Strategic Meetings Management Program

(SMMP) Program Implementation

PPT Template developed in conjunction with Cvent’s Business Case Template
 Current Situation - Inefficiencies
Overlapping and redundant workflows in the meeting and events category

1. Lack of SMM processes in place leads to multiple resources performing the same
activities (e.g. calling hotels to check availability and rates, creating meeting budgets
and templates, creating registration websites and/or surveys from scratch, etc.)

2. Lack of automation or multiple sources of automation used around the organization

(e.g. Access, Excel, Survey Monkey, etc.)

According to research by Aberdeen, organizations can achieve the following through SMMP
implementation:
• 55% savings in productivity using dashboards and reports
• 43% savings in productivity for budgeting current and future events
• 32% savings in productivity for travel management and lodging
 Current Situation – Lost Savings Opportunities
Fragmented purchasing leads to:
1. Inability to develop a preferred supplier program with local hotels, hotel chains,
Destination Management Companies, transportation companies and other
frequently used suppliers.

2. Inability to fully leverage spend with suppliers due to transparency and lack of
critical usage and spend data.

3. An inability to manage suppliers effectively due to the large volume of suppliers.

According to “Best Practices in SMM Strategic Sourcing,” a White Paper by Business

Travel News (sponsored by Cvent) in 2011, found that “Corporations can achieve an
average of 10 to 20% savings when they implement best practices in sourcing,
processes and policy compliance.”
 Current Situation – Limited Visibility Into
Meeting Activity
Limited visibility results in:
1. High risk factors associated with meetings, such as:
a. Global Duty of Care;
b. Attendee/traveler safety (not everyone travels to meetings by air);
c. Inadequate insurance coverage necessary for certain meetings; and
d. Unintended contractual risks.

2. Limited ability to manage compliance with corporate purchasing policies or legal

processes such as:
a. Signature authority levels; and
b. Meetings contracted without the appropriate approvals

According to research by Aberdeen, “The gain of visibility into the strategic

meetings space will reduce cost and improve savings by over 50%.”
 Current Situation – Limited Visibility Into
Meeting Activity (cont’d)
3. Unawareness into:

a. Cancelled space credits available for re-use;

b. Other penalty-related funds available for meetings;
c. Meetings that overlap in the same location resulting in lost opportunity to
negotiate based on full financial impact; and
d. Cancellation of meetings due to unawareness of real-time Executive
unavailability.

In looking into meetings data, we found that __________ meetings were

cancelled in the past year, resulting in the loss of __________.
 Objectives in Implementing an SMMP

1. Efficiency gains impacting:

a. Cost savings;
b. Optimization of resources; and
c. Ability to re-allocate some resources (if needed).

2. Increased visibility and the creation of transparency in the

meetings/event category:
a. Reduction in regulatory and legal risk to the organization.

3. Achieving significant cost savings and cost avoidance, freeing

up overall, organizational meeting spend.
 Objectives in Implementing an SMMP cont’d
4. Increased compliance with corporate policies, reducing exposure in such
areas as:
a. Regulatory requirements;
b. SOX compliance;
c. Non-compliance to brand standards;
d. Protection of confidential information; and
e. Prevention of corporate espionage.

5. Mitigation of risks associated with meetings, such as

a. Safety and security;
b. Effective global organizational crisis planning and management; and
c. Insurance protection and meeting/event policies such as alcohol service,
inappropriate venues and risky activities (parasailing, race car driving, etc.).
 Risks to the Organization

1. Business operations and continuity

a. Absence of the ability to create and manage crises associated with meetings
and events

2. Reputation of the organization

a. Unmanaged or mismanaged meetings and events

3. Branding and marketplace consistency

a. Company logos and graphics distortion
b. Protection of confidential and proprietary information.
 Risks to the Organization cont’d

4. Financial
a. Lost savings and unmanaged credits with suppliers.

5. Compliance with legal and regulatory obligations

a. Sox Compliance
b. Sunshine Act (for Life Sciences)
c. Mandatory accurate reporting requirements
d. Obligation of every organization to ensure the safety and security of its
travelers and meeting attendees
 Risks Associated with Inaction
1. Continued inefficiencies and misallocated or even wasted resources.

2. Lack of necessary financial controls in the meeting/event category.

3. Inability to scale in order to manage increased volume or peak periods of

meetings and events.

4. Inability to make decisions related to meetings and events based on sound

business intelligence and data due to incomplete or the absence of
reporting.

5. Exposure to losses due to unauthorized or inexperienced staff negotiating

and/or signing meeting-related contracts.

