Planners are busier than ever and the suppliers that step up to their plate and provide the tools and support to help them do their jobs, are going to win planners…and their business. Cvent’s recently released fifth annual 2019 Cvent Planner Sourcing Report (Global Edition) surveyed more than 2,650 meeting and event planners throughout North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa. The report’s broad-brush conclusions? That planners are managing more events and working with bigger budgets.
The report also provides an understanding of how planners make decisions about such issues as venue selection, event budgeting, planner behaviors, the challenges of choosing suppliers, and much more.
It All Comes Down to Communication
Forty-four percent of the planner respondents specifically pointed out that poor or incomplete communication was a reason not to submit an RFP to a particular venue. Incomplete proposals are a planner peeve, requiring planners to spend their valuable time seeking out that information to fully consider the venue.
While communication is cited as critical, so too is attention to detail. Thirty-two percent want hotels to improve attention to detail in their RFP responses. Another major planner turnoff is proposals that have the wrong dates or group name, showing a lack of attention to detail that can turn planners quickly off a property.
Venue Selection
Cost remains the biggest driver when choosing a meeting venue, but this year’s report highlighted how critical space layout is to the overall decision-making process. Other important factors include location, date availability, and what the report calls “be here now” experiences, which are the hotels that help planners utilize live entertainment options to create memorable, events, such as pop-up events.
Budgeting
Over half of the survey respondents expect to be working with bigger budgets this year, particularly revenue-generating events. Planners also expect to spend more overall on their events, including increased food and beverage prices, venue rentals, and entertainment costs.
Professionalism
The report concludes that ultimately, professionalism is among the most important decision drivers with respect to site selection. More than half (59%) of the planners surveyed felt a lack of professionalism among hotel staff as an important reason for not bringing repeat business to a venue.
For more information on the 2019 Cvent Planner Sourcing Report, click here. Managing more events, mean managing more stress so it’s no wonder meeting planning also ranks high when it comes to stressful jobs. Click here, for insight.
