Successful Executive Briefing Centers (EBCs) not only tell a strong branding story, they also increase sales opportunities and shorten sales cycles. They do this by fostering long-term relationships with your clients, allowing for customer insights to be captured, and facilitating collaboration on business strategies. This seems like a straight-forward concept, but missteps in the design and planning process can hamper EBC success.
When clients arrive to your EBC, you want them to feel welcomed, inspired, and excited about partnering with your business. But how do you ensure that each client has a custom, seamless experience every time they walk through your doors? Suddenly the design process starts to feel a bit more daunting. But it doesn’t have to if you take the time to set specific goals and expectations for the EBC space. Once the overall objectives are established, the rest of the details fall into place. Answering three key questions will set you on a path for success.
How Are You Using the EBC?
Some organizations have EBCs that are multi-purpose spaces. While they are used for executive briefings with clients most of the time, they are also used for board and company-wide meetings. Creating a space that is multi-functional takes on a different set of design questions than one that is singularly focused. Now the design must accommodate different types of audience’s needs. Layouts for meeting spaces as well as technology needs require more flexibility. Processes for executing client briefings and internal meetings successfully present new challenges as well.
For instance, finding the right software to manage meeting schedules is vital to ensure scheduling is accurate and simple to use, especially when multiple departments are involved. Once your team has decided on a space utilization plan that is right for your organization, you can then use it to guide the overall design of your EBC.
What Experience Do You Want to Give Your Customers?
Consider the general experience you want your customers to have once they are on-site. How will their visit flow? What type of setting and hands-on interactions will enhance their time at your facility? How will you customize your messaging to align with each customer visit? Will you require multiple meeting rooms, dining spaces, and relaxation areas to “wow” your guests? The use of technology effectively guides your customer’s experience throughout the executive briefing, helping them to better understand your organization and how partnering with you will benefit their own organization.
Imagine your clients entering your welcome center to see displays and content that immediately engages them. They become enveloped within your brand message and energized with innovative ideas. Next, they enter your meeting space that has been designed to empower collaboration. The technology for the space should be designed to support your program’s messaging and your stakeholders’ goals. More than one type of briefing may take place in the same space so the technology might also need to adapt to different use cases. Lunch may be served in that same meeting room, or maybe you’d before a luxurious dining space to invite more meaningful discussions. The engaging experience should extend from the moment your client steps into your EBC to the moment that you all shake hands and say farewell. Designing an EBC with technology that supports the workflow and goals of your briefings can take your client’s experience to the next level and ensure your sale’s success.
What is the Up-Time Goal for Your Executive Briefing Center?
If the briefing center’s main purpose is executive briefings nearly every day, then having technology that is up and running consistently is vital. Canceling scheduled briefings or limping through meetings without optimum technology support not only costs your organization the loss of a potential sale, but it is also damaging to your reputation and long-term relationship with your customers. It also creates immeasurable internal stress and dissatisfaction each and every time technology creates a disruption. There is no question that technology elevates the user experience in an EBC, but it can also diminish it if not executed effectively. Minimize this risk by selecting a single technology partner that has the capability to provide design, integration, and maintenance services. This simplifies the challenge of juggling multiple contractors, and it also reduces the risk of downtime, which is absolutely critical to the success of your EBC.
Setting goals and answering these key questions about your EBC can be challenging, but it’s worth the effort. By specifying functionality needs, interactive expectations, and utilization requirements, you create a space and experience that your clients will not soon forget. Your successful Executive Briefing Center will build strong brand messaging, enable and inspire collaboration, and increase sales opportunities that will drive growth within your organization for years to come.
