SEMINAR PLANNING GUIDE A complete guide and checklist for successful sessions with clients and prospects
CONDUCTING A SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR Putting together a seminar can be time consuming and stressful, but using the following to do checklist and list of resources and preparing far enough in advance can help ensure that your seminar is well planned and professionally executed. For topic suggestions and support materials on conducting a successful seminar, contact your MFS wholesaler or visit the Seminar Resource Center at mfs.com/seminar. Please check with your firm to make sure that all MFS pieces have been reviewed and are approved for use. FOR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL USE ONLY. Should not be shown, quoted, or distributed to the public.
COUNTING DOWN TO A GREAT SEMINAR Checklist, advice and resources to help you prepare CHECKLIST 8 weeks before 7 weeks 6 weeks 5 weeks Identify your topic and title, your seminar goals and your target audience. Identify and schedule any MFS or outside guest speaker(s). Create your presentation. Determine the desired number of invitees. Create your invitation list. Determine your budget. Reserve space at a restaurant, country club or private or semiprivate venue. Determine your preliminary seating needs. Finalize your invitation list. Order invitations, prospecting letters and other handouts you will need. Submit the presentation and any other materials you will be using to your compliance department for approval. Make preliminary arrangements for refreshments and any audio-visual equipment. If your wholesaler agrees to be a guest speaker, schedule inperson or telephone time to discuss roles and responsibilities. Contact your venue to finalize pricing and ordering information. Write a press release and submit it to your local newspaper or local association newsletters. Target your message to attract the right audience. ADVICE Identify your seminar objectives first, your audience second. Make sure your topic is timely and specific. Attendees come to learn about solutions to address current and/or future needs. Keep in mind that scheduling your seminar midweek (Tuesday through Thursday) can help maximize the number of attendees. Keep the audience size to a number you are comfortable calling personally and can easily follow up with after the seminar. When determining your guest list, include a combination of prospects and clients. Book an intimate setting convenient for attendees to get to (keep in mind that free parking is always a draw). Remember that inviting guests with a real interest in your topic is more important than filling the room. Reach out to members of any affinity groups to which you belong, including alumni, civic or sports groups. Use round tables (if you can) to facilitate easy conversation and interaction. Consider handwritten invitations they can add a nice touch and are often more impactful. Make sure invitations are clear and include detailed directions. To build interest and add value to your seminar, book special guests from your community (e.g., community leaders, estate planners, bank officers, lawyers, etc.). Consider offering refreshments light snacks, coffee, water and juices. But remember that people are coming to listen to speakers and food should not be a distraction. Ask colleagues and business contacts to spread the word. Call prospects before mailing out invitations to make sure they are interested. A personalized invitation and phone call can have more impact and help you maintain more control over who comes to your event. If you are inviting a guest speaker, remind him or her that you will need an advance copy of his or her presentation for your compliance department. RESOURCES Online: Choose from our wide array of seminar topics. Live: Consider asking your MFS wholesaler to be a guest speaker at your seminar. It is a great way for him or her to get face time with clients. Infosheet: Refer to our Online Resources flyer, a list of websites that can help you identify and gather prospects to attend your presentation. Live: Ask your MFS wholesaler about MFS prospecting ideas and for additional help identifying the best prospects. Online: Contact your MFS wholesaler to order either postcard-style invitations or invitations with envelopes. Also, order supporting materials to have available during your talk. Infosheet: Refer to our Conversation Starters flyer for ideas to help you effectively invite prospects and clients to your presentation.
Market volatility Market basics Client behaviors in retirement Take charge of their financial future NOT FDIC INSURED MAY LOSE VALUE NO BANK GUARANTEE Investing today A balanced approach to achieving your goals Financial life planning See the reverse side for additional seminar offerings. NAME ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE E-MAIL PHONE See the reverse side to continue. See the reverse side to continue. CHECKLIST 4 weeks before 3 weeks 2 weeks 1 week Mail out invitations. Follow up printed invitations with an email blast to your list of clients and prospects. Begin practicing your presentation. When preparing, weave in content that will encourage followup one-onone meetings with attendees. Make followup calls, and try to get an approximate head count of attendees. Assemble any handouts you will need for your presentation. Make sure you have enough business cards on hand. Send out a confirmation email to everyone who has responded affirmatively. Make calls encouraging attendance by those who have yet to respond. Reconfirm final arrangements with your venue, including food, audio-visual and seating Confirm RSVPs. arrangements. Continue practicing your delivery until you know the presentation cold. Conduct a dry run of the presentation with your guest speaker. Finalize food and seating arrangements. If you can, place prospects between clients at each table. ADVICE Address your invitations by hand for a more personal touch, and use stamps instead of metered postage. Do not overload attendees with literature. Participants should leave the seminar having learned something but wanting more information from you one on one. Line up help to assist in registering attendees the day of the seminar. Send an email reminder to all confirmed attendees. Arrange for two tables at your seminar venue one for signing guests in, the other for handouts and sales literature. Consider having a takeaway gift for each attendee (e.g., a book related to your topic or a box of chocolates). Presenter name Title Firm MFS MARKET INSIGHT CONTACT SHEET Thank you for attending today s workshop. Please add your contact information below RESOURCES Online planning guide seminar presentations sign-in sheet contact sheet list of online resources conversation starters evaluation form Through your wholesaler seminar invitations ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH CRITICAL MARKET TRENDS? Join me for this timely investment seminar July 28 MFSP-SEMFHG-INV-6/14 23599.5 MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. mfs.com No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. Before investing, consider the fund s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. For a prospectus or summary prospectus containing this and other information, contact your investment professional or view online at mfs.com. Please read it carefully. YOU RE INVITED to an exclusive event to discuss the top