The Benefits of Consolidation in Meetings Management

The adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is a platitude that applies in many business and personal situations. Whether it’s financial investing or applying to secondary school, relying on a singular option can often lead to added challenges and/or unwanted outcomes.

However, there are times and situations where consolidation in strategic meetings management makes absolute sense. Take for instance when an organization is looking to get visibility into its meeting spend, reduce risk or maximize savings – using a single supplier is often the best approach. In this scenario, think of your meetings as the eggs, and your meetings management partner as the basket.

Why go with one meetings management partner?

It makes sense to manage all of your meetings with one partner when you are seeking the following outcomes:

• • Easy access to full visibility of spend, savings, transfers of value or other metrics that matter to your organization
  • Single point of accountability in the form of an account manager who oversees a team of trusted advisors
  • A consistent strategy and uniform ways of working. Your team will live and breathe your goals while maintaining operational excellence
  • Reduced reporting lines for more agile decision making
  • One channel for supplier management
  • Reduced internal head count = reduced cost
  • Broad expertise within one outsource supplier

• Scalability of resources
• Efficiency – greater knowledge of your program and stakeholders allows for greater productivity and solutions based on experience
• Consolidated measurable SLA – clearly defined success metrics reported and discussed at regular intervals

Consider Lead Agency as an Alternative

Consolidation is something that requires time, stakeholder buy in, focus and realistic goal setting. Depending on the size of your organization, consolidation may take a few steps to be accomplished. In those cases, we often recommend our clients consider using a Lead Agency approach. Think of Lead Agency as an alternative to when you can’t quite put all your eggs in one basket yet because your organization is large and change management will be extensive or because your meetings management program is still in its development phase.

With this concept, the lead agency can be responsible for venue sourcing in the beginning of the program and reconciliation with consolidated reporting at the conclusion. Either a local agency or the lead agency performs the logistical services. This model works well for any industry and is incredibly beneficial for life sciences organizations who require uniform transparency reporting.

Whether you’re looking to garner visibility to spend and savings, or need better transparency reporting, it may be time to put all your proverbial eggs in one basket.

Learn more about Meetings Management at BCD Meetings & Events.