No contradiction: personal consultation vs. online event tool

Hardly any other industry is as emotional as the event industry. From the customer's point of view, every event is always something very special. Many event managers in hotels and venues therefore insist on having to be the personal contact for interested parties in every phase. Quite a few even see this as a unique selling point that sets them apart from other providers.

Does the use of digital MICE tools really contradict the demand for personal support? Or, conversely, does it even make sense to make use of digitization in order to increase the quality of consulting in event planning?

The event industry is very much characterized by personal care and service. But how good can this service actually be in reality? According to Manager Magazin, the 5th most stressful job in 2016 goes to event managers.

The reasons for this are certainly manifold: high time pressure, short lead times and the ever-increasing impatience on the part of event planners and requesting companies. Only in the best case scenario does the event manager have enough time to provide customers with optimal personal support from the quote phase through to the execution of an event. They simply don't have enough time.

The mass of event inquiries that are being sent to more and more providers at the same time exacerbates the problem. The same quotes are sent out over and over again, and errors creep into the manual processes.

Automation not only makes processes more efficient, it also takes over the thinking - regardless of how many processes have to be handled in parallel. What do we want to sell more of? When are certain modules available at all? Which factors flow into the price calculation? What discount has been agreed? Correct answers are only provided by machines at the push of a button. One click and all rules are followed, hundreds of individual prices are calculated correctly.

Many suppliers in the MICE industry are convinced that they are always available and responsive to event planners. In ever more hectic times, this subjective impression may also impose itself. But do claims and reality diverge a little here?

Often no one answers the phone, inquiries are answered only superficially. Qualified sales processes - non-existent. 

Customers don't really care how full a supplier's desk is at the moment of an inquiry. Whether the day-to-day business of a hotel is currently keeping the staff fully occupied or a location is struggling with sick leave in the team. Professional, personal consulting remains only a pretense if a prospective customer repeatedly does not get a competent contact person on the phone or emails are read only superficially.

Customers are more transient than ever - and quickly march on to the next provider.

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