I have just spent the last few hours reviewing 21 venue proposals for a meeting in Africa early next year, for 60 people! Here are my findings;
- 5 venues did not supply floor plans for their meeting space (I cannot stress how important they are, they are literally the first thing I look for)
- 4 venues created a proposal for me with 3-4 meeting rooms on offer. I requested a minimum of 6 meeting rooms, so I had to immediately decline these venues. It would save my time and theirs if these venues declined my RFP straight away
- 1 venue proposed a plenary that holds 32pax in cabaret (I need a plenary that holds 60pax in cabaret)
- 2 venues sent me proposals without any room assignments or meeting room names given, I am going to ask for these immediately so please take the time to input them!
- 1 venue answered "NA" to all of the questions I asked
Now I am down to 8 venues. From my first review it looks like 5 of these venues will work for our event and I will continue to review them in detail tomorrow.
Hotels / venues - we massively appreciate the time you put in to sending us proposals, and we understand that you would love the chance to host our meetings, however if you are not a good fit for the event, it's okay to say so and decline the RFP. It won't stop us reaching out in the future!
Wedding Industry Expert / Speaker & Webinar Host / UK & Ireland Sales Manager
4moCouples are getting more and more savvy to getting better deals for "off-peak" days. I got married on a Thursday 8 years ago for this exact reason! Our venue was the same - extra £10k just for the weekends 😖