Your meeting planner should be able to handle everything about your meeting from beginning to end—but before they start the planning process, it’s your job to fill them in on who you are and what you do. It’s vital that your company and your meeting planner are on the same page throughout the process—both to make the planning go as smoothly as possible, and to plan a flawless event. Here are four things a meeting planner needs to know about your business in order to plan your perfect meeting:
- Your company’s values and personality
Outside of basic meeting logistics, your business’s values and personality are some of the most important things you can convey to your meeting planner. Your brand’s values and personality inform how and why you do what you do every day—they set you apart from other companies like yours. In order to get to know you, your meeting planner needs to know what drives you and makes you different.
Therefore, your values and personality should inform your meeting planner’s work as well; after all, they are planning a meeting that comes from you and your brand, and the guest experience between your company and the event should be seamless.
- Your goals—for your company and your meeting
Whether they’re concrete and detailed or vague and idea-bound, communicating your goals with your meeting planner will help you to be on the same page from beginning to end of the planning process.
It’s important to share both goals for your meeting and for your company as a whole. Your goals for your business drive you forward daily. Sharing them with your meeting planner will not only help him or her to know you better, it’s a great way to communicate big-picture purpose as you work together. And, not only will knowing your business’s goals help you and your meeting planner work well together, it also helps inform your meeting planner’s big decisions and even the little details: the venue, look and feel, and more.
Sharing goals for your meeting is also vital to making sure everything runs smoothly, ensuring that you and your planner stay on the same page and that the meeting achieves what you want it to achieve. Keeping your objectives in mind will help your meeting planner cultivate the atmosphere you want to make sure it achieves your goals.
- Your capacity to be part of the process
If you’re throwing an event, you’re probably busy—but every client is different in how involved they are able to be and want to be. Your meeting planner should be more than capable of putting everything together for the meeting, but if you want to be a big part of the planning process, that shouldn’t be a problem either. However, they do need to know how much you’re willing and able to be involved, both during planning and on the day of your event.
We suggest that you set up systems of communication and approval, if needed, to make sure communication runs as smoothly as possible. If you want to be a part of decisions, make sure your planner knows at the beginning of the process.
- Your guests and target audience
While it’s important for your meeting planner to be in touch with your values, personality, and goals, it’s often not enough to make sure your meeting goes perfectly. They also need to know about your guests, how you want them to feel, and what you want them to do.
Think through the following questions before meeting with your event planner. What is your relationship to your guests? Is it an internal meeting, or are you getting to know future partners or clients, or is it a sales meeting? If you’re trying to sell things, who’s your target audience or persona? Make sure your meeting planner knows what you know and thinks what you think when it comes to guests.
If you have any questions or would like to speak with an expert about your next event, please reach out to us today.