Entrusting your corporate event to the expertise of a corporate event planning company is a big deal. You and your marketing team may have a crystal-clear vision of what you want your event to achieve, but if your chosen supplier isn’t able to pull it off, you’re the one who’ll be left picking up the pieces.
Corporate event planning companies are a dime a dozen. But the ones who’re worth their salt are few and far between, which makes finding the perfect fit something of a gamble. To help you choose one who can do your brand and event justice, we suggest you ask any prospective company the following questions:
“Who have you worked for before?”
The calibre of clients a corporate event planning company has worked with is extremely telling. We suggest you identify the answer to this question before you ask for a meet up – any reputable company will have a list of past and current clients available online. But don’t just take their word for it – go one step further and contact past clients to get a no-holds barred account of what their experience was really like.
“How would you handle [insert brand-related event disaster scenario here]?”
It’s easy to wax lyrical about accomplishments and capabilities, but the true test of a corporate event planning company’s ability is the way they deal with a crisis. Ask them how they would handle a hypothetical scenario, such as a keynote speaker cancelling at the last minute, or a power outage. Then, ask them to walk you through an actual near-miss that they successfully navigated. (A word of warning: any event planning company who says that they’ve never dealt with a crisis should be avoided with a ten foot pole. Unless they’re Father Christmas, everyone deals with a roadblock or two at some point.)
“In a sentence, tell me what my brand stands for?”
An event company’s ability to conceptualise and orchestrate a corporate event that’s perfectly representative of your brand lies in their depth of understanding of who you are. Any creditable company should have a knack for getting to grips with the essence of the brands they work with. They should be so well versed in your brand’s personality and reputation that their answer should sound as if it’s coming from someone who actually works for your brand.
“In a sentence, tell me who my guests are?”
If your event isn’t tailored to your guests, your efforts are for nought. As such, your prospective event planning company needs to be clued up on who your guests are and what they expect from an event. What’s more, they should be able to demonstrate how they plan on engaging these guests from the moment they receive their Save the date.
“What’s the most important aspect of an event?”
The million dollar question! Some corporate event planning companies will answer with various versions of creative execution, a show-stopping venue, or a renowned guest speaker. While all of these elements work together to form an impressive event, they’re far from the crux of the matter. The right answer? Attendee engagement. Engaged guests are your ticket to achieving your event’s objectives – whatever these may be. If an event is boring or irrelevant to the people in attendance, all other aspects are moot.
We’ve worked with leading local and international brands to create events that elevate their brands to new heights. See who we’ve worked with here, and get in touch with us to find out what we can do for your brand.
