We could not agree more with Shawna Suckow, CMP. Her blog post Take the new RFPsmart Pledge hits the nail on the head and urges meeting planners & suppliers to return to a simpler time and be thorough & thoughtful when requesting proposals for conferences & events.
The stats are staggering! 83% of today’s Request for Proposals (RFP) give suppliers 48 hours or less to respond but planners are frustrated because they aren’t receiving fully customized, creative proposals. Five years ago, the average deadline was two weeks, and in that time staffing has stayed the same.
In our business it’s easy to be all about rates and dates, but frankly working in that paradigm is not looking out for the best interest of our clients. Here at the Inn, it’s important to us that our sales managers understand all of our clients’ needs and craft a customized proposal, fine tuned to their individual needs and the goals of their program. Once we have established these important factors, we can blend in our expert knowledge and creativity to carve out a game plan that suits the clients needs to a tee.
So we say, let’s stop the madness.
We took the pledge! Will you?