With number of event management companies springing up today, for every corporate organization availing the services of these agencies, the key question to answer is, ‘what is your key decision making factor while choosing as event management agency’.

Here are the parameters with pros and cons to serve as food for thought to key decision makers in organizations who are availing event management services:

1st Criteria: Cost

Pros: 

Lowest quote as a primary criterion for choosing an event agency is effective for smaller events where the requirements are basic like having a PA system, standees and a backdrop.

Cons: 

• Lowest quote is a trap that some decision makers fall into when it comes to critical events like Annual Day Events, Family Day Events, Product Launch events, Conferences, Dealer & Distributor meetings.
• No matter what is the size of the audience, these events deserve an engaging theme, effective communication strategies, top class entertainment ideas, timely & flawless fabrication, high quality production & finishing and proactive event flow management for ensuring the energy is high.
• Truth be told, some clients make the mistake of expecting a Rolls Royce performance at the cost of a budgeted segment car and fall into the trap of choosing an agency for such critical events just based on the cost proposal.

2nd Criteria : Brand

Pros: 

• When you work with an agency that has been around for over a decade and has built a name for itself in the market, you can be assured of the quality of the event.
• The event management industry sees 100’s of new agencies starting every single month but very few last.
• If someone has been around for over a decade, that is your insurance policy for the quality of your event because such an agency will deliver a high-quality event not just for satisfying you i.e. their customer but more so because their reputation is on the line.
• More often than not, the benchmark of the delivery standards of such an agency are higher internally for themselves as a team than the benchmarks a customer has in mind.
  

Cons: There are a couple of cons that a client could face while working with an established event management brand.

• Pricing definitely will be higher if you compare costs from an established brand to any other event agency. But again, quality comes at a price and like I have mentioned above, if price is primary for you, then that’s not the healthiest parameter when it comes to your crucial events.
• Also, one has to understand that large differences in pricing indicate the use of different quality of vendors. Most credible agencies, work with the set of ‘A’ category vendors and there may be marginal differences in the final quote based on internal project profit benchmarks.
• The second negative aspect from the clients point of view when you are working with a big brand in events is the fact that the brand may be big, but the experience, expertise and passion of the project manager from the agency assigned to your event actually determines the output and experience you have of the event. This is where I feel that owner driven event management companies who have been around for more than a decade and have homegrown project managers beat the bigger brand names in event management hands down because they provide that personal touch and are the ideal agency both from a quality and pricing point of view.

3rd Criteria : Design

Pros: 

• Today events are not just about production of sound & light and fabrication of stage and setup.
• Content and creatives have become equally, if not more important in events nowadays.
• Some agencies have mastered this art and showcase this to clients beautifully through creative presentations and walk-through videos.
• The pros of choosing an agency based on the pitch deck content, concept and creatives is that you are assured of the creative expertise of the agency and you know you are working with a partner who is not just a logistics provider to the event but an intelligence provider to your event.

Cons: 

• Sometimes what you see is not what you get.
• In the era of content creation today, just deciding upon an agency because they created a high-energy walk-through video with pumping up music at the time of selling you their idea is not really a holistic way of assessing the agencies capabilities.
• I have often heard clients complain that the event agency short-changed them by showing them the stars at the time of presentation but what they delivered in event execution was not even the dust.

So, with that I have given you the parameters on the basis of which you could choose your event agency for your next event along with pros and cons of each parameter.

You must be wondering I have not mentioned the parameter of Quality. The only reason for that is that ‘Quality’ is experienced only when you use an agency. ‘Quality’ is something that every agency would claim as their USP, but in reality “Quality” is not a USP, it is a base line expectation and if an agency does not deliver a quality event, then they don’t deserve to be in the industry.

The key as a client is to mix and mash the core points from each one of the above 3 parameters and evaluate the agencies pitching for your events in a holistic manner. When you objectively evaluate each criteria and competence of the agency, that’s when you identify the right partner who can deliver your events in a flawless manner at a fair price.

Tell us your thoughts on what is your primary criteria while selecting an event agency for your events. Challenge our points mentioned above with your views. We would be happy to take this creative discussion forward with you.

By DreamCraft Events & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.