Buying meetings
ROOMS WITH A VIEW
Alastair Stewart, managing director of Etc. Venues, on why consolidation is not always a match made in heaven
“I AM NOT A FAN of consolidation, and it is worst for independent venues: some
have excellent products but they get cut out of the supply chain by procurement people who are focusing on getting everything to fit a wonderful model and, as a result, companies end up using the big brands. I feel desperately sorry for some of the venues that get hit hard by consolidation. “Attitudes to terms and
conditions vary enormously. Generally, we find they are manageable, although we might get a client, particularly if it is an American company, that comes in with terms that are difficult. Some of the big multinationals can also be awkward, and they’re sometimes encouraged by agency partners to be more difficult than helpful, with a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. “And we often get a
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ridiculous 20-page legal agreement for a £3,000 booking – it’s not worth our time organising that. There is a line we won’t cross. Business is picking up and in some cases we have more demand than we have space, so there is a climate where we can push back a little bit more. But the vast majority of clients and agencies are sensible.”
WHERE TO START First, get buy-in from the top: make sure the board and their PAs subscribe to the need for a meetings management programme. There may be resistance for a variety of reasons: people do not want to relinquish a task they enjoy; PAs’ relationships with local hotels may include rewards, such as free weekends or spa treatments; and bookers may not want to be told where to hold events. “Communicate as widely as possible with all users,” says Sam Welch, head of accommodation and meetings product for BSI. “A programme needs to cater for one-off
Put together a calendar of events to get a clear picture of how much business you have
meetings, training and development, and big events.” Last year, Kimberly-Clark combined its transient and meetings spend across Europe to achieve better rates. “We have a corporate strategy in place that encompasses both, but it does not work in every location or market,” says the company’s European senior buyer Sandra Dvorak. “There are cities where I cannot negotiate the two together because I don’t have too many events going through that location.” She adds that for events, such as a product launches and other sensitive functions, which are possibly not agreed until the last minute, negotiating a rate is more difficult. “To be able to do this, a company has to have a robust expense management tool, so they can see where their spend is going,” she says. “In some cities, I have very good relationships with hotels and can make really good deals because we are
important to them – but you need the data to understand that.” Dvorak uses venue finder Helms Briscoe. “They do the majority of our negotiations because they have global coverage, have a lot of expertise and are usually very fair in offering three choices of venue for an event,” she says. Having gathered the necessary data, put together a calendar of events to get a clear picture of how much business you have, what it is worth and where it is best placed. “Then negotiate a programme of chosen venues and event suppliers, and promote your preferred suppliers list on a travel or meetings portal,” says BSI’s Welch.
CONSOLIDATION In the first round of negotiations, companies may not get the best rates until venues are confident they will bring the additional business to justify a better deal. Generally, however, “properties and airlines are happy to grow their business and are, therefore, receptive to negotiation”, says director of Atlas Travel Consulting Natacha Gaskin. But where ad-hoc meetings and training sessions lend themselves to consolidation, large events benefit a dedicated programme because the hotel might need to be glamorous, quirky or conveniently placed enough for all delegates.
“Where the property is the key feature, you have to work in a way that will give organisers some leeway as to where they go, but within the parameters of preferred chains,” Gaskin says. “It’s all in the planning, including early discussions with the relevant department and with hotel chains. A department with a big budget for big
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
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