How to get more corporate gigs

Here’s everything you need to know when working with corporate clients.

Hi y’all,

Welcome back to Busy Season, your guide to the hot takes, pro tips, and real stories sweeping the events industry.

This week I’m talking corporate gigs. Should you do more of them? And what do you need to know when working with corporate clients? Let’s discuss.

So you’re looking to get into more corporate gigs. 

Let’s bust a myth about corporate work: It doesn’t always mean bigger budgets and fewer emotions. In my experience, corporate clients can actually be tougher to work with. They carefully scrutinize spend, and you’re often working with a team of people you need to make happy.

But despite having more cooks in the kitchen, corporate events do live up to their reputation for bigger budgets. Corporate clients also tend to become repeat clients, which gives you time to earn their trust and reduce scrutiny over time. At which point they become the “best of both worlds.”

Here are a few considerations when working with corporate clients:

They’re great for upsells. Most of the commission I earned when producing events came from upselling existing clients rather than generating new business.

Speed is a big deal. They’re juggling competing priorities, and your POC needs to be able to quickly distribute information to their team. 

Set clear expectations in advance. Do they need certain information on proposals? Do they pay on net 30, 60, or 90 terms?

But my biggest piece of advice is to focus on professionalism. Get a professional email domain instead of a Gmail, and have a website with professional photos of past events, not just a social media page.

Dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s goes a looong way with this kind of client.