Evaluating Strategic Measleys - A Tool for Success

Transcription

1 Performing Better Meetings Intelligence with Strategic Meetings Management The Tools for Success Introduction Strategic meetings management has taken on new meaning in today s hypersensitive corporate spending environment. With headlines zeroing in on questionable junkets by a small minority of senior executives within the beleaguered financial services industry, the public outcry over perceived management abuse by poor-performing companies has cast a dark cloud over the entire corporate incentives industry. By extension, increased scrutiny is being placed on virtually all types of business meetings, corporate events and so-called non-mission critical activities and related travel. This widespread perception has significant implications on the roles and responsibilities of meetings and events planning professionals, both inside the corporate enterprise and throughout the independent meetings/event planner and corporate travel agency industries. As program cutbacks and personnel reductions take center stage in responding to stalled revenue streams and plunging profits, internal planners and outside agencies alike are faced with growing demand for cutting costs. At the same time, these, already-strapped meetings and travel professionals are being charged with delivering a higher level of value-added services and measurable returns on new investments of limited corporate resources. This white paper focuses on the current state of the strategic meetings management software marketplace, and identifies how the comprehensive, proven products and services available to today s meetings, events and travel planners provide real-world solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the industry. In addition, this overview provides a blueprint for evaluating effective strategic meetings management tools how to assess and select the most full-featured yet efficient software solutions available for meeting specific corporate and independent agency planning needs. Finally, this paper provides insight and ideas that go beyond a simple description of the features and benefits of the technologies themselves, offering a more comprehensive view that includes critical implementation considerations and the role of consulting services in meeting the challenges of today s meeting management environment.

2 The SMM Market Strategic meetings management (SMM) is an emerging industry that integrates a growing number of related sub-categories within the corporate events, travel, hospitality and business intelligence tools industries into the overall meetings management process. The key components of today s integrated SMM systems fall into three primary categories: Registration Management The decision to hold a meeting or event and the process of managing invitations, registration and related attendee activities is the first place that most companies start in bringing SMM into the enterprise. It is also the first point of entry into capturing the information that will enable attendees to learn about the purpose of the meeting or event, investigate the opportunities presented by participating, and quickly and easily register to attend. Registration websites provide front-line value in helping planners manage event promotion and attendee registration processes, offering attendees a single source for all relevant data involved, including dates, locations, travel and hotel accommodations, etc. These websites also provide a structured format for meeting planners to gather all of the information they need to manage the meeting, including headcount of attendees, required meeting space, hotel room blocks, ground travel, meals and entertainment, etc. This data becomes a critical component in future efforts to control costs, assess return on investment and cost-effectively plan future events. Travel Management Another key factor in considering SMM is the role that travel plays in the cost-effective management of meetings and events, and the variety of tools and methodologies that today s planners have at their disposal to manage corporate travel. Pre-negotiated agreements with airlines and hotels, preferred vendors for employee travel and hospitality expenses, company credit cards and other payment card systems provide tools that enable corporations and independent agencies to capture valuable information, control out of pocket expenses and ensure compliance with corporate travel policies. A number of SMM tools enable meeting planners and travel planners alike to leverage the visibility and data collected through Global Distribution System (GDS) and Personal Name Record (PNR) booking tools. Today s SMM systems allow planners to integrate event registration and travel management into a single system, enabling them to better manage corporate policy compliance, logistics, communications and enterprise-wide reporting requirements. Advanced SMM systems can even enable planners to automatically generate arrival and departure manifests for attendees by drawing real-time data directly from PNR-based travel bookings and matching this information with data drawn from online registration systems.

3 Spend Analysis and Management The ultimate goal of SMM systems is to provide increased visibility and control to the corporate meetings management process, and to extend this visibility, oversight and control across the entire corporate enterprise. Spend analysis tools take the initial benefits of registration and travel management to a new level, bringing SMM to the same status enjoyed by more mature technologies such as ERP, CRM and supply chain management. Spend analysis combines policies and procedures with best practices methodologies and advanced technologies to provide comprehensive analysis and management of overall meetings spend. Based on internal rules that take into account each step in the meeting planning processes from initial budgeting, site selection and vendor authorization to attendee notifications, business unit allocations and step-by-step cost monitoring spend analysis tools manage all of the data collected utilizing a dashboard that monitors each stage of the meeting request, approval and spend process. These tools enable users across the enterprise to drill down into every detail of information needed to ensure compliance with policies, maximize cost-efficiencies and ensure effective meetings management. Key Factors for Success The logical place to start is with the technology itself, and there are a number of key factors that come into play when looking to incorporate SMM software tools into either a corporate enterprise or independent agency environment. Among the most important of these include: Feature Set The first consideration when evaluating SMM software tools is the breadth and depth of products and services provided. Is the solution robust enough to tackle the size of the problems or inefficiencies you face? Does it handle all of your company s or agency s planning needs, or will you have to combine products and/or services from multiple vendors? Does the solution integrate easily with existing software systems and established service providers with minimal up-front implementation cost? Ease-of-Use Even the most powerful, feature-rich technologies are of limited use if the capabilities they promise are difficult to deploy or take too long to learn. Are the tools intuitively designed to allow quick and easy adoption by a wide range of meetings professionals? Do the customerfacing features, instructions and data entry functions facilitate rather than complicate the registration and information capture and analysis processes?

