Strategic Meetings Management

Strategic Meetings Management (or SMM) is the event planner’s smart way to co-ordinate meetings at key/preferred venues on a regular basis, often guaranteeing discounted rates, added extras, and having priority to meeting spaces over other companies who may not be quite as organised as you!

Before considering the benefits to having a Strategic Meetings Management programme in place, ask yourself the following:

• Do you spend time researching venues, asking the same questions to the venues, and always end up at the same 2 or 3 venues?
• Have you always paid the same rates or do the rates vary?
• Have you negotiated added values or extras?
• Do you always get your favourite meeting space?
• Do you worry the venue has got the detail right?

Using SMM can help with the all of the above saving you time and money!

First of all look at your previous meeting bookings for the last 12 months:

• How much did you spend
• How many people attended
• Where was the meeting held
• Reason for the meeting (ie Quarterly Executive Meeting)
• Any added values/benefits

Is there a pattern?  Do costs escalate at certain times of the year?  Are Junior Teams being charged more than your Executive Teams for the same service?  Have you always been offered the same benefits (ie free flipcharts) or is this on an ad hoc basis?

If costs are varied and you think there is a value to looking at developing a SMM programme, the carry on reading…

• Would we benefit from developing a meetings policy
• How many “venues” should we have (different levels for different groups?)
• Our budget per venue
• What added values would benefit us
• Approval process
• Booking process

Send Gray Dawes Events your previous meetings report and the findings from your team. We can then assist with the following:

• Contacting your preferred venues to negotiate discounted rates;
• Ensuring you have the correct layout, a/v, catering and other “regular” requirements without having to check each time;
• Making sure you have guaranteed extras and benefits;
• Negotiating flexible cancellation policies;
• Drafting your SMM Policy;
• Providing you and your team with a branded meetings request webpage, allowing you to log in, have a list of your preferred venues, and send us your meeting requests quickly and easily;
• Providing you with regular reports on venues booked, cost savings, added value so you can see where you’re saving money (and time);
• Make you look super efficient!