Create Successful Hosted Buyer Programs with Matchmaking the Easy Way

What is a Hosted Buyer Program?

A hosted buyer program or event facilitating meetings between qualified buyers and sellers, suppliers, or exhibitors. As opposed to traditional trade show events, hosted buyer programs usually result in a higher number of meetings because they are pre-arranged.

Various trade shows or exhibitions attract thousands of visitors, so exhibitors often find it very difficult to determine who is a casual booth visitor and who could be a lead or prospective buyer.

That is why more organizers shift their focus towards buyers, which results in more meetings at an event. The term “hosted buyer” comes from the fact that organizers are the ones who arrange travel and accommodation for the buyers on an in-person networking event, and usually cover the costs as well.

The Power of Event Management Software with b2b Matchmaking

The b2match event matchmaking software allows you to organize a hosted buyer program rather easily from start to finish.

Okay nice claim, but how actually?

Explore b2match Participant Journey

Start with the Registration

A flexible registration form is the building block to easily organize a buyer program. It allows you to create questions targeted towards a specific group. You decide which criteria buyers need to meet in order for you to host them. All you need to do is divide event attendees into different Participant Types.

This way you can have both the potential buyers and the sellers registering on the same platform, but with drastically different registration forms. b2match offers several types of questions, such as:

• Single choice
• Multiple choice
• Short text input (one line)
• Long text input (paragraph)

Along with additional configuration options (mandatory question, answer visibility, etc.), the customizable registration form gives you everything you need to set up the event and get relevant information from the participants. There is no limit to the number of questions you can add to the registration form, so you have complete freedom.

The vetting process for hosted buyers is often based on getting essential information, such as the buyer's purchasing power, organization size, and more. Once this process is complete, you can simply activate the profiles of the buyers you approved, and they will become visible to other participants at the event.

Making sure that only prospective buyers can attend the event is what makes hosted buyer programs so successful. It makes it easier for the other attendees so that they don’t have to sift through a long list of leads, trying to determine potential decision-makers.

The buyers, on the other hand, get an opportunity they cannot miss. They can meet a wide range of potential partners that can help them cut costs, achieve new innovations and expand their business.

Give Event Exhibitors Tools to Shine

Of course, an important component of a hosted buyer platformare the profiles of exhibitors. Regardless of whether the event is physical, online, or hybrid, they need to be rich with relevant information about their products or services.

b2match offers the Marketplace as the perfect solution to this issue. It gives participants the ability to showcase everything they have to offer.

To make their Exhibitor profiles stand out even more, there is the Event Navigation feature which allows you to create customized participant or company lists, perfect for highlighting the exhibitor profiles.

Lay the Groundwork for Pre-arranged b2b Matchmaking Meetings

A key feature of hosted buyer programs are pre-arranged meetings. Our built-in business matchmaking feature offers exactly that by allowing participants to schedule meetings in advance. Each participant can indicate their availability based on the sessions you create. Once they do, they can send each other meeting requests.

The number of meetings is usually limited and they last 10 to 15 minutes, which gives enough time for buyers to do their pitches. This can be easily set up in the b2match Agenda. You just need to define the length of a business matchmaking session along with the length of each individual meeting.

To help buyers make a decision about which exhibitor to send a meeting request, there’s the AI Event Matchmaking system. In the past, organizers were the ones trying to match the right buyer with the right seller, which takes a lot of time and effort. Now, they can have the smart business matchmaking technology do the work for them, so that they can focus on offering their participants a fantastic event experience.

Considering all the advantages b2match has to offer, it becomes clear that planning and organizing a hosted buyer program does not have to be an impossible feat. Using the all in one event management software to handle the registration, profile building, and business matchmaking leaves you more time to focus on other things without having to worry about burdensome logistics procedures.

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