4 Flexibility How flexible are the features and functionality of the tools in conforming to the needs of users? What are the internal systems requirements for adopting these software tools? Are the various solutions available as standalone products or must the entire package be adopted en masse? Do they provide a measured roll-out strategy that allows adoption of incremental benefits as additional product modules are incorporated? Is there seamless integration with major online booking tools and other managed services? Clearly Identified Costs Cost of adoption and use is a critical consideration in selecting an SMM strategy. How are the specific SMM products and services paid for -- on a per-user, per-event or per-transaction basis? Do license fees enable unlimited usage and fix-cost budget visibility, or are there hidden fees or other ongoing charges that limit the ability to control costs? And what are the cost of market-making and brokering mark-ups imposed by pre-arranged destination booking and hospitality services arrangements offered by certain SMM vendors? Beyond Features and Functionality Answering these questions represents an important first step in narrowing down the options available to meetings and travel planners in evaluating the various approaches to SMM. However, as important as they are, features and functionality are not the only considerations to address in selecting an SMM solutions provider. Companies looking to adopt SMM also need to take into account the significant changes in policy, operations and management required to reap the benefits of SMM software tools and methodologies. These changes are not trivial, and oftentimes, companies need the expertise and hands-on experience of a solutions provider who has been there before. Change Management The deeper a company delves into the task of instituting an SMM program, the clearer it becomes that the process of adopting an enterprise-wide SMM solution is not a simple, out-ofthe-box endeavor. As with any collective lifecycle process, SMM goes well beyond simply managing any single meeting or event more strategically it requires a methodically planned, programmatic approach. To be successful, an effective SMM program begins by investigating literally every aspect of meetings spend. Companies need to know what they are spending on meetings and events, where that spending comes from, how the various costs are accumulated, what steps are involved in the numerous approval cycles, etc. This first step is primarily a data collection

5 process, and companies need to identify and collect as much meetings- and event-related data as possible. The question is which data needs to be collected and how? Leveraging Best Practices While difficult, the answer to this critical question can be found in the best practices and proven methodologies developed and utilized by the early adopters of SMM and the technology providers who have helped them implement innovative solutions to meet their needs. These best practices recognize that, despite the widely dispersed repositories of meetings spend throughout the corporate enterprise, there are basic components and sub-processes common to all meetings and events. Identifying and tapping into these key components and processes is a crucial first phase of the SMM program development process. Without the visibility this data collection step provides, it is virtually impossible to institute the specific plans and enterprise-wide controls that deliver on the promise of SMM. Getting Started The process of instituting a comprehensive SMM strategy entails an up-front assessment and identification of internal and external processes an assessment that necessarily requires both internal familiarity with company-specific processes and guidelines as well as outside expertise in industry best practices, methodologies and tools. Few companies possess both sets of capabilities. That s where the industry-specific experience and technological expertise of a seasoned SMM solutions provider comes in. As is the case in the maturation and adoption of any new technology, it is critical that customers and solutions providers work hand-in-hand to identify individual company needs and refine internal processes and to help create them in cases where they don t exist. As the SMM development process evolves into an integrated component of the enterprise-wide operational environment, this close cooperation both in terms of the service provider relationship and in joint development of new products and services becomes a key factor in generating a high return on investment for everyone involved. Conclusion Adopting a strategic meetings management approach that leverages advanced technologies and services is critical to meeting growing corporate requirements for transparency, accountability and financial control of meetings and related travel spending. While technologies, tools and services are key, they aren t much use without the internal processes and external expertise required to implement and support these new processes, tools and functions. More importantly, corporations and agencies looking to incorporate a comprehensive SMM program need to pay close attention to the industry-specific expertise and implementation experience of the SMM

6 solutions vendor they select. The quality of these capabilities may turn out to be the most crucial consideration of all.