December 21, 2023
Meetings and events operations are by nature, complex ,as no two events are truly the same. They often involve various parties such as customer, suppliers/agents, delegates and more. There is little room for error, and frequent change requests throughout the event lifecycle are crucial to monitor. Additionally, the industry is experiencing increased requirements related to data handling as well as sustainability. With Meetings and events planners lacking an end-to-end system to effectively manage these challenges, this often results in suboptimal, manual and inefficient processes, reduced profitability and a general lack of overview, transparency & control.
Qondor is an all-in-one platform that brings structure and manageability to the often chaotic and complex processes involved in meetings and events operations. It enables meetings and events professionals to keep control throughout the full event lifecycle. Read on to find out how Qondor streamlines operations, enhances efficiency, and boosts sales, further evidenced by a well-known Nordic travel agency.
Event planners can find themselves dedicating a significant portion of their time, between 60-80%, to administrative tasks. These include creating, sharing, updating, and reconciling information such as proposals, budgets, content, attendee lists, contracts and invoices across various systems and files. This approach is not only highly inefficient, eating away at time that could be spent on creating better experiences for event planners, but these ways of working can also be less appealing to new employees feeling overwhelmed by the “boring, yet vitally important” administrative tasks.
Changes are inevitable when running events, all the way from the first event proposal to the very day of the event. Maintaining control of these change requests and being able to easily update relevant information when changes occur, whether related to attendees or financials, can be very time-consuming. Failing to keep control can also have effects such as unplanned costs, reduced margins, or customer dissatisfaction.
Effectively managing budgets for meetings and events is another common issue for agencies. The challenge lies in maintaining up-to-date and accurate budget records, particularly when juggling multiple meetings and events.
Meetings and events professionals get access to a lot of participant data, so ensuring accurate and compliant management of this data is crucial. They’ll need to handle registration, track individual preferences, ensure GDPR compliance, and maintain effective communication with attendees. The manual handling of these tasks increases the risk of not only missing crucial information to suppliers and others, but also the risk of being non-compliant in handling personal and sensitive information.
Accurate financial reporting is critical for the success of any event. Agencies need to consolidate various financial data points, generate comprehensive reports, and analyze the overall financial performance of events. The complexity of this task increases when data is scattered and not easily accessible, making it challenging to ensure accuracy and completeness in reporting.
One of the most time-consuming tasks in meetings and events planning is the creation and finalization of sales proposals and contracts. The process often involves multiple revisions and extensive coordination. However, Qondor simplifies this process for meetings and events professionals:
Qondor makes it easy to put together a tailored proposal for clients, including accommodation, flight/transport, food and beverage, activities, and other options along with pricing.
Meetings and events professionals save valuable time, giving them a competitive edge.
Changes are inevitable in meetings and events planning. Qondor's dynamic interface makes handling of change requests seamless. Whether it's adjusting dates, products/services, or budgets, modifications can be made efficiently without disrupting the overall proposal structure. Secondly, with Qondor’s unique budget and digital proposal solution, these updates can easily be shared with clients for re-confirmation, and once confirmed, they are ready for invoicing without the need for any updates across files, systems or teams.
Qondor provides centralized controls for pricing and budgeting, ensuring that all financial aspects of a proposal are clear and consistent. This helps in avoiding budget oversights and ensures that proposals align with financial expectations.
Converting proposals into contracts is a process that, if automated, would be extremely beneficial, so as to reduce redundant steps and minimize room for error. Qondor facilitates automatic conversion of proposals into contracts upon the client’s acceptance. This streamlined process reduces administrative burdens and accelerates the contract finalization, allowing agencies to secure business faster and with greater confidence.
Example of a client accepting the proposal and receiving their contract immediately.
Effective attendee management is a critical component of successful meetings and events operations. Qondor allows for efficient communication with attendees and compliant handling of personal information.
Qondor enables meetings and events professionals to send invitations for events and manage registrations with ease. This not only saves time but also enhances the attendee experience. Travel agencies can manage responses, track attendance, and update attendee information in real-time, ensuring a smooth and organized registration process.
Compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR is non-negotiable. Qondor offers a GDPR-compliant platform for managing attendee data, giving agencies and their clients peace of mind. With secure data handling and privacy controls, agencies can confidently manage sensitive information, reducing the risk of data breaches and maintaining compliance.
Communication with attendees is key to the success of any event. Qondor provides various channels for effective communication, including email, SMS, and mobile-friendly agendas. This versatility ensures that attendees are well-informed and engaged, receiving timely updates and information about the event or trip. Agencies can customize communication according to the event's needs, ensuring a personalized touch.
Qondor also facilitates the safe sharing of GDPR-compliant attendee lists with suppliers. This feature is crucial for coordinating with caterers, venues, hotels, and other service providers. By streamlining this collaboration, Qondor ensures that all parties involved in the event are on the same page, enhancing overall coordination and efficiency.
Invoicing your customers for an event has never been simpler. With Qondor, event planners can generate proforma invoices (including deposit invoices) specifying the agreed products & services, quantities, and prices from the proposal, in less than a minute. With the details of the delivered services on the proforma invoice, this can either be automatically sent to you or your internal finance team by email and attached with the actual invoice, or an integrated solution can be set up for automatic invoice generation in your back-end system. This feature ensures accuracy and speeds up the billing process, enhancing financial efficiency.
The Qondor platform allows meetings and events managers to maintain control over all financial information and activities throughout the event lifecycle, be it estimated, budgeted, invoiced, or paid amounts. This enables agencies to have a complete overview of financial activities for each event. Having this overview in one single view, instead of scattered across multiple documents, puts the event manager in control of the financials. Thereby, it reduces the time spent gaining control, and lowers the risk of not getting paid according to agreed services, thus securing your margins.
Qondor’s Business Intelligence tool offers valuable insights into the financial performance of events. Analyse revenue streams, assess profitability, and gain deep insights into customers, suppliers, industries, teams, event types and other relevant dimensions crucial for strategic planning and forecasting.
To conclude, the key challenges in managing meetings and events often stem from manual and complex processes. Qondor addresses these challenges head-on, serving as a complete end-to-end system that significantly reduces manual work, streamlining operations, and enhancing efficiency. This transformative approach is not only about overcoming common industry hurdles but also about unlocking new potential for growth and success in the meetings and events industry.
A well-known Nordic Travel Agency, The Key, saw a 40% increase in sales within its first year of implementing Qondor, demonstrating the platform's effectiveness in boosting both sales and operational efficiency. With Qondor, travel agencies can navigate the complexities of their industry more smoothly and enhance their business success.
Thousands of meetings and events professionals are boosting their efficiency and business with the meetings and events software, Qondor. Want to experience the time-saving advantage they're leveraging? Book a demo today.