B2B Matchmaking

How to Overcome the 3 Most Irritating B2B Matchmaking Problems

Victoria Rudi
May 18, 2017

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When it comes to planning and running networking events, we as event managers face multiple B2B matchmaking problems and challenges. This reality often leads us to an anxious search for quick (yet uncalculated) fixes.

Most of the time, this search ends with more headaches than with real solutions to overcome the most irritating B2B matchmaking problems.

For example, we can spend days manually matching and scheduling meetings between attendees, only to discover afterward that they aren’t compatible at all according to the “I’m looking for” and “I’m offering” criteria. This means you wasted a lot of precious time, energy, and money!

Moreover, the lack of smart solutions to common B2B matchmaking problems conditions a low-quality networking experience for your attendees.

And we don’t want this to happen.

So to help you with that, we decided to put together a list of smart solutions you can apply to overcome some of the most irritating B2B matchmaking problems:

Problem #1. Scheduling B2B meetings when you have more than 100 attendees

 

 

Are you spending countless hours manually scheduling attendees’ meetings using Excel spreadsheets?

“What’s wrong with Excel spreadsheets?” you may be asking. According to a study from the University of Hawaii, 88% of all Excel spreadsheets contain errors. This means even more B2B matchmaking problems for you! This number is, understandably, not encouraging, especially when you’re scheduling meetings for more than 100 attendees.

Solution:

Enable your attendees to schedule their own meetings and have full control over their own networking agenda. After you set up the networking parameters, your guests can check the list and availability of the attendees or companies they want to interact with. Subsequently, they can request to schedule meetings with those guests that present a specific interest for them.

Problem #2. Not knowing your attendees’ exact profile

The quality of your networking event depends on the value your guests can generate. When your only goal is high attendance, you tend to forget about the professional profile of your guests. But how can you expect to organize successful networking sessions if the people who attend have nothing worthwhile to offer? After all, successful networking means having access to high-quality guests.

Solution:

Set up a control system and have your participants fill in the data regarding their professional profile before the event. Your guests will have to prove that they meet a series of requirements and confirm their qualification to attend the event. This helps you avoid providing senseless interactions among participants who can’t add value to each other.

Problem #3. Discovering a big incompatibility between the offer and demand

 

 

From the entire list of B2B matchmaking problems, this one is the most common.

According to Derek Coburn, when attending networking events, people usually focus on their own personal agenda, “whether it’s signing a new client, creating awareness for their business, or connecting with someone in the hopes of developing a mutually beneficial relationship.” He goes on to say, “Everyone is playing a different game, which is why there are usually no clear winners.” Thus, you need to be prepared to solve this problem.

Solution:

Use a powerful B2B matchmaking platform and have your attendees to provide their data, specifying their networking preferences and interests. By enabling the “I’m offering” and “I’m looking for” modes, you’ll help them correctly articulate their networking goals. Subsequently, you can decide which group profiles are compatible, and then people from one group can request meetings with people from those other compatible groups.

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Compared to typical event management challenges, dealing with B2B matchmaking problems can be overwhelming. Running successful B2B meeting sessions is more about evaluating and managing the quality of prospects than handling logistics. That’s why preparation and education is needed.

 

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Victoria Rudi
Senior Content Specialist
With a Master’s degree in Event Management and a keen follower of SaaS technologies, Victoria is an event content master, producing insightful and valuable for Eventtia’s blog and beyond

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