-intensive.
Implications for Event Sales Teams
To succeed in this environment, sales teams must:
- Use data-driven segmentation and targeting
- Craft value-centric, personalized communications
- Focus on business outcomes rather than features or booth specs
- Collaborate tightly with marketing to align messaging and outreach
- Invest in tools that support automation without losing personalization
- Continuously improve sales skills and messaging tactics
Are you going to make the change or continue to struggle?