PROVE THE VALUE OF EVENT HOUSING
How to convince those who just don’t get it
How to convince those who just don’t get it
Event Housing can add a ton of value to your organization. Whether you’re an event holder, event planner, convention services manager at a CVB, or a tournament director, hotel accommodation management is a valuable service.
Event housing:
If you are a housing manager you already know this, but sometimes you need help convincing others if they just don’t get it.
At Meetingmax, we often work with our clients to help them prove the value they bring to the table as housing managers. Many organizations traditionally see event housing management as a cost, even when they are receiving rebates and/or commissions from their room blocks. Our team recently put together a session at the Unconvention to help change that narrative and here are the key takeaways;
Traditionally organizations we have worked with, particularly Convention & Visitor Bureaus, offer housing services as a ‘value add’ to their planners or partners. It’s becoming more common for organizations to understand that the revenue generated through room block management can be used to offset costs across other functions of their organization. We have seen an increase in clients beginning to charge service fees, room deposits, and penalties through their housing technology and their bottom line is reaping those benefits.
We created a basic revenue calculator for our clients to highlight the financial impact their work can have on their business. This revenue calculator tallies the four most common event housing revenue streams:
Access the tool below to input your event information (room nights, reservations, average hotel rates, expected cancellations), and play out various A/B scenarios to see what makes the most cents (get it?) for your events. Adding a nominal service fee could generate thousands more in revenue to offset costs or bring in profit.
Once you are able to articulate the value room block management can bring from a financial side, you can start looking at how a tool like Meetingmax can add further value to your stakeholders. Create a list of all stakeholders including attendees, your direct team, your organization, the event holder, and your hotel partners and list out which features positively impact them. Functionality such as that listed below allows you to enhance the housing process for everyone:
Finally, when communicating the value of event housing to your stakeholders it’s important to know and understand their priorities in order to play to your audience. When speaking with your CFO, lead with financials. When speaking with your CEO lead with time-saving features such as scheduled reports and automatic notifications on block pick up. When speaking with those in charge of customer experience (Director of Convention Services or Event Engagement Managers) focus on housing software features which improve this. Having clarity on these priorities will help you to communicate in such a way that the stakeholder will truly receive the information.
In order to prove the value of event housing to various stakeholders you must first recognize and believe the value yourself. Next, learn how to communicate that value to the right people in a way that speaks to their priorities. At Meetingmax, we understand how valuable housing managers are and hopefully with the information above others will see it clearly too!