The 3 things you need to know when choosing the best vendors for your event 

When looking for show-stopping event vendors and suppliers, it can be stressful to think about where and how to start. But it doesn’t have to be.

If you’re a newbie to the world of event planning and organization, you apparently look at vendors as being less valuable than the event organizer. But the truth is, you should treat event vendors more like partners, as they can make or break your efforts to succeed in organizing an event.

Looking for the right vendors for an event can set the difference between event success or failure. If an event vendor makes a mistake, it can reflect poorly on you in the minds of your attendees.

Each successful corporate event relies on a combination of trustworthy event vendors. It can be a challenge finding a list of event suppliers you need for each piece of the event you’re planning. If a vendor makes a mistake, it could reflect on you and ruin the connection you have with a client or other vendors.

You surely don’t want to get caught in a situation where you’ve made the perfect job managing an event, but a single mistake by an event vendor ruins everything.  Looking for vendors for an event is like building a loving relationship: you choose a partner who is reliable, caring and eager to stay with you long-term.

So choose wisely.

Vetting vendors and knowing how to negotiate is an essential part of the event planning process.

Here’s a  handy listing of key factors to take note of when looking for vendors for an event so that you can get the ones that are fit for you and—most importantly— can help you create an event that your people will love

Tips for Choosing the Best Event Vendors:

1) Initial Planning

Have a brainstorming session and list down what you want an event vendor to provide on the day of the event.  Consider the kinds of vendors you’ll need for your event: AV suppliers, caterers, production, entertainment, bars etc.

Then,  outline your budget and requirements. Make an ideal estimate and a maximum budget so that you can negotiate when it comes to discussing pricing.

When you’re approaching event suppliers, ask for a number of quotes for their services so you have the option to scale up or scale down your plans.

Most of the time, event suppliers will know what you need better than you do. To get the best of both worlds, solicit recommendations along the way and combine those with your own expertise and list of needs. The recommendations given to you by event suppliers will show a lot about how experienced and skilled they are.

2) Compile a Preliminary List

Even if the first event supplier you discover seems to be the perfect fit, don’t rush into an arrangement. Having a list of vendors is the step you can’t skip if you want to make the most out of supplier connections.

In an old-fashioned way you would have a spreadsheet along with comments for each category of vendors and other pertinent information, but now we would recommend you the hassle-free way with a simple inbox on Youcanevent.com divided by category where you can obtain the best comprehensive evaluation, ask for vendors’ quotes, visit their profile pages and visualize their menus and services they provide and ask around for recommendations.

From the information, you receive,  rate each supplier on your negotiation and cross out those that don’t comply with your requirements. At the next stage, set up your payment plan with 1-time payment or multiple installments, and see what they can offer. Give them details of how you envision your event so they can tailor their proposal to your specific requirements.

The best way to do it as of right now is actually with WebVR or VR technology, where you can visualize how your event will look like before it happens.

That’s right!

James Zhao organized a Crypto Currency conference through Youcanevent.com visualized his event before it happens, and then just shared the environment with the vendors.

In less than 48 hours he was able to book all the vendors needed with 0% budget increase. Actually, happened a budget decrease because the vendors really wanted to work for this event and made special prices.

3. Spot the best candidates

With a shortened list of event suppliers, you can now enter the final round. Based on your personalized requirements, pick the top 5 characteristics of a perfect event vendor that are essential to your event’s success. For each supplier category, the lists of qualities can vary. For example, if you need a reputable furniture rental supplier, you can examine vendors based on cleanliness assurance, delivery, and their insurance guarantee.

You need to ensure that the event suppliers you’re looking into have a sustained track record of events like yours.

This is one of the good things that you can analyze on a vendor profile page, see the services that she or he provides, pictures, videos, PDFs, and read reviews from past reviews for events that the vendor worked.

Never ever  make costs your bottom line

Don’t settle for an event vendor purely on price. If your budget is a real problem, look for other areas to trim it down and only hire the vendors you really need. The quality of the vendor will be defined by how well they perform, not just their costs.

Also through Youcanevent.com, you have an installment plan system that allows you to pay online through the platform in 1 or 10x. This installment plan is defined between you and the vendor, always supported from one of Youcanevent’s event assistant.

Draw Up the Agreement

Once you are ready to go ahead with your preferred supplier, it’s time to sign the event vendor contract. Do not forget to study it and make sure it includes the following components:

• Comprehensive description of service
• Description of equipment vendor will provide
• Listing of additional services vendor will provide, if any
• Description of costs and payment terms
• Proof of insurance and any other risk-management practices
• Comprehensive cancellation policy
• Terms set in the instance that they don’t deliver what has been agreed upon

Youcanevent.com empowers both event organizers and vendors with one invoicing system, installment plan, and proposal description that in one single place, you have full clarity on the guarantees expected for the service that you are booking.

Wrapping Up: Finding the Perfect Event Vendor For Your Event

Always remember that if you don’t feel confident with all of your options, don’t hesitate to ask for more information, or go back to the drawing board and get another quote or two from other event vendors. When you do find the best choice, things should just “feel” right.

Find someone who empathizes with your goals and shares the same passion of seeing your event succeed.

If everything seems in order, then it looks like you’ve found a fantastic vendor!

Do you have other things you consider when looking for vendors for an event that you’d like to share?

We’d love to hear from you!

It can be challenging to choose a vendor, so we are truly looking forward to hearing stories from others!

#youcanevent #wecanevent