The Art of Seduction: FAM Tour Tips to Win Planners Over
Published: July 11, 2025
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You gotta see it to believe it. But in today’s business events landscape, “seeing it” doesn’t only happen on a bus tour with a tote bag and a tight schedule. Planners now expect a hybrid site-visit experience—a mix of in-person moments, digital touchpoints, and decision-support content they can take back to their stakeholders.
A modern FAM does two things at once:
- Builds emotional confidence (“I can picture my attendees here.”)
- Reduces operational risk (“I can execute this meeting here without surprises.”)
Here are four upgrades you can make to win planners over, plus the measurement model that proves the FAM worked.
Do These First: The Modern FAM Baselines
- Design the FAM like a hybrid site visit: Assume planners will review and share information later. Build the follow-up experience now, not after the tour.
- Make inclusivity and safety visible: Don’t wait for planners to ask. Show you’ve thought about attendee needs, accessibility, and safety realities.
- Build a simple measurement plan: If you can’t measure impact, the FAM becomes a “nice experience,” not a sales tool.
Include Perception Surveys. Then Use the Data.
FAMs are geared toward generating leads for the sales team. But they should also generate insights marketing can use to improve messaging and reduce objections.
Use a short perception survey before and after the experience. Keep it practical:
Pre-FAM (baseline):
- What do you believe this destination is best for?
- What concerns would stop you from placing a meeting here?
- What do your stakeholders typically push back on?
Post-FAM (shift):
- What changed your mind, if anything?
- What would you need to see next to move forward?
- What would your CEO/board/legal ask about this destination?
Then publish the (sanitized) answers as decision-support content (FAQ pages, budget guidance, logistics pages, venue comparisons) so the confidence created in-person continues online. This closes the gap between sales conversations and marketing content and makes future outreach smarter.
Ask Better Questions and Make It a Two-Way Site Visit
You’ll be amazed what you learn when the FAM stops being a one-sided tour and becomes a conversation.
During each stop, ask open-ended questions that surface real friction:
- “What would stop you from bringing this group here?”
- “What would your attendees struggle with?”
- “Where would your stakeholders push back?”
- “What would make this easier to sell internally?”
Also, build in interactive moments that feel genuinely exclusive:
- A short “planner POV” walk test (hotel → venue → off-site event space)
- A timed transfer experience at a realistic hour
- A behind-the-scenes operations walkthrough (load-in, security checkpoints, accessible entrances)
- One strong local insider moment that’s not Googleable
The goal isn’t entertainment. It’s certainty.
Incorporate Personalization. “One Tour Fits All” Doesn’t Convert.
Personalization drives attendance and engagement, but more importantly, it helps planners imagine their meeting.
Break up the experience where it matters, by:
- Meeting size
- Meeting type (association, corporate, SMERF, sports)
- Seasonality/need periods
- Stakeholder lens (planner vs. procurement vs. executive sponsor)
Also, planners consistently appreciate time for solo exploration or optional activities. Build it in intentionally. A rigid schedule can backfire because it doesn’t mirror what attendees or planners actually experience.
One more reality check: planners may not use your convention center, but they might still want to see it to understand the destination’s overall capabilities and to recommend it within their network. Let them opt into that stop rather than forcing it.
Don’t Forget Food and Beverage, and Don’t Dance Around Cost
Planners are seeing more dietary needs, more scrutiny on value, and more budget pressure. If F&B is vague, you create uncertainty. Uncertainty kills conversions.
Show the range of what’s possible:
- Inclusive menu options and dietary accommodation capability
- Sample banquet and reception menus (even directional examples help)
- Transparent context on what drives cost (seasonality, staffing, venue minimums, service style)
- Smart ways to manage high F&B costs without reducing attendee experience
Treat F&B as a decision-support category, not a fun add-on.
How to Measure FAM Success: A Simple Model That Works
You don’t need a complicated dashboard. Track three things:
1. Inquiries (interest created)
- RFPs submitted within 30/60/90 days
- Direct inquiries to sales tied to FAM attendees
- Downloads/views of FAM follow-up assets (specs, one-pagers, venue pages)
2. Conversion (business moved forward)
- Qualified leads created and advanced stages
- Site inspections scheduled as the next step
- Definite or tentative bookings attributed to attendees (or their teams)
3. Sentiment (confidence gained)
- Pre vs. post perception shifts (top concerns reduced, likelihood to book increased)
- Verbatim quotes that reveal decision drivers
- Stakeholder-readiness: “I can sell this internally” responses
If you can show movement across all three, your FAM is doing its job.
Need Help Planning a FAM?
If you need help coordinating a FAM, and building the hybrid follow-up that turns “great trip” into booked business, Go Fish Tourism + Business Events can help. We take a full-service approach: planning the experience, capturing insights, and turning them into decision-support content that helps sales close.