There are many reasons for wishing to host an event for your clients, staff, contacts or even suppliers. For most people though, it is simply to impress the right people and to either create or further develop a strong relationship between them.

There are a number of do’s and don’ts that should be followed when choosing and organising a corporate event. This article will discuss the basic requirements for a first class event and warn you of a few of the worst pitfalls that can so easily be avoided, as long as you are pre-warned!

1. Know your Client
2. What’s Your Budget?
3. Choose the Right Supplier
4. Be in Control
5. Enjoy Yourself!

1. Know Your Client
If you personally know who you intend to invite this bit is easy. What do they like to do? Are they sporty, up for anything and adventurous or are they more likely to prefer a more relaxed, slower paced event? Either way, the important thing is to choose an event that they would like to do, not what you would like to do! Hopefully it’s the same choice and everyone will be happy but make sure. If you ring your potential guest or guests up and ask for ideas not only will they feel valued because you are going to invite them but also because they will feel that you value their opinion.

2. What’s Your Budget?
Don’t promise the earth if you can’t deliver it. Although the benefits of entertaining guests are well proven and can easily be justified it can be an expensive piece of marketing. With trackdays costing nearly £1000 per head and visits to football matches and even minor sporting events not far behind it is vital that you know your budget and what you will get from it. Will customers appreciate you simply for the amount of money you’ve spent on them or are they a bit more savvy than that? Would they prefer to do something more hands on, participate in an activity they’ve never done before or just prefer something more fun? It is also important to remember that many people will equate a company being overtly lavish with over inflated invoices!

3. Choose the Right Supplier
If you do not have a current supplier the obvious place to look is the internet. There are an awful lot of companies providing events but are they the actual providers? Do you need 3rd party organisers? How much work is actually involved in organising an event? The answer is very little if you pick the right supplier. The golden rule has to be to personally visit the place where the event is to take place and speak to the people who, from your client’s perspective, will be representing you on the day. If somebody doesn’t have the time to see you or starts to dictate what you can and can’t have then you have to ask how well are your customers going to be treated?

4. Be in Control
As the customer, you should know what is going to happen and when, don’t just go with the flow. You should have a personal liaison with a supplier who is on hand to answer your questions, provide you with a detailed itinerary and any further information that is relative to the day. Everything you could possibly ask from billing questions to menu options should be very easy for them to answer as they probably have to answer them every day so never be afraid to ensure that you know exactly what is to happen and when

5. Enjoy Yourself!
On the day, you will need to be a happy host. It does not look good if you are spending your time organising the day. That is what you are paying your supplier to do. You should be spending time with your guests, not making sure the itinerary is being adhered too or whether or not lunch is going to be on time. The whole point of entertaining clients is to get to know people better and to strengthen the ties between your companies. You will not achieve this if you spend more time speaking to the event organisers than your guests.

Entertaining clients is an art, albeit one that is easy to get right. The key is to find the right provider who can create an event that is impressive, fun and value for money.

Jim Allen is the Events Director for Sporting Targets, a Corporate Hospitality and Clay Pigeon Shooting venue based in Bedfordshire

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