5 Tips to Identify and Nurture a Trusted Service Provider
It can be heart-breaking when you have attended to every last detail of your big event and at the eleventh hour a supplier lets you down! You are experienced at your job and will no doubt have formed a plan B fairly quickly but who needs it?
Event organisers have so many plates to juggle, from catering and décor, to transportation and entertainment. Endless meetings, supplier negotiations – it is not a job for the faint-hearted.
As the Event Organiser for your company, a big part of your job will be seeking out trusted service providers who won’t let you down on the big event! But how can you be sure you’ve made the right choice?
Finding a trusted supplier can be hard but it can save you a lot of stress in the long run and build on your own service credibility. We thought we would share some valuable pointers to help with that decision making process.
1. Reputation is important
We are not suggesting that new companies might not be perfect client partners but there is always a high risk involved. Take time to check out your chosen supplier’s credentials and speak to their customers. Be upfront and ask for some of their client contacts, a company who is proud of their service will be willing to share.
2. End to end quality audits are key
Cost is always going to be a big factor, regardless of your budget but you need to do a thorough quality audit with your supplier to check they can deliver what they say. In addition you should do a review of the service afterwards with your supplier, on the strict understanding you are both striving for continual improvement. These might seem time consuming in some instances but if you want to build a long term relationship with a trusted supplier, they are imperative. A trusted supplier will want to continue on the journey with you and will welcome feedback and be prepared to listen to you. Remember this is a reciprocal arrangement, so you too need to be prepared to listen to feedback.
3. ‘Win- win’ partnerships not ‘win-lose’
Of course we always have one eye on our bottom line but so do your suppliers! You might walk out of a meeting feeling you have just negotiated a deal your boss would be proud of but have you squeezed your supplier too far? A trusted supplier has to be a partnership that works on mutual trust – a ‘win-win’ partnership, rather than a ‘win-lose’. If your suppliers are squeezed too far, they may well fall short on quality and long term, you may well foster a poor supplier relationship. We only have to look at the ongoing dispute between farmers and Supermarkets. A supplier relationship built on mutual trust and respect will always be the one that works best for your business.
4. Contingency plans
A good supplier, will be as responsive to crisis management as you are. In the event of something going disastrously wrong, you need them firstly to be prepared to go on that journey with you and secondly, be able to demonstrate they have their own contingency plans in place. Hearing “sorry, our catering team have all gone down with the flu and we cannot deliver” is your worst nightmare.
5. Communicate and share
Get your chosen supplier on board early. Give them time to prepare and plan for your event so that they can deliver the best possible service to you. This might seem an obvious point but once you have found a supplier you can trust, it is all too easy to move them down your planning list. Worst still is not communicating any changes to the agreed schedule. Your supplier may be having to incorporate things such as training of new staff or the purchase of equipment, so it is important you keep them in the loop.
AO Events – Trusted Entertainment Specialists
Our business is built on years of knowledge, experience and delivering a first class service to our customers but we understand that you may not necessarily know that. We thought we would take this opportunity to show you that we are fully aware of and compliant with the rules you have to adhere to, to ensure the safety and comfort of your guests.
Our venues are our partners, as we both have to work with the same client, who wants their event to be perfect in every way. We understand therefore, how important it is to collaborate with the venue providers and develop a truly good working partnership. We appreciate, that like yourselves, even though we want to do everything possible to keep our clients happy, we sometimes have to steer them into more workable solutions and our knowledge and experience of working with hotels is valuable in this regard. From masked balls to silent discos our scope of service and experience in this field is vast.
Working with electrical equipment is especially important and we understand that top priority for you has to be Public Liability Insurance as well as fully PAT certified equipment and thorough risk assessments to accompany our sets. In addition, we care about our own trusted service providers as much as you do, as we depend on the reliability on our own equipment.
With venues ranging from rural estates such as Sandhole Oak Barn in Congleton to the Midland Hotel in Manchester, we have serviced the parties and celebrations of literally thousands of guests and much of our business is repeat which tells a story in itself. We are also regular suppliers to De Vere’s Cranage Estate.
AO Events offers the full range of services from experienced DJs to mood lighting and LED or 3D Infinity dance floors! Our mission is Provide, Prepare and Deliver and that is front of mind when we work with our service partners.
Please have a look at our website to see the full range of services we offer to support your Event Planning schedule.