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Keeping it SiMMPle logo

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                       Volume 16, September 20, 2011
In this issue:
P is for Powerful Procurement Partnerships
SiMMPle Tips
Did you know...

Greetings!

Welcome to Keeping it SiMMPle, a bi-monthly newsletter aimed at making and keeping your Strategic Meetings Management Program Practical, Light, and Effective. For Meeting Managers and Procurement Specialists, this newsletter will assist you in finding practical solutions and provide advice on actionable steps to gain visibility and control of your organization's meeting spend.  For Suppliers, you will gain insights into the issues that your clients face, and how you can support their SMM programs. In addition, Keeping it SiMMPle will highlight key industry trends and identify tips that will make your job easier.

Each issue of Keeping it SiMMPle addresses a component of the A to Z of SMM from a Practical, Light & Effective perspective. In this issue P is for Powerful Procurement Partnerships. 

In previous issues throughout the year, I have referenced the involvement Procurement Departments with the Meeting and Event Category of Spend. Thus I felt it important to devote an entire issue to the topic. Not too long ago many of us in the meetings department felt that Procurement was The Enemy, encroaching on our territory without a clue as to our world worked. Several years later, things have evolved, and I believe they have changed for the better! I believe they have changed for the better because everyone is seeking to understand. Procurement is seeking to understand the meetings business and meeting managers are seeking to understand the benefits of working with procurement.

 

I have found that the most successful marriages of meetings and procurement are when a Subject Matter Expert (SME) from the meeting or hotel side is brought into the procurement team, rather than a procurement professional moving into the space of meetings and events. I suspect that many of you reading this are part of a procurement department because of the purposeful design to bring SME's into procurement.

 

Procurement is not the enemy, but a very powerful partner to embrace for a number of reasons:

  1. Proven methodology that is accepted by senior leadership
  2. Sponsorship by senior leadership because of #1
  3. Rigor around Request for Proposal process
  4. Unbiased perspective with Supplier Relationship Management
  5. Ability to turn data into business intelligence for improved decision making

Another P word I use frequently is PROACTIVE! SMM leads, if you are not already working your procurement organization, I highly recommend that you proactively reach out to them before they reach out to you. Show them what you are doing; quantify the savings to the company because of the SMM program. Share your methodology; identify how you are reducing risk, demonstrate your holistic knowledge of the enterprise wide meeting and event spend.  

 

Also, don't assume the procurement team understands the terminology, the nuances, and the challenges of the meeting and event universe. Take time to educate them so they will understand. It is interesting to go through this exercise, as often you get unexpected feedback and helpful advice because someone is seeing your business through new eyes that can provide a fresh perspective and new ideas.

 

In the past I have mentioned that many of the best practices we have seen embedded within Strategic Meetings Management Programs were founded in the standard methodology of Procurement. Activities such as:

  • Stakeholder mapping and management
  • Opportunity analysis- the basis of the business case
  • Communication planning
  • Identification of Business Requirements - the have to have, not the nice to have
  • Development of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Managing the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) process, analysis and scoring

A final word on partnering with your procurement counterparts, they can be a very helpful advocate in moving your SMM forward. They are in the business of saving money and they already have the attention of the Chief Financial Officer. Leverage this awareness to your benefit.

 

I would be remiss if I did not approach this topic from the Procurement perspective! Procurement Directors, if you are just starting to work with the meetings and events team, be sure to reach out and seek to understand their world. You should consider Meeting Managers as your powerful partner as they can provide a wealth of information such as:

  1. In-depth knowledge of clients and stakeholders
  2. Details of volume, who are planning meetings, and the types of meetings 
  3. Understanding of business objectives for meetings and events
  4. Insight as to which suppliers are getting the busienss
  5. Ways to leverage spend
  6. Identification of  Return on Investment (ROI) drivers
Bottom line, for those organizations that have both a procurement department and a meetings department, it is a two way street. You can both benefit from the knowledge and strengths of each other. Take advantage of these synergies if you are not doing this already!

SiMMPle Tips:

Tip #1: SMM Leaders: Proactively reach out to Procurement if you are not already working with them

 

Tip #2: Understand each other's annual goals and objectives and how you can support each other


Tip #3: Suppliers: Be sure you understand the role of procurement in the buying process with your clients
 
Did you know...

Betsy is attending the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) European meeting "The 3rd Dimension" this week which is being held outside of Amsterdam, Netherlands.  

 

As an active member of the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), Mitchell Beer, CMM of The Conference Publishers Inc. recently became founding chair of the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Foundation. The Foundation funds education, training, research, and leadership development projects designed to mainstream sustainability practices across the global meetings industry.  

 

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Thursday temporarily extending federal aviation and highway programs, averting another shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

 


Warm regards,  

 

 

Sincerely,
Betsy Bondurant, CMM, CTE
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Contact Information:
[email protected]
phone: 619.701.7709

 

About Bondurant Consulting
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Bondurant Consulting provides the following services:  

  • Assessment of SMMP potential for your organization   
  • Development and implementation of SMMP for meeting & travel managers.
  • Training programs for hotel companies and 3rd party meeting planning agencies which increase their understanding of Strategic Meetings Management, resulting in more successful engagements with clients who are involved with SMMP.
  • Support for the RFP response process
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