A single workshop is a tactical win. A repeatable workshop motion is a strategic advantage. This section helps you think beyond the next event and design a sustained workshop cadence that compounds over the year.
Key Content
Plan workshops as a recurring pipeline-generation activity, not a one-time event. Aim for at least one workshop per quarter per major territory segment. A consistent cadence is what separates AEs who occasionally run workshops from AEs who systematically generate pipeline through them. Rotate your workshop topics to align with customer priorities, product launches, and threat landscape developments — running the same workshop repeatedly to the same audience produces diminishing returns, while rotating topics keeps your customers engaged and gives you new reasons to reach out.
Build a standing cadence with your SE and any partner proctors to plan the year ahead together. Use these conversations to review upcoming target accounts in your territory, the workshop topics that would resonate most with each cohort, and your proctor's capacity. The earlier you plan, the easier it is to lock in dates and proctors, and the more time you have to build a quality invitation list for each event.
Finally, share what works (and what doesn't) with your peer AEs. The strongest workshop motions in any region are built collectively, with AEs sharing invitation templates, follow-up sequences, and lessons learned from each event.
Steps to Build Your Quarterly Workshop Plan
- Block a 90-minute planning session at the start of each quarter to map out workshops for the next 90 days.
- For each quarter, identify the workshop topic, the target customer segment, your aligned proctor, and the rough date range.
- Confirm proctor availability for each planned event before committing to dates with customers.
- Create the events in the platform several weeks in advance to give yourself maximum lead time for invitations.
Common Issues
As you build your workshop motion, watch out for the most common mistakes that cause workshop investment to underperform:
- Inviting too few customers is a frequent issue — always account for the typical 50% no-show rate when sizing your invite list.
- Skipping the event yourself is another costly mistake; if you don't attend, you miss the relationship-building opportunity entirely and your follow-up suffers.
- Pre-checking-in customers who haven't actually arrived corrupts the data you need to plan future events, so only check people in when they are physically (or virtually) present.
- Delaying follow-up beyond 48 hours for hot leads is the single biggest cause of underperformance — this is the discipline that separates strong workshop motions from weak ones.
- Treating the survey as optional throws away the lead data the platform is designed to generate; always reinforce the proctor's ask to complete the surveys.