emotional barriers to successful investing and strategies to help you take control of your financial future. SIGN-IN SHEET Workshop hosted by Please print your name, address, e-mail and phone number below. Hosting a seminar is a great way to build stronger relationships with your clients and attract new prospects. Here is a list of our seminar offerings. General investing Staying Calm When the Market Goes Wild Today could be one of the best-performing days in the stock market s history, or it could be one of the worst. To help guide your clients through uncertain periods of market volatility, this seminar has some facts and a few opinions you may want to consider. Market Insight and Perspective With all the headlines clients see every day, they may be confused. Our market snapshot aims to provide a fair and balanced overview of the domestic equity, fixed-income and international markets, as well as the global economy. Your Retirement: TBD TBD: It stands for to be determined. And to help you help clients whose retirement plans are TBD, this seminar looks at client behaviors and touches on traditional finance, behavioral finance and disciplined finance. What have we learned or been taught in the investment arena? What do we actually do? How can investors potentially avoid making some common missteps? Savvy Women, Smart Investors Women today face unique financial pressures, whether they are raising a family, caring for parents or saving toward their own long-term goals. In this seminar, we will review these challenges and offer tips specifically geared toward women to help them plan accordingly. Striking a Balance This seminar helps clients understand why investing in a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds may help them achieve their long-term goals. Take Control This seminar is designed to help clients remain balanced emotionally and strategically when investing for future goals. It demonstrates how behavior affects investment decisions and assures investors that they can control their behavior and reach long-term goals as long as they stay disciplined and well informed. Mapping Your Course* I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete this contact sheet. All information will be kept strictly confidential. Name Address E-mail Steps Phone that you would like to consider next Meet for a one-on-one complimentary consultation to address any concerns Advisor Seminar Kit Have a follow-up discussion in weeks or months for dealer use Concerns that you would like me to address SEMINARS FROM MFS Saving more for retirement Saving more for other financial goals (please list goals) For your clients Addressing future needs is a major component of clients financial plans as they map a course through retirement. This seminar addresses many questions they may need to answer, including Are there additional steps I can take today to guide myself to and through retirement? What can I do to prepare for By the providing future needs this of information, my children or you grandchildren? are giving express What permission to contact you. additional actions can I take today to impact my legacy? This session This material also offers was created possible by solutions MFS. All and information client tools herein to help is for your financial advisors only. them pursue their goals with confidence. Reviewing current holdings and discussing possible alternatives Finding out more about funds that are designed to provide dividends Finding out if and how mutual funds may benefit you Other concerns (please list) Contact your MFS wholesaler at 1-800-343-2829 or visit our Seminar Resource Center at mfs.com/seminar.
CHECKLIST 1 day before DAY OF SEMINAR Post-seminar Create name tags for all attendees. Finalize all arrangements. Send out final reminders to all confirmed attendees. Make sure you have enough copies of any handouts you will need. Visit mfs.com/seminar to print out the sign-in sheet and evaluation forms so you have them the day of the seminar. ADVICE Have plenty of business cards on hand so every attendee can easily contact you. Remember to close your presentation by encouraging followup one-on-one meetings with attendees. Arrive at the venue an hour early to familiarize yourself with it (where the restrooms are, for instance), set up tables, check the equipment, etc. Remember to sign all attendees in, pass out business cards and evaluation forms and collect forms. Visit mfs.com/seminar to print out contact sheets to help you set up appointments and gather referrals. Begin and end on time. Participants will appreciate your sticking to a schedule. Leave enough time for a Q&A session. This is the best way to connect with your audience. Review participants evaluation forms. Summarize the feedback and use the results to make future seminars even better. Send handwritten thank-you notes to participants three to five business days after the seminar to express your appreciation for their attendance and personally address any questions. Respond to all requests for additional information you received at the seminar. Use the information collected on the contact sheets to call participants to schedule followup appointments. Keep any referral names on hand to invite to future seminars. Send a followup mailing approximately one to two weeks after the seminar. Contact no-shows and offer to schedule one-on-one meetings, send them information about the seminar or invite them to a future seminar. Continue to prospect everyone on your original invitation mailing list. Review our list of seminar topics to start planning your next seminar. RESOURCES Online: Print out a sign-in sheet and workshop evaluation sheets in advance and take them with you to the venue. Make sure you have enough copies of the evaluation form, one for each attendee. Online: Print out contact sheets in advance and take them with you to the venue. Make sure you have enough copies. Visit the Seminar Resource Center on mfs.com/seminar to use our interactive seminar planning tool and download PDFs of our kit components.
EXPERTISE THROUGH COLLABORATION We recognize that investors look for investment managers with the expertise to deliver strong returns over the long term. A consistent, long-term discipline drives the way we think, the way we invest and the way we are rewarded. MFS is an active, global investment manager with a uniquely collaborative approach that brings you our best insights and expertise through: Integrated Research We analyze opportunities across geographies, across fundamental and quantitative disciplines and across an organization s entire capital structure to develop a fuller perspective on securities we select for our clients. Global Collaboration Our people, teams and compensation structure ensure collaboration so that our clients benefit from a shared, worldwide view of investing opportunities. Active Risk Management Every member of our investment team is responsible for managing risk and delivering to our clients the greatest possible return within each portfolio s risk guidelines. Connect with us Please check with your firm s Compliance Department before initiating events to verify that the activity complies with firm policy and industry rules. MFS does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. Clients of MFS should obtain their own independent tax and legal advice based on their particular circumstances. MFS Fund Distributors, Inc., Boston, MA MFSB-SEMTIPS-FLY-2/16 19105.7