Ryan J Bell

Using an online registration system to register attendees for your next event can significantly diminish your workload and increase attendance, but automated follow-up by email is essential for the success of your event. In fact, there are two different (yet still very important) ways to use it:

1. To send out automatic confirmations to newly registered attendees.

2. To send out reminder emails to registrants as the date of the event approaches.

Automated confirmation emails will build confidence with your registrants. They’ll know instantly that they are “IN” and confirmed for the event. It’s one less thing for them to have to think about. What’s more, you won’t have to deal with pesky questions like: “Did my registration go through?”

Unfortunately, there will always be no-shows at every event. In fact, some meeting planners report no-show rates as high as 30 percent! Depending on your cancellation and refund policy, these no-shows can cut right into your bottom line. They can make or break your event. However, with automated reminder emails, you’ll naturally get a much higher rate of attendance. And you’ll reduce your no-shows to a bare minimum.

A user of automated confirmation emails, Brian Hodge, wrote: “Best event yet. Ninety percent show-up rate out of the sign-ups and lots of positive feedback.”

A 90% show-up rate is quite good, but many meeting planners do even better.

When searching for an online registration system that offers automated confirmation emails, it is important to consider that they can be completely personalized with names, agenda selections, receipts, balances due, and if possible, links to conference materials, maps, surveys, and more.