Event Planning is often misinterpreted as an alluring career filled with parties, travel, and “fun” tasks (ever been to a menu tasting? Yum). Unfortunately, while we may wish that is what we did, those are actually the least important things we do as event planners - our real skills shine in our contract negotiation and relationship building tactics. We save thousands of dollars by knowing our event’s value and how to sell it to venues and vendors alike. While it may not be the most glamorous part of the job, it certainly is one of the most important. Look at any event planner job posting and “contract negotiation” is always at the top of the list.
Contracts are tricky, and the negotiation process can seem daunting, but here are some tips to help you negotiate like a pro.
Do you use the same venue or suppliers often? Then use that as leverage to get a better deal. You can often get larger discounts and more favorable terms if you agree to multi-event or multi-year deals. Or, if you find yourself using the same hotel brand throughout the country - see if they have a national sales rep you can work with - instead of negotiating with hotels individually. Reps on a national level can sell your multiple events as one piece of business, and even negotiate set rates for you so you can be sure to get the same deals and pricing no matter where your event.
While you are putting together your RFP (Request for Proposal), ask to see the venue’s menus, AV pricing, and outside vendor and production guidelines. Use those to create a budget and see where you fall - then you will know what discounts to ask for. See if the hotel will do discounted or set menu pricing for your group if you know you want to hit a price per person - most likely, they will work with you and create a menu to fit your needs and budget. This is more work on the front end but will end up saving you money in the long run.
Hotels often need to fill in dates between events - and if you’re able and work with them to fill those gaps, they will be able to offer you more discounts. Contract negotiation is all about having something the venue wants (an event to fill those dates) and seeing what they are willing to give to get it (discounts, favorable terms, ect.). By building relationships with the sales manager you’ll be able to leverage your event to help fit within the budget, because as we know, the asks from our internal stakeholders become more, but our budgets never seem to increase!
Live by the mantra “if you don’t ask, the answer is always no”. No matter how ridiculous you think the ask is, throw it out there. The concessions that hotels or venues offer in the contract cost them nothing in comparison to the revenue that your event is bringing them. Don’t wait for the venue to tell you what they will give you (most of those are freebies they give anyone no matter how big the piece of business is) - tell them what you want. I’ve gotten free hotel stays during the duration of the event, complimentary presidential suites for staff, and entire reception bars comped all because I asked, and ended up saving my company thousands of dollars in T&E and Food and Beverage because of it.
Don’t undervalue your event, make sure what you are getting as concessions or within the terms is in line with what the hotel or venue is getting from your event. Even if you feel like you are a “small” business to them, your meeting gets them much more than that, like room and meeting space revenue and ancillary revenue through attendees using the restaurants on-site, drinks at their bar, and in-room dining services. Make sure what you are getting in your contract reflects that.
While you may have your heart set on a specific hotel, area, or dates - send your RFP out to multiple hotels/venues and see what kinds of rates, dates, and space you get. If one hotel is willing to waive all room rental fees, and another hotel is trying to charge you - let them know that you are able to get a better deal elsewhere - most times they will match to gain your business.
Know what you are not willing to budge on and be honest about why. The more you can explain your reasoning, the more the hotel or venue can work with you to make it happen. If you typically have an outside production or AV company at your events and the hotel wants to charge you fees - let them know that you want them waived and you’re only willing to move forward if they do that. Your salesperson will likely explain this to their management and you’ll be able to move forward and get what you want.
Just because the hotel/venue sends you their contract, don’t assume that anything in there is something they are not willing to negotiate on. Mark it up - put in your own language. This is a negotiation, so negotiate. But, sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it just isn’t a good fit - and that’s OK. Know when it makes sense for you to walk away from a venue and find somewhere else that will suit your needs.