Procurement is from Mars, Meeting Planners are from Venus

The premise behind aligning procurement with meetings and incentives is to create value with volume buying. The many nuances of the planner/procurement relationship have been well-documented and are different at every company. Regardless of the situation at your company, the key to developing a win-win partnership is seeing both sides of the picture. Like any relationship, understanding each others motivation will allow planners and procurement to meet in the middle- to achieve a successful program, while internally aligning overall procurement goals.

Just like most meeting managers saw the savings inherent in centralizing meeting components, which were historically booked by various administrative assistants without experience, procurement managers want to ensure that meetings departments are sourcing, deciding and buying these elements within the proper framework. Ensuring that meeting spend goes into appropriate ‘buckets’ rather than being spread out over various budgets allows procurement to have better visibility and leverage that spend. The ideal result is to balance program goals & objectives with the demands of the procurement framework to find a creative solution to the needs of the company. There is no template to making the procurement/planner relationship work, however the most import step to developing a true partnership is understanding and appreciating each department’s point of view.

The ‘Divide’ between Planners and Procurement
For a perfect example of the inherent ‘divide’ between planners and procurement, let’s consider we are sourcing a property for a National Sales Meeting. Sourcing tools with eRFP functionality like StarCite are great for certain situations, particularly with multiple events in a short timeframe, however these tools should not be the only sourcing tool used. Mainly because eRFP’s are typically due within 48 hours and do not always allow planners the flexibility to obtain the best overall value for the company. While procurement likes the standardized responses that can be put in ‘dashboards’ that are easy to compare side-by-side, meeting planners know that by picking up the phone and having a conversation with the properties being considered always allows them to obtain a better deal from a total overall cost perspective.

Moreover, most large hotels are overloaded with so many eRFP’s, and as such have developed a canned response to submit because they are too busy working on multiple projects to provide a fully customized proposal. By discussing options with the properties directly, planners are able to negotiate numerous types of concessions (such as free internet, airport transportation, free room nights, room upgrades and reduced F&B) that would not normally be included in an eRFP response.

How do we meet in the middle?
We’ve all heard the same buzzword-laden responses such as consolidate budgets, align goals, develop a cohesive strategy, obtain a holistic view, leverage spend… but how do we do it? The most important first step is for both sides to realize that they want the same thing. They just go about it in different ways.

Meeting planners don’t always appreciate the analytical nature behind procurement initiatives and may feel threatened that their work is being commoditized. Procurement fails to see the value in meeting planners’ creativity and the positive effect that their experience has on reaching a meeting’s objective. A great example to demonstrate this point would be an incentive program. All incentive programs are different- they have different types of qualifiers and varying goals. Unlike a meeting or training audience, incentive qualifiers are motivated by the selection of a given hotel or destination and many times the property itself is what inspires them to win. Experienced meeting planners understand that incentives are a powerful motivator and want to go the extra mile to transform the trip into a true reward. Procurement wants to streamline sourcing, ensure compliance, mitigate risk and maximize investment. Often times it's the added touches- room gifts, gala dinners, and private tours- that procurement wants to cut first. And that's where the conflict begins.

What are the goals of both sides in this example? To obtain the best possible value for the company (if they are not, you have a whole new set of problems to deal with). Procurement sees value in dollar figures while meeting planners view value as the increase in sales resulting from reps striving to win the incentive. Procurement reports to the CFO, while meeting planners have ties to multiple departments, but mostly identify with Sales & Marketing objectives. Each side needs to appreciate the competencies that the other side brings to the table.

Great article from Procurement POV
Great Article from Planners POV

ART & SCIENCE - not SCIENCE vs. ART
It’s looking at the same project through ‘different lenses’ and understanding the opposing contexts of value that will bring the two sides together when there is conflict. Strategic sourcing processes have been honed to a science in many large organizations, whereas meeting planners consider their expertise as more of an art. Each side needs to be able to look at the situation from the other side of the table to develop a successful partnership moving forward. Once both sides are able to appreciate what the other side is trying to accomplish, there won't be anymore 'sides'... just one team.

Simply put: Procurement handles all legal aspects while Planners serve the client. Understanding this fundamental premise and allowing each side to utilize their expertise creates a win-win situation for all.