Cvent takes extra steps to make sure that meeting planners get a good response to their Requests for Proposals. We also recommend the users of our service follow these best practices to get favorable pricing quotes from suppliers.
- Provide as much information as you can about the event you are planning and your organization. This will help hotels and venues decide if your event is a good fit for their venue.
- If you have flexibility on dates, provide alternate dates for venues. Half of the battle sometimes is finding space that is available. In some cases hotels and other venues will be better to give different pricing on different dates as well.
- Specify your budget in your RFP so that venues that are out of your price range can be honest with you up front. Luxury hotel chains for example will simply not take a low budget meeting regardless of availability.
- Specify a date your are going to make a decision on your meeting location and give the meeting venue enough time to respond. Many companies will respond within 24-48 hours. However, if you give enough time you are likely to get the best response. Staff at hotels and conference centers can be very busy and giving them time to give you a good response is in your best interest.
- Give the meeting venue as much information as possible about your event and tell them why you think their vemue is ideal meeting location. While hotels and unique meeting venues want to make money, they want events at their location to be successful. Communicate with venues about the requirements for your meeting in great detail and they will be able to provide the best pricing quote for you.
These are just a few tips for meeting planners to get a better response from hotels and meeting venues when submitting RFPs.
