It seems in the world of SMM that we tend to focus more on what we don't know rather than on what we do know. I believe it is important to be aware of our knowledge gaps, but at the same time, we know more that what we give ourselves credit for. If you are managing a meetings department, you know a lot about: - The capacity and strengths of your staff
- Meetings metrics: volume, costs, savings, attendees, Return on Investment (ROI)
- Cancelled contracts that can be re-used by other groups in your company
- Which hotels/hotel chains get the most utilization
- Who holds the meeting budgets
- Which business units spend the most/least on meetings
- Client preferences
- Power planners in the organization
- The current top 10 meeting destinations
- Good and bad supplier partners
If you are a supplier, such as a global sales manager for a hotel company or a third party meeting planner you know: - Details about your top clients (Almost as much about your client's company as they know)
- If an organization has a meeting policy you need to adhere to
- If there is any 3rd party sourcing company and/or technology in use by your clients
- Who your competition is
- Who the ultimate decision maker is
- When a strategic meetings management program is going to be rolled out by one of your clients
These bullet points are a small example of the wealth of know ledge that you have. So what do you do with all of this knowledge? Share it, communicate it, make business intelligence out of it, and drive enlightened business decisions with it! Provide dashboards, analysis, and strategic recommendations to stakeholders in your organization. This is how you convert knowledge to power, and how you remain visible and viable within your organization. What about things we don't know? For example, if you are on the corporate side, how do your clients feel about the meeting planning suppliers you have asked them to use? Are your clients really happy to use the suppliers you have in your meetings program, or do they feel as if they are being forced to use certain suppliers? What type of customer service do they provide? Are communications clear and updates frequent? Are the meeting attendees happy? How do you find out the answer to these questions? It's not too complex, you simply need to ask! Be thoughtful about how you ask. You don't want to ask questions that will lead people to a particular answer. You want to ask well balanced questions that will provide you the very specific data and insights that you are looking for. You may want to use an online tool such as zoomerang or survey monkey, or if you are currently using a meeting technology tool, there may be a survey component that you can employ. I have also seen companies go to an independent 3rd party to conduct live, unbiased interviews which result in comprehensive, in depth data. The benefit of a live conversation is that the person conducting the interviews can quickly identify areas of concern and is able to drill down into a particular issue real time. Once you open the door to feedback, follow through with a recap of the results. Be sure to follow up with those who participated in the survey. Thank them for their time, and let them know what changes are being made based on their feedback and recommendations. |
