Finding and Choosing Your Event Vendor

Congratulations! You were awarded the contract to produce a new event series. After months of planning, it is now time to find and select the vendors that are necessary for its success. Where do you start? What do you do? These are excellent questions that have inspired us to give you a quick guide to choosing the vendor that is right for your event.

SEARCH

A great way to find vendors is through the art of referral. You may not realize that you already have a network, and you should tap into it.

• Your network includes coworkers, business contacts and even friends or family. Even if they do not have the information you need, they may know someone who does.
• The most efficient place to start is the network of people closest to the project. This includes venue officials, city contacts, industry peers, other vendors, and your internal team.
• The first place that most people start when looking for vendors is to search the internet. As you know, there is a lot of amazing information out there but sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. When doing a basic search, be as specific as possible and use the terms “for events,” “event production,” “…for a 5K” or “…for a bike ride” if that is the type of event you are producing.
• There are many vendors that may have everything you need but lack experience with your specific type of event. A stage and sound vendor whose only experience is with galas in hotel ballrooms may not come through with what you need for an outdoor race on the beach.
• Don’t forget: Location! Location! Location! Do a search with a map app. Vendors close to your event have the benefit of being able to quickly run back to the office or warehouse if something is missing. It is a much shorter turn-around time to correct an unexpected problem or get a forgotten item if they are hyper-local to your event site.

Cast a wide enough net as time allows, but you should talk to a minimum of three vendors of each type. The more information you have, the better the decision you can make.

Now you need to choose which vendors will make it to the next step. There are different criteria for the type of vendor for which you are looking, but some basic ones to use could be:

• Relevance of experience
• Professionalism and functionality of website
• Recommendations and reviews
• Social media presence and
• Avenues of communication

Once you have a few of these searches under your belt, this becomes a five-minute process.

SELECT

Now it is time to begin the RFP (request for pricing) process. Before reaching out, you should have a clear outline of what you need and expect.

• Investing time in the preparation will save time when receiving the quotes you need. Once you have the scope of work, you can simply cut and paste to every vendor. If a vendor responds with “Not in my wheelhouse” or “We are booked,” ask if they could recommend another vendor that would be right for your event. You will likely get a response with one or more options.  
• When a vendor asks for the budget, put it back in their court. Simply ask if they can give a rough estimate of the cost. They will divulge the information if they are given the grace to adjust the quote once they go into the details. Another effective response would be to say, “We would like you to create a quote that is fair priced, and one you feel good accepting.” Let them know you are vetting other vendors. This way they understand that they need to be priced within industry standard.
• Giving the vendor budget information before getting the quote is a double-edged sword. On the plus side, it could save time if your budget is too low for the vendor. Negatively, it could cause a vendor to inflate their prices if your budget is higher than what they were expecting. 

Once you have received the quotes, it is time to select your vendor. The biggest factor may be cost but you should consider other things you learned during the RFP.

• Ask yourself: How did they respond to the RFP? How was the quote or estimate presented? Was the communication clear with a quick response time? Did they request a phone call? Did they ask pertinent questions? There is value in excellent service that pays dividends with excellent events.

Now it’s time to choose the vendor!

• A good method when making this decision is to choose your top choice vendor regardless of cost. If their quote is within your budget, you have found your vendor.
• If they are over budget, don’t give up on them yet. Ask yourself: How did their cost compare to the other quotes? How far over is the cost over budget? Are they offering additional services or items that justify the extra cost?
• If the vendor’s quote is close to the budget, ask if they will discount the quote to meet it. Transparency is encouraged during this process. Tell them they are your top choice but over budget. Let them know they came in higher than other vendors. Give them a specific target to hit to be awarded the contract. If the span is too great, is there a happy medium? Hopefully, you can work it out but sometimes it doesn’t. Thank you, next! Hopefully, you have plenty of excellent vendors from which to choose… but choose you must.

Well done! You have selected your event vendor!

• Before moving to the next step, it is important to thank the vendors who were not awarded the contract.
• Leave the door open with the ones you like; there’s a chance you will need them in the future.
• Finally, analyze the data you obtained from the RFP and adjust the budget if needed.

CELEBRATE

Vendors are like extended family, and they are important; they help you meet your event goals, and their success is your own. Take time to congratulate them and celebrate this new relationship.

• Let them know why they were chosen.
• Give them a sense of their importance to the success of the event. Encourage open communication and update them as needed.
• Tell them about future opportunities; a repeat vendor is great for an event!

Now it’s off to purchase orders and paperwork… but that’s a whole other blog post!