Give Your Customer Meetings a Clear Purpose
Use your time at HIMSS27 to explore changing priorities, introduce relevant capabilities and strengthen relationships across existing accounts.
A customer using your technology in one department may be considering a broader rollout. Another may have a new leader, an unresolved implementation question or a colleague interested in a different capability. Those are useful starting points for a meeting while your teams are together at HIMSS27.
Freeman’s 2025 Commercial Trends Report identifies building relationships and protecting existing business among the opportunities exhibitors can pursue through face-to-face engagement. Start by identifying which accounts would benefit from that time and what you could help them accomplish.
Give Customers a Reason to Meet
“We’ll be at HIMSS27. Stop by our booth” leaves the customer to figure out why they should make time.
A stronger invitation starts with something happening in the account. Before reaching out, ask the account manager or customer success team what has changed, which questions remain open and where a discussion could help.
For example, a customer using your technology at one hospital may be considering a broader rollout. Instead of offering a general catch-up, propose a meeting about what expansion would require: differences between locations, implementation resources and lessons from the first deployment.
Launching in November, the HIMSS27 Exhibitor Invites program will give exhibitors a way to extend a $150 registration discount to their customers and network. Pair your invitation with a specific reason to connect, whether that’s exploring a new capability, discussing an expansion or bringing another team into the conversation. That gives your team a clear purpose and the customer a reason to include you in their schedule.
Build on What They Already Use
Existing customers bring experience with your product that can make a conversation more specific from the start. They can explain what is working, where their teams have adapted it and what they need next.
In the HIMSS26 exhibitor survey, MTS described connecting with clients face to face as part of its event strategy, alongside introducing services, researching the market and meeting new healthcare organizations. Use that combination as a planning prompt. What could a customer explore at your booth that would be relevant to their next decision?
- A capability they haven’t adopted: Show how it could address a need they have already identified.
- A new application: Explore whether an existing solution could support another workflow or department.
- An expansion plan: Work through the practical questions involved in extending a deployment.
Keep the meeting grounded in the customer’s experience. If an adoption issue is limiting the value of their current purchase, resolving it should shape the conversation. That gives your team a clear purpose and the customer a reason to include you in their schedule.
Connect More of the Account
When colleagues from the same customer organization are attending HIMSS27, consider whether a shared discussion would be useful. Your primary contact may understand the current deployment, while another team brings questions about a potential new application.
For example, a customer interested in extending a solution from one clinical setting to another could invite a representative from that department. Your team can then explore the new requirements together, with the current user contributing firsthand experience. Ask your contact who would benefit from joining and explain what the meeting would cover. Prepare your own team around those questions so everyone has a reason to be there.
The value is in helping people examine an opportunity, together, with the relevant product and expertise available.
Make the Next Step Specific
A productive customer meeting should leave both sides clear about what happens next. Depending on the conversation, that could be:
- A technical workshop to assess an additional use case.
- An adoption review with the customer success team.
- A demonstration for another department.
- A planning session to scope a potential expansion.
Agree on who will take the next action and when. Follow up with the information discussed, building on what you already know about the account.
As you prepare for HIMSS27, identify a few existing customers with a priority you could help advance in person. Give each meeting a purpose, prepare around the account and make room for the people who can contribute. Those conversations deserve a place in your exhibit plan.