Why you should always have a customer co-moderator at your Exec Roundtable

5 minute read.

A question we’re often asked is “can you find me a moderator for our Executive Roundtable discussion? 

Our answer is always the same, “Yes, but it’s going to have an impact on your event’s effectiveness and likelihood of conversions to leads and meetings”.  

The most successful Executive Roundtables are always co-moderated by a leader from your organisation and a customer speaker.

Here’s why:

Peer reviews are the lifeblood of sales

According to Harvard Business Review, 84% of all B2B sales start with a Peer Recommendation. This means your customers are your best salesperson! 

Your customers are the perfect people to involve in a discussion as they can champion your brand with legitimacy. How much more credible is someone talking positively about your solutions when they are not on the company payroll?

By including customers and having them voice their experiences, specifically around how you’ve helped them solve their problems and those that are being discussed, you establish a level of authentic trust in your audience.

Your reps can rave all day to your audience about how you can solve their problems, but an executive will always trust the word of a peer over the word of a salesperson.

Your Rep Can’t Sell During the Roundtable… but your customer can

The biggest Roundtable faux pas we see on a regular basis are vendor representatives getting excited and activating “sales-mode” with the prospects in the room.

Selling in an Exec Roundtable environment (which are positioned as discussions for thought-leaders) greatly reduces the chances of the roundtable converting. Guests will feel like you only invited / hosted them for the opportunity to pitch (which is true, but it comes later!) rather than as a genuine thought-leadership play. This may also damage your reputation and executive relationships. 

Instead, your reps can take a back-seat while your customer tells their story- outlining the way your products or services helped them solve their problem. 

Improve your customer retention

We often find that when our clients engage a tier-1 customer at a Roundtable, their relationships deepen. You directly position your customer as a thought leader, making them more invested in the relationship and your brand.

You will also get a better understanding of how your customer is solving their challenges, in a very honest and open forum. These insights can be valuable in upsell and renewal discussions.

You WILL get a better audience

Imagine you are invited to a “Free Exec Roundtable Discussion” and the only speaker listed is a Senior from the host company - not appealing, right? You can go on a website or reach out if you want to be pitched.

Every executive has been scarred by attending a vendor event that was more “time-share sales pitch” than discussion. With the rise of Roundtable popularity, the return to F2F events and WFH, it is harder than ever to get Execs to events.

By having a customer feature as a moderator, you immediately build credibility for invitees and therefore are more likely to generate an audience of high-level decision makers.

Furthermore, the more senior the customer the better. Attendees are looking to learn from and network with the best and brightest in their space, and will jump at the opportunity to connect with a CTO from a major enterprise. 

There’s no guarantee a sourced moderator doesn’t use a competitor of yours

The absolute worst-case scenario for any Executive Roundtable host… a sourced industry moderator name-drops your competitor as their service provider.

You can hardly ask sourced moderators to lie, so there is really no guarantee that they are going to sell the dream on your behalf. What are their obligations? They have no investment in your brand.

In our experience, using a sourced moderator (someone that is not a customer but is in the industry) might encourage a genuinely impartial discussion, but will be much less effective in affirming your brand position.

In Summary

A customer co-moderator is a key factor in a successful Roundtable if your goal is pipeline generation. It also has positive effects on your brand perception and client renewal rates… So why would you want us to find a moderator for you?

Looking to run a roundtable discussion but looking for best practices on how to best deliver?

Get in touch to see if we can help you!

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