There are so many different ways to be a good salesperson. For bigger products, projects, or long-term clients, nurturing relationships with people who would benefit from your brand is a massive piece of gaining traction and making sales.
This is true for getting new clients if you are a service-based company, or working collaboratively on mutually-beneficial projects. Suffice it to say, most work revolves around creating and keeping relationships.
Hosting can help you create impact and ignite word-of-mouth interest in your work. You are often hosting during work whether you realize it or not, leading meetings in-person and via Zoom, leading conferences, making phone calls, and welcoming people into your workspace. So, whether your job is directly related to sales, client acquisition, marketing, or any of a variety of other related positions or not — Hive can help.
Building a “Hosting” Project in Hive
Because of the importance of details and staying up-to-date with clients, here are some great tips when approaching your own “Hosting” project in Hive.
Create a Project for Hosting
Feel free to create a project titled “Hosting” to keep basic notes for your entire organization. Anyone who is shared on it will have access to it on their left menu bar to refer to at a moment’s notice.
- Click “Projects” in your left menu bar.
- Click the blue “+ New Project” button.
- Feel free to add the term “Hosting” to the “New project” line.
- Click “Project members” and choose “Specific people” to add cohorts to this information. Click “Project owner only” under “Who can edit project members?” especially if privacy matters or turnover could be an issue.
- When choosing a layout for this particular situation, we have found that STATUS VIEW and TABLE VIEW are the most streamlined. In these ways, we can keep track of what we have done for and with each client in their own spreadsheet cell or block.
In my “Status view” hosting project, I have a list of coffee and tea shops. I have a list for my favorite places to go out for alcoholic beverages and nice places to enjoy mocktails and shakes for any clients who prefer to keep it sober. I have breakfast/brunch, lunch, and dinner options listed in separate tabs as well, and even expanded into parks, locations with ideal photo opportunities, and a list of places for people to check out in their downtime.
Each card is named after its location. Under “description,” whichever coworker has experienced that plate makes notes about it. Some people list things like “great for meetings for 3-5 people” or “really bright, only go here before noon or the sun will blind you in every corner of the shop” to help keep details aligned and allow coworkers to make informed decisions on each location. I keep individual interactions, photos, or meeting info in the “Comments” section as well.
Within the card, I have started to list any people or clients that have already experienced that place. Even if I have gotten takeout and brought it to a location for them, I mark them as having that dining experience under their belt. (Most days with an asterisk, so we can still go there if they need an ambiance.)
While this setup lacks the enthusiasm that moving a physical card over can bring with it when advancing through a project workflow, it is still a pretty concise way to keep track of things and help communicate great ideas to coworkers who would otherwise be up a creek without a paddle. And it’s not the only efficient way to track your client’s entertainment and hosting experiences in Hive.
Create a “Note” for Hosting
Notes aren’t always just for you. Sometimes, a new Note can be helpful, especially when it’s being shared among a smaller group or may have individual-specific information, time-sensitive details, or otherwise. If you choose to go this route, it is relatively easy to do so.
- Click “Notes” in your left menu bar.
- Click the blue pencil button at the top of your Notes list.
- A new tab will pop up. Feel free to add the term “Hosting” to the “Give me a title” line.
- Underneath that, feel free to organize your information however you would like.
The blue “Share” button on the upper right side of your window will allow you to do so. Make sure to share it with just the team members who will be in upcoming, relevant meetings, or just your company. You can then link it to an internal calendar event or share it in-app otherwise to ensure everyone who needs to see it does.
An added perk to hosting your hosting information (Haha! See what we did there?) on Hive Notes is the upgraded Notes AI. Not only does this built-in perk allow you to brainstorm ideas in one place, but it also helps you to convert them into actions in your workflow.
Why you should care about hosting
1. Hosting Can Build Trust
Having ideas at the ready to help introduce yourself, your company, and even your region, in some cases, to potential work acquaintances allows them more avenues from which to learn about your mission, goals, and values. In professional social situations, you want to lead with curiosity and feel comfortable enough to get to know people. It can help your work contacts learn to trust you, and foster productivity and innovation in your workspace.
2. Hosting Expands Minds
Any clients or partners traveling from different cities will greatly appreciate going off-sight to experience the area you work in. Perhaps you work with a remote team in a different country, and your cultures are very notably different.
Sometimes, that means taking them to a top-rated restaurant in SoHo for a late lunch. Often, that means finding the cutest local Mom ‘n Pop Shop to kind of give them the essence of your immediate community. Either way, they are out of town for work but giving them a memorable experience that they can’t encounter at home is impactful.
3. Hosting Often Increases Business
Keeping notes on the companies you are working to win over, the teams you are starting to onboard, and the individuals that will be involved with your projects – especially long term – can help you and your team cater every interaction to them that you can. Does Becky on the C-Suite team of that company you are trying to partner with really love to sing? Kick around the idea of an office karaoke afternoon. You can incorporate music into their visit by dining in an area where local artists busk. Or even add music to your pitch presentation using a dynamic music visualizer.
Who knows? A great business trip and relaxing off-sight time could convince them your team is the go-to for future projects. It can also absolutely give them memories to talk about, and more opportunities for your name or your company to come up around their acquaintances.
