Even as the economy rebounds and budgets expand, smart planners still look for ways to ensure their clients get the most for their money. And though recycling unused votive candles or offering a continental breakfast rather than a full menu might save them a few bucks, stashing away the big cash requires a much more strategic approach. For Strategic Meetings Management Expert, Nikki McLain of CWT Meetings & Events, a division of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) implementing overarching strategies and solutions for her clients ensures optimal value from their travel programs. With an eye on 2013, Nikki reveals the top five ways planners like you can save your clients money next year, which in turn, will enhance your business.
Q. Tell me about your position as Strategic Meetings Management Expert at CWT — what do you do?
A. I help oversee some of our strategic meeting management accounts. I guide clients in making decisions about their managed meeting programs, acting as a consultant, offering best-in-class strategies to ensure they get the greatest value and return on investment from their meeting programs.
Q. All planners want to ensure an optimized ROI for their clients. Is there one area you’ve found (travel, lodging, food, etc.) for which you consistently receive the most advantageous deals?
A. At CWT Meetings & Events, we look at things from an enterprise level, rather than just singular meetings. To that end, Venue Sourcing provides the biggest bang for your buck. Venue Sourcing standardizes a best practice control over how you’re sourcing venues. We suggest to our clients that they register their venues using an online tool or database to track who is holding meetings and when and where they are taking place. For example, if they’re sending most of their meetings to the Marriot, we advise that they approach that vendor and communicate that they may be sending up to ten meetings to their facility for the coming year and as such, would like them to offer better pricing on the venue itself, as well as on food and beverages and sleeping rooms. Our clients find that with a strategy like Venue Sourcing, they can save as much as 10-20 percent annually on sleeping rooms, meeting space and food and beverage.
Q. When it comes to planning travel, what inside money-saving tips can you offer?
A. Completing a destination analysis can help planners accurately budget for their meeting. This process involves pricing all aspects of the meeting in advance -– air, hotel, miscellaneous expenses -– to ensure that the selected destination offers the best pricing. Planners may want to use a destination analysis tool like CWT Meeting Optimizer, which will help them select the most cost-effective destination based on their attendees’ origin. For example, if you are a Minnesota-based business and your attendees are coming from New York and Los Angeles for your meeting, this tool will help identify the most cost-effective options for cities in which to hold your meeting based on air and hotel expenses. Even time of year can impact the results, which in our example, may dictate that it’s most economical to hold your meeting in Detroit or Chicago, rather than Minneapolis. Using this tool in advance of an RFP will help determine meeting budgets up front.
Q. Do you have any advice about negotiating with vendors for optimal pricing? For example, is it about who you know (relationships, networking) or what you know (which companies offer the best discounts, etc.)?
A. Consider things from an enterprise-wide perspective; in other words, the entire landscape of meetings. For example, if you know you’ll be holding more than one event in the same city in a year, share that information with hotels and conference centers. They’ll likely give you better pricing if they foresee a long-term partnership with you.
Q. What are top five ways to save money for your clients?
1. Take steps towards developing a strategic meeting management plan. If that seems daunting or overwhelming, start with one small step, e.g. registering your meetings in order to know enterprise-wide what your entire company is doing. In this way, you can begin putting a strategy together for venue sourcing your meetings and events.
2. Strategic meeting management control begins with a meeting policy. Many companies have a policy on how to pay for meals, rent cars, book air fare, etc. Most companies don’t have a separate process for meetings. We suggest that you do establish one so that, for example, if ten or more people travel to a conference, the policy would indicate that the meeting should be registered and tracked by the company. This is a proactive step that will save your company money in the coming year.
3. Utilize a destination analysis tool. A destination analysis tool will help you determine the most cost-effective location for your meeting based on each attendee’s origin.
4. Leverage your transient hotel spend with your meeting spend. Most companies have a travel manager who decides what hotels to patronize as their organization’s transient hotels. Leverage those with hotels where you’re sending meetings. For example, seek out properties in the transient hotel program that can also be used for meetings. Hotels love this. Make sure to mention this when sending out RFPs and use it to leverage the best price for your organization.
5. Utilize the technology trend. A lot of companies are considering hybrid meetings because it can be cost-prohibitive to have everyone fly in for a meeting. By adapting a hybrid meeting model, some face- to-face is utilized, while incorporating teleconferencing and telepresence capabilities for those who are further away. This drives down travel expenses. Mobile apps and social media tools (such as tweeting and posting updates to Facebook) have the capability to generate excitement pre-, during and post-event.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A. Our biggest piece of advice is to think beyond one meeting or just a few. Consider a holistic view of what your company’s meetings look like. Between 35 and 50 percent of company spend is on meetings. That should not be ignored. Instead, consider taking small steps toward strategic meeting management, and consider one of the steps mentioned previously as a jumping off point to save your client money.