6. Inability to quickly identify the location of all meeting attendees in the event
of a crisis.
 Proposed Strategy
1. Deploy state-of-the art meetings management technology

According to a study by Carlson Wagonlit Travel Management (2010), “Through the

deployment of a technology solution, organizations are:

a. 70% more likely to hold real-time visibility through an enterprise-wide calendar

b. 76% more likely to hold real-time visibility into overall and individual
meetings spend
c. 76% more likely to hold real-time visibility into Strategic Meetings Management
data

Meetings management technology users can also expect:

a. A 73% higher rate of cost savings

b. Nearly 40% higher rate of compliance to corporate policies and guidelines related
to meetings and events
c. 35% higher frequency of events meeting or exceeding goals and objectives
d. Nearly 30% higher frequency of meetings and events executed within or below
budget
 Proposed Strategy cont’d

2. Develop a communications plan to introduce SMM throughout the

organization to include:

a. Stakeholder meetings

b. Lunch & Learn sessions

c. Email communications

d. Webinars by stakeholder group (occasional users, stakeholders, executives, etc.)

e. Announcements on Company intranet landing page

f. Endorsements from executives and/or internal clients

 Proposed Strategy cont’d

3. Centralize hotel sourcing and contracting to subject matter experts

According to a 2013 survey by the Global Business Travel Association, some of the
most successful parts of an SMM program include:

• Having a policy in place, centralized sourcing/contracting services

• A savings average of 11.2% off first quote, even after nine years of SMM

4. Engage stakeholder input

a. Develop a cross functional team and/or advisory council, including impacted
stakeholders and potential champions for input and practical “Next Steps to

a. Increase engagement
b. Optimize buy-in to the organization’s SMMP
 Justification and Impacts

1. Cvent’s ROI Calculator shows a:

a. ___ % return on investment in meetings management technology in

Year 1;

b. ___% ROI in Year 2; and

c. ___% ROI in Year 3.

INSERT CVENT’S ROI CALCULATOR
RESULTS HERE

Click here to access the ROI Calculator

 Justification and Impacts

2. Meetings and events are a major spend category:

a. It is estimated that 10 – 25% savings can be achieved through the

implementation of a robust SMMP aided by state-of-the-art technology; and

b. Meeting spend accounts for 25 to 40% of the organization’s annual travel

spend or 1 to 3% of company revenues.

[INSERT APPLICABLE STATISTICS]

 Expected Results
1. Ability to reallocate resources (if applicable and identify resource allocation
and potential savings)

2. Cost savings
a. Year 1 = $______;
b. Year 2 = $_____;
c. Year 3 = $_____; and
d. $_____ estimated cost savings over initial three years

3. Automated approval process

a. Aids in ensuring a business objective is tied to meetings;
b. Ensures a budget has been establish and approved; and
c. Reduces the volume of “renegade” meetings activity.

Meetings management technology users experience a nearly 40% higher rate of

compliance to corporate policies and guidelines related to meetings and events.
 Expected Results cont’d

4. Increased transparency and visibility into meetings taking place and

spend elements.

Industry data shows that SMM and meetings

management technology users are:

• 70% more likely to hold real-time visibility through an enterprise-wide

calendar
• 76% more likely to hold real-time visibility into overall and individual
meetings spend
• 76% more likely to hold real-time visibility into Strategic Meetings
Management data
 Expected Results cont’d

5. Robust reporting capabilities

a. Key Indicator Reports and Dashboards (available through Cvent’s technology platform)
provide crucial meetings-related data. A few examples are:

i. Total number of meetings held annually;

ii. Average spend per meeting by meeting owner, division, business unit, organization;
iii. Suppliers used and spend per supplier;
iv. Sourcing/contracting savings and value of concessions negotiated;
v. Average lead time impact on cost; and
vi. Location/destination information.

6. Scalability

a. Meetings management technology and outsourcing of some meeting

support activity;
i. Enables control over demand management and peak periods of volume
 SMMP Implementation Rollout Strategy
1. Attain Executive endorsement to strengthen rollout, messaging and
ultimate success

2. Develop an implementation timeline with agreed-upon milestones

a. Update executives regularly on progress

3. Implement state-of-the-art meetings technology

Beta test with a
smaller group(s) to
4. Execute on communications plan identify and resolve
gaps or issues
5. Provide necessary training for Meeting Approvers and impacted
stakeholders

Cvent Communication Plan Template

 SMMP Implementation
Rollout Strategy cont’d
6. Automate the approval process

7. Register all meetings through meetings management technology platform:

a. Crucial meetings data can be obtained, shared and analyzed

8. Calendar meetings
a. Provides “at-a-glance” view of meetings taking place across the organization

9. Centralize hotel sourcing/contracting

a. Developed process for requesting sourcing support: Beta test with a
smaller group(s) to
b. Developed process for providing availability reports:
identify and resolve
c. Developed process for site and venue selection: gaps or issues
d. Developed process for addendum inclusion to ensure corporate compliance: and
e. Developed process for contracting.
 Technology Plan

Access Meetings Management Simplified for additional tips