If you’re about to organize an event, the above question might be one of the first things you type into Google. While the question is obvious and simple, the answer is not. Here’s some help on how to choose the right event planning company.
First and foremost, let’s be clear on this: there is no one event management company that is the best at everything, for everyone. Let’s take a simple example that may have happened to you.
Two girl friends go shopping. Their feet are the same size, and in the store they both like the same casual shoes. They both fall in love with them at first sight, thinking they are the best choice. They try them on, and while one fits perfectly, the other’s foot is a little tight at the toes. The heel doesn’t fit exactly either, and after just a few steps, her foot starts to feel uncomfortable. But she still likes the shoes, and sometimes ‘beauty is a price you have to pay’, she thinks. She checks in the mirror to see if it fits her feet. Lovely, lovely, but still far from perfect. And she’s about to go on a hike in the mountains with her colleagues. Maybe she needs a comfortable, durable hiking shoe more than anything else? Especially since she’s had to throw out the old ones. On top of all this, she and her husband are also saving money as they plan to buy a bigger family car. In the end, one buys the casual shoes, the other looks for a pair of hiking boots, and they both go home happy. How much do we weigh up in our everyday shopping to make the best decision? At first glance, many things seem perfect, but getting our shopping criteria right can override everything.
It’s no different when it comes to choosing an event management company.
Before you start organising an important corporate event, follow the questions below. The more you have the answers to, the less likely you are to be disappointed.
1. Should I have an event?
To answer this question, you need to look within your company. Do you have many new employees and would you like to facilitate their integration? Has the past year been difficult and busy, no time to strengthen team unity and do you feel your employees are a bit disconnected? Has it been a long Covid period, and with a year-long home office your employees hardly know each other, or even you? Are you launching a new product or service and want to effectively introduce it to your best customers? Are you opening a new business or plant and want the market to know about it through the press? The end of the year is approaching and you don’t know how to thank your employees for their hard work?
If the answer to all of the above questions is NO, you may still need an event. You can read more about this here.
2. I’ll do it in-house. Are you sure?
The first question you might ask is whether to have it organised in-house by an employee or to find a professional from a list of the best event management companies in Budapest. If you are organising a company lunch for 5 people at a restaurant next door, or you need to buy company gifts for the employees of the month and you have the capacity to do it, why not decide not to outsource it. It’s cheaper, and probably even quicker, to delegate the task to an enthusiastic employee.
Why you shouldn’t try to solve more complex and complicated tasks in-house is explained in this article.
3. Which is the best event management company?
Our short answer: the one you need to solve a specific challenge within your company. Okay, but out of all the event management companies out there, how do you choose the right one?
Answering the questions below can help you find the right one:
You don’t necessarily need to know the answer to this question. It’s enough to know what the issue is that you want to solve to improve your business and increase your revenue. If you don’t even know who to look to for help, it’s OK. If you’ve got this far, it’s half the battle, because most people don’t even know they need help. If you can tell them what your concern is, a good event organizer will know what event to organize to solve it. Those who can’t answer your question, you don’t have to deal with. The options have already narrowed down considerably.
There are some types of events that are organized and run by specialized companies. These include concert organizers, sports event organizers, PR event organizers and team building companies. For example, if you are organizing a programme lasting a few hours, where the aim is to get the team out of the corporate environment and get them moving, you should choose a team-building company. But if you’re thinking of a whole event, or even a more complex event over several days, of which the team-building programme is only one part, and you also need accommodation, catering, other activities, performers, technical services, online streaming or decoration design, a better choice is an event management agency, which is good at avoiding potential pitfalls and providing these services in a minute-by-minute scenario to ensure a smooth event.
If you’re a late starter and time is tight, you may want to choose a smaller or medium-sized event management company. These companies tend to have the capacity to take on shorter organizational periods. Larger event planning agencies tend to carry out complex, complicated, high-budget assignments that take up most of their capacity. If you approach them, it is understandably easy for them to be less flexible and, even if they accept, they may not be able to do the job with the enthusiasm, effort and concentration you expect. But if you’re organizing one of the most important, creative events in your company’s life, you definitely need them.
Before you make up your mind, check the website of the company you have chosen. If you can’t find any references or testimonials, you have good reason to doubt your choice. To make sure, you can also ask the company for references you can check. If they have nothing to hide, they will be happy to assist you.
What are their work credentials?
This paragraph is somewhat in line with the references just mentioned. If you see that the event management company has reputable, well-known and trustworthy companies that are accepted by the general public, you can reasonably assume that the quality of its service is hard to fault.
However, it is worth looking on the website for case studies and event descriptions. It can help you make a decision if you can find textual information that shows how a company performs at events they organize. And if you still can’t decide, ask for the opportunity to visit one of their nearby events to make sure they’re not selling a pig in a poke.
How much do they charge?
This is always an important but difficult question. The basic assumption is that the cheapest event agency is certainly the worst and the most expensive is always overpriced. But that may not be the case. The pricing of event management companies can be influenced by several factors. Even though an unduly underpriced bid compared to other bids may be suspect, you never know what volume discounts a company may have on its own subcontractors and when it may apply them. Many people choose the happy medium, but it is also important to be aware that apples should only be compared with apples. We also advise you to rely on value for money when looking at prices. If you buy a quality service at a higher price, remember that you are not spending money, but investing. And you don’t want to buy at the lowest price, because you could end up paying several times more.
And what about the communication?
As essential as the above aspects may be, none of them can compare to the importance of the quality of communication. In the event planning industry, the most crucial elements of service excellence are personal connection and proactive communication.
Of all the aspects, this is the one that is worth any amount of money, because while each of the above factors is relevant individually, the connective tissue is communication after all.
Author: Krisztián
