In recent years, increasing numbers of organisations have woken up to the potential benefits to be captured by better control on their meetings and event spend.
However as someone who is in regular touch with a broad cross section of buyers working across many disciplines and with differing size of spend, it is apparent that not everyone has sorted out where to place or manage the piece — or if they have, often not enough thought has gone into ownership.
Many of the travel buyers reading this piece will relate to the issue of being handed the task but not given the extra "clout" to make an impact with a very influential and vocal group of stakeholders.
Alternatively some of the more savvy buyers have done their own analysis of the benefit potential but when every department is squeezed for resource, their voice is not listened to and tackling the project stays low on the list with projects perceived as easier rising to the top. Without effective benchmarking it is very hard to complete the business case.
The rewards are there, but the clear and simple ways to effectively benchmark the real outcomes are missing — it frequently seems too hard and too much hard work. This is true even at the starting point of the meeting venue procurement side, captured more frequently in strategic meetings programmes. Then add the complexity of ROI measurement on meetings or events, where the cost should be far from the sole consideration and the picture muddies. The potential supply base crosses into other procurement territory (one should more correctly say other procurement "disciplines" but it does feel like "territory" if the line on what is being benchmarked and why is not clear.
There is also a supplier objection to the greater scrutiny by procurement. Do not get distracted by this red herring. Suppliers complain that procurement don't understand the specialism, that questions are asked in the wrong areas and that unnecessary process is being added. There are some very valid points and both sides are working to educate the procurement process, but some of the questioning has been long overdue as transparency of pricing was not always forthcoming before a light was shone into this area.
Why don't more organisations apply benchmarking practice?
Do organisations even know what they should be benchmarking? Sometimes the big objectives get lost in the smaller detail when KPIs are set at the wrong level and 'good' becomes the phone being answered within three rings and three options within four hours, rather than why the exercise was commissioned in the first place.
The barriers are not new.
- It's too hard…
- How do you compare apples with pears?
- How do you put a price on creativity?
- How do you know what a "standard" is on ROI to even start benchmarking it?
- How can you compare year-on-year spend reduction when you don't know what you spent last year or why?
- Actually, some answers are not yet easily available, but you can start somewhere — just make that start!
Here are some simple solutions that move toward tackling the big stuff. . .
- (Spend leverage) Regular venue usage
- Individual spends can be low but they do add up.
- Get some research undertaken for your most frequently used areas.
You will have frequently used/preferred venues in regularly used locations. Benchmark against similar venues in those locations for the same times of the week and lead-in times that apply to your bookings. If your preferred venue deals are in parity or better, then make a commitment to a contracted rate and not shop around. Do you still use an agency and ask them always to provide more than one option? Stop it, save everyone's time, including your own and build loyalty.
Spend reduction
Capture the reason for meeting. This is crucial to start to determine if all offsite meetings are necessary and if it is behavioural change required, or that you simply are not offering alternatives within your M&E policy.
If you frequently use venues close to your own offices, benchmark the costs against using internal meeting space. Don't forget to appraise the cost of "wasted space". Are you spending money externally because your facilities are underused through poor policy or poor design?
It is not unusual to uncover that 20% of an organisation's annual meeting and event expenditure is spent with venues within a mile of their offices on internal meetings. Before you can benchmark your performance you must be able to measure it. Significant bottom line impact opportunities are available but if you don't track what is internal vs client, or income earning/generating vs non you will struggle to implement a policy to manage it.
Add to the content and context of a strategic meetings management programme
If you are running a SMMP already how about benchmarking yourself.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has a very useful resource - the Strategic Meetings Management Index which allows meetings managers and executives to quantify the developmental progress of their SMM programme across 13 distinct categories and the index is based on best-in-class models.
After completing the entire assessment questionnaire, the index displays your score in each of the 13 categories as well as an aggregate score for your entire programme. You'll need to be a member to fully access but you can read more on their website. I checked if the tool has been widely used and it has been accessed more than 8,000 times so well worth considering.
Where to start on event services
Sorry we are getting into the more emotive territory here — but make a start.
The most important recommendation I have is to do some of your own research first — I believe you will get better results if you enter engagement with stakeholders and suppliers with a level of credibility. You will bring credibility with you from your own expertise but by demonstrating that you have taken some steps in their world you will get co-operation much more quickly. Benchmarking these services is not simple — so approach this in the right way and you may find this your key to other successes.
Research by asking colleagues in your professional networks as well as within your business, referencing information on line from specialist groups such as Meetings Professionals International (MPI) or ROI specialists such as the ROI Institute (did you know there was one for meetings and events?).
What to benchmark?
Choose the right suppliers.
Start by being realistic about the events that you run. If your main requirements are logistical but you are attracted to the sexy creative agencies that is a relationship which will end in tears. They will be asking themselves why you got with them in the first place if you don't want them to be themselves and you will be accusing them of not understanding your needs.
Alternatively you may think that because your TMC has event management listed as a service, the easiest solution must be to give them all of your M&E business to manage. There are some who have very serious event management capabilities but the old expression about a jack-of-all-trades does ring true at times.
Can one supplier ever be all things to all people or do you need to look at installing a framework of preferred suppliers? Preferably built on specialisms to guide bookers to the right supplier rather than unintentionally creating a 10-way pitch every time a brief comes out!
For full event delivery, engage with trade associations who represent the suppliers you are asking to provide the services. Do they have benchmark standards as a criteria for membership, do they have a code of conduct? Don't fall into the trap of just benchmarking day rates; you need to know how whole projects are costed and brought to the table. The biggest failures are often traced back to a procurement decision based on a better day rate, simply to find the agent with the low rate charges more days to get the work done. Beware agents who cannot clearly account for the hours they are charging.
It will always come back to realistic objective setting, allowing you to benchmark the success of the events you run. If the reason for holding the event is just because "we have always done it" or "we have not done one of these before in this location" then your measurement of success is simple — "we did it" — but completely ineffective.
Learn or earn
Set objectives around information, skills, attitudes, relationships, sales. If you recognise how many of those categories you are looking to impact then all you need to do is understand what behavioural change will demonstrate real and lasting impact, and impact positively the bottom line. After all if we are not attending an event to learn or earn why are we there…