SBC staff members are always in search of a solution to clients’ problems so that expectations are exceeded. Case in point, Acura requested that a specific hotel host their meeting in the Washington D.C. area.
This meeting was to take place over a three day period. After gaining an understanding of what their vision was, SBC contacted the hotel immediately to inquire about booking. The hotel had availability; however, their quote came in at 91% over budget. With our team’s meeting planning experience and excellent communication skills they quickly determined negotiation was an option. The hotel sales representative was unwilling to budge.
Next we contacted Acura to inquire about other acceptable locations surrounding the D.C. area to determine which hotels may work for their location needs and budget. Acura responded with, “That location is one of the best for our folks attending the training. Please remember this is Washington, D.C. and prices are going to be high, especially in an election year! We want to offer our sales people a concierge experience, not a low-end one.” It was clear that the local Acura office sought a high-end experience knowing the cost was above budget; however, SBC knew we had to stay within the National Office’s budget.
Through our experience of having hosted many events within the D.C. area we were able to find availability and a venue that was comparable to Acura’s original request. After negotiation SBC was able to reduce the new hotel’s original proposal by 20% and ultimately offer Acura a location for 11% under budget, meeting all of their expectations.
In 2005, we were approached by an international Fortune 500 company to assist them in the administration of their training events all over the United States. Having successfully produced our own events in the United States and all over the Americas we agreed.
The first step in working with this international Fortune 500 Company was understanding their vision and helping them develop that vision. We developed an understanding of their vision by listening to their wants, needs, goals, and expressing some of our experience in managing events. This was critical for our success in producing flawless business events for them. Planning for 300 events and up to 900 days of training over a 365-day year requires a lot of precision as well as staying constantly focused on their vision, “Perfect Seminars”, and our promise of Zero Defects when working through this first step.
To ensure that each event was planned with detailed care from registration to the finalized bill we developed an algorithm to establish a consistent process that would minimize any errors through every step of planning and execution of their events. Our next step was to build a detailed schedule based on their own needs analysis, regional needs, and available training facilitators through the use of our scheduling process. This master schedule is used for the allocation of each seminar, which allows us to communicate with the managers in specific cities, and work with them to choose a venue that will work well for each attendee that is enrolled in the course.
Working off such a detailed schedule gives this client’s management the opportunity to make changes that work well for them, and allows us to adapt accordingly. For instance, four seminars needed to be rescheduled in a one-week period. Within that week, SBC was able to communicate with all regional managers and participants of the changes, research specific venues, give the managers a variety of options to rebook the location of the seminar, formalize a cost analysis of all venues, and communicate to all managers the rescheduled and confirmed information for each seminar. Plus we were also able to determine inventory estimates for supplies that included workbooks, forms, gifts, and the proper allocation of audio visual equipment.
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