A Strategic Approach to Venue Sourcing
Ideal Location
Meetings and Incentive programs are a huge investment of time and money. A successful program depends on the ideal location and successful negotiation of an agreement. “Ideal” takes into account a variety of factors that have less to do with the venue itself and more to do with the meeting objective, accessibility, weather, laws and customs, safety, and a venue’s willingness to meet your needs.
Aligning Your Programs with Strategic Goals
Before beginning the RFP process we partner with our clients to make sure their meeting and incentive initiatives align with their strategic goals. If they do not align with your goals and produce an ROI, there is no point in having one. Understanding the end game, participant demographics, company culture, policy compliance, history, and a variety of other details will help us determine the best locations and hotel partners to source. This information is also critical in creating an RFP that will be taken seriously, communicate your needs, and return a proposal that meets your requirements.
Sourcing the right venue for any event is time-intensive. With the consolidation of hotel sales forces and the abuse of electronic RPF systems, responses tend to be slow and incomplete requiring a lot of back and forth. This lengthy process requires time that most in-house meeting planners just don’t have, often forcing them to compromise in order to meet crucial deadlines.
By outsourcing these processes, organizations:
- Gain unbiased insight.
- Hotel salespeople have an obligation to push their product even though it may not be the best option for your program. As your advocate, we evaluate each facility based on a variety of criteria – including past experience – and objectively present the pros and cons.
- Unlike most of our competitors, our recommendation is not influenced by commissions paid by hotels or special partnership agreements.
- Are able to focus on meeting outcomes and duty of care.
- Achieve significant savings by leveraging our buying power, global relationships, and definitive negotiation abilities.
- Get access to quantitative reporting resulting in increased visibility and appreciable savings.
- Benefit from the knowledge of a diverse client base and years of experience in the global arena.
- Profit from earned commissions. Commissions paid by hotels and cruise lines can offset the cost of our services. Depending on the services contracted clients can actually make a profit.
Do you have a major meeting or conference coming up?
Fill out this form or give us a call to get the conversation started. You can alternately upload your RFP or download our template to fill out. The choice is yours.