Strategies to Get Your Meeting RFP Top Priority Attention

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. February 20, 2012

Bharet Malhotra

By Bharet Malhotra, Vice President of Sales, Cvent

Warning: RFP overload. Do you feel like your email inbox should have this warning label? It's okay to admit it; you're becoming overwhelmed with RFPs. Group business has in many ways become a commodity. Relationships with planners have seemingly devolved into a bidding war for business. Planners are given shorter lead times from their clients and need responses fast, often jamming out RFPs in order to ensure they get at least one bid quickly.

It's no secret that there are changing trends in the sourcing industry. Meeting professionals expect more value and their clients are demanding higher cost of savings for each event that they conduct. As hoteliers we must be prepared to find ways to quickly and efficiently score and prioritize RFPs. The reality is that the current state of affairs is unsustainable. We need to work together with meeting planners so that the lifecycle of every meeting, from RFP to close of the event, is a win-win for both the property and the planner.

On March 1, 2012 Cvent will be bringing together some of the brightest corporate meeting planners and senior executives from several of the world's top hotel chains to discuss the very topic of RFPs. Cvent will be hosting this free, live videocast on “Strategies to Get Your Meeting RFP Top Priority Attention.” Our featured panel of executives will include:

• Michael Domingues, CHSE, Vice President of Global Sales | Loews Hotels and Resorts

• Eric Mannino - Executive Director, Sales Lead Generation | The Gaylord Entertainment Company

• Gail Wargo - Vice President, Sales - Global Accounts | Marriott International

• Moderator: Dave Lutz, Managing Director | Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

The expert panel will be discussing changing trends in meeting sourcing as well as how hotels are adapting to increased RFPs and shorter lead times from planners. We will be giving planners an inside look into what exactly happens when they send out that RFP and why doing due diligence on the property and determining whether or not that property is truly a fit for the meeting before sending the RFP is critical.

This videocast will be broadcasted live from the Corporate Meetings Summit presented by Cvent where attendees include top corporate meeting planners from Fortune 500 and leading meeting management companies. Questions from our live audience are bound to spark some interesting discussion. Have your own questions? We'll be taking Q & A live from our virtual audience as well via Twitter using the hashtag #BestRFP.

Hope you can join us for this exciting panel discussion. We're looking forward to a constructive conversation that ends in a win-win for both hoteliers and meeting professionals.

Sign-up for this free videocast with Cvent on March 1, 2012

STRATEGIES TO GET YOUR MEETING RFP TOP PRIORITY ATTENTION.