‘Sorry but we’ve double booked’. This is a sure way to bring-on close to a cardiac arrest!
Discussions with the venue had started a long time ago which covered the possibility of potential clients for the venue. Included in the programme could be a site inspection as well as a list of the attendees email addresses for onward selling by the venue.
Invitations had been sent out not once, but several times. A good spread of registrations had been received and the presenters were lined-up.
So the sudden advisory of a double-booking sends flashes through the mind of despair and anger. The first knee-jerk reaction is to condemn the venue outright with the desire to tell the whole world of a less than satisfactory venue.
By back-tracking on the manner in which the agreement took place together with what was discussed and agreed may reduce this dismal situation in which there is a no-win outcome.
Venues that agree to comp their facilities – and at times catering as well – can find themselves in an invidious position especially if the requester is a regular client. Perhaps a few facts and figures on how MICE venues operate may be of benefit when seeking a complimentary venue.
Taking account of down-times, holiday-times, slow-times, the average venue operates on a 200 day year of actual profitable bookings. Venue management responsible for the functions have an annual budget to attain. Hence if a booking can be secured that cuts into a complimentary booking, the chances are great that the complimentary booking will go to the wall.
This is does not imply that the MICE venue should not be responsible for the manner in which agreement was reached in the first place. Venues must realise that reputation via word of mouth can be damning going forward hence the rules for a complimentary booking should be in place at the outset.
Those seeking a complimentary venue need to have all their ducks in a row as well in regard to the marketing the venue would receive due to pre-promotions. Also the venue’s brand and ongoing announcements of the venue and its facilities is equally important. The type of individuals attending should be advised together with the publicity and opportunities available on the day of the complimentary booking. In a nutshell the question needs to be asked at the outset – is the possible agreement of a complimentary venue being sold to the venue as a convincing opportunity.
A further aspect is the amount that will be spent on time and pre-promotion on behalf of the venue. It is prudent to bear in mind that it is illegal to hand-over email addresses of the attendees without their permission in the first place.
Professional handling by both parties will ensure complimentary venues will not readily renege with a double-booking reason.
