Procurement teams are a vital part of any large business. You make sure you get the best value for money, that suppliers are treated fairly, and you are an important part of maintaining external relationships.
As marketing and events budgets are chipped away and inhouse events teams are compressed, your event partners can add huge value in the event planning process and will become more integral to the delivery of your business events.
As an event agency, Lemon Lane is used to successfully working hand in hand with purchasing specialists. Indeed, some of the most successful events we have run have involved procurement being part of the event team, at key stages.
Here are a few ways your chosen agency can maximise their relationship with you, the procurement team and demonstrate value to the business.
WE UNDERSTAND YOUR LANGUAGE
We know you need to categorise suppliers and measure output, meaning there are many different and often complex parts of RFPs to navigate.
Agencies are used to bidding for work and also pitching what they do, so we have an extensive knowledge of the processes involved.
The five key principles of any pitch are; price, place, time, quantity and quality. Agencies take these, plus the outcome-based specification that procurement provides, and present different ways we can deliver this, putting our own creative spin and expertise into it.
We know how to describe our services, demonstrate value and offer an extensive picture of what your budget can buy.
WE RESPECT YOUR METRICS
A successful businesses’ objectives are centered around one intrinsic goal: building an investment case and understanding the ROI for every single pound they spend.
This means that procurement is increasingly being involved in areas such as creative pitches, briefs, contracts and the work of internal marketing and events teams and their relationships with third party suppliers.
KPIs and similar measurements aren’t necessarily the right metrics for the largely creative nature of the work we offer. But we will always ensure that we hit your procurement requirements while showcasing our work.
Agencies are able to satisfy procurement scoring systems, working to accumulate points for sticking to budget, how we implement the solution, and what value we add. Importantly, we can also pitch for an imaginary scenario to showcase our innovation and creativity – hitting all the sweet spots for both sides. In short, we can bridge the gap between what the creative teams want from an event and the reporting requirements that the business needs.
WE EDUCATE ON VALUE
It’s common for those outside the industry to not really understand everything that event agencies actually do.
An important step in establishing a mutually beneficial relationship, is to really inform you what we, as an event agency, can offer and the wide range of our expertise.
Ask us to come in to give short talks or workshops explaining what we do and how. Case studies of other successful events we have run for similar brands can also help us explain the skillsets that we offer.
Agencies can even organise days for members of your procurement team to be onsite at an event or at our offices to help them to understand what your company is trying to achieve and how the agency is trying to help.
TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
By being present at key meetings, and making all parties accountable for the project being worked on, procurement becomes integrated into the wider events team. By getting this sort of input, all parties feel part of the team and feel invested in the work. Therefore, if an event budget does need to increase to include a new idea, your procurement team are there every step of the way and understand the changing needs of the event.
On larger events, your procurement team should be involved throughout the event planning lifecycle. This fosters trust internally between the two teams, creates visibility of the event, and also frees up the creative and marketing teams to work on what they’re best at…being creative.
WE COMMUNICATE OPENLY
The earlier we are introduced to the procurement team, the easier it is for us to work together and the more value we can provide. Agencies can give clarity on any terminology or processes specific to the industry, so they you are able to identify the value of the services we offer.
Here at Lemon Lane, we encourage direct contact and a good working relationship with a company’s procurement specialists, the same way we do with inhouse event teams. This goes beyond impressing you at the pitch stage, and is about looping everyone in together into one cohesive team working towards the same goal.
To enhance creativity and the final output, we can tailor our approach to the budget or outcomes, but we also realise that sometimes ‘standardisation’ might be a better option than bespoke, to keep within budget.
Regular updates from your agency will make sure everyone internally understands how they can provide the most cost-effective and creative result.
This way you’ll have a happy agency, a happy internal events department, and best of all, a happy procurement team.
