Do you need tips on how to price your event planning services? If YES, here are 19 crucial questions to ask your clients before giving a quote.
Making money as an event planner is all about ensuring that your clients are satisfied whenever they contract their events to you to handle on their behalf.
The truth is that once you are able to meet or surpass the expectations of your clients, you are likely going to get repeat businesses and in most cases you will also get referrals.
You will quite agree that word of mouth advertisement from satisfied clients will always go a long way in increasing your revenue and also promoting your brand.
If you have ever been to a well organized event- be it corporate or informal function, you would realize the level of detailing that was taken into consideration.
It is significant to say that hard work plays a key factor in putting all that together. This is why those at the helms of affair when it comes to events planning work round the clock to see that things take shape.
Planning an event can sometimes take a lot of hard and smart work. This is because of the ambience that must be achieved with whatever designs and decorations to be adopted.
It is therefore needful that in giving your clients the very best, that you take some very important factors into consideration. What are these factors, you just might ask?
If you are thinking to go into the events planning industry, or are a rookie, or even already in the business for a while and sometimes have issues with effectively giving your clients the very best of deals based on having under quoted, then you may want to consider the tips in this article. Here below are 19 solid questions that you must ask your clients before making a quote.
Questions to Ask Your Clients
1. What Type Of Event Is It?
This is one of the very questions that should lay the foundations of how your clients would want to be served. Why is this question of great essence, you may wonder? It is imperative that you ask this so as to know whether it is a party, informal event-entertainment shows, et al, or better still a corporate one.
2. What is the Purpose for the Event?
Once a client engages you as an event planner, the first question you are to ask the client is to know the purpose of the event. The purpose of the event will go a long way to help you determine the ideal facility to be used for the event, the time that will be ideal for the event, the nature of programs for the event and loads of other factors that will help shape the event into a successful outing.
3. What is Your Budget?
The next question you are expected to ask you client as a professional event planner is to know the budget for the event. No matter how big, entertaining or educative you want your event to be, it is the budget that will determine if you can achieve your aim. Knowing the budget of an event as an event planner goes a long way to help you in planning effectively for the event.
4. What Date, Time and Venue Do You Have In Mind?
Another key question that you are expected to ask your client is to know the date, time and venue he / she has in mind for the event. Although, as a professional event planner you are in the position to influence the date, time and venue of an event but it is still advisable to know what the client has in mind.
5. What Do You Intend To Achieve With the Event (Your Goal)
You are expected to also ask your client what they intend to achieve with the event – their goal. Asking them this question will help in clearly setting a goal for the event and effectively planning for the success of the event.
6. What Location Would You Like To Host the Event?
In as much as you have the privilege to suggest an ideal location for your client, it is not out of place to know the location they would prefer for their event. You can only suggest otherwise if you know that the location they choose won’t be ideal for the nature for event they intend hosting.
7. How Many Guests Are You Looking At?
This is yet another question that your clients must be ready to answer. The number of guests that you are looking to attend your event to a large extent would inform other things. For example; if your client tells you that about thirty guests are being expected, then it becomes easy to make provision for the food for that amount of persons.
8. Do you have any theme In Mind?
Every client has a penchant for one particular theme or the other. It is for that reason that you have got to first find out what they really would want as a theme. Knowing this would to a large extent help you prepare enough ahead of time for the tools and accessories that would be needed.
9. What Type Of Event Would It Be?
You should already know by now that different events come with their various costing. Therefore, you have got to ask your client if it is an indoor or outdoor event. With an outdoor event, you might have to spend fairly more in the designs and decorations that you would need to use. However, for the indoor event, you can be sure to spend less in organizing stuff compared to the former. So you must get this settled.
10. What Type Of Guests Would You Have?
This is also one question you do not want to joke with. Why is this so? This is important because you would want to know the ethnic identity, as well as the race of the people that plan to attend, so as to know whether you would have to plan for foreigners as you make plans for the meals.
11. Who is Your Target Audience?
In order to be able to effectively plan for an event you ought to know the target audience for the event. So ensure that you ask this question when you engage your clients as an event planner. Once you are able to define your target audience, it makes it easier to choose advertising medium and also to select facilitators or trainers et al.
12. What Caliber of Public Speakers / Facilitators / MCs / Trainers Do You Intend to Invite?
As a professional event planner you have the right to suggest public speaker or facilitators or MCs or trainers for you client, but it will be a good idea to ask them for their choice. It will give you a clearer idea of what they want and that will help you in planning for the success of the event.
13. Do You Intend to Source for Sponsors?
Another question that you need to ask your client as an event planner is to know if they intend sourcing for sponsors for their event. The information you get will help you in proper planning for the event.
For example if the event is going to be a sponsored event, then you will make provision for the sponsors to display their banners in and around the event venue and also you will make provision for their stands; a place where people can make enquiries about the sponsors and their products.
14. What Type Of Meals Do You Want?
You have got to ask your clients the type of meals they would want served at the event. This means that if you are dealing with guests with a mixture of blacks and whites, then you can ask whether they would like some local and intercontinental dishes. This is so that you create a balance on your menu list.
15. What Types Of Drinks Would You Like?
Drinks are one essential part of an event. As a matter of fact, when you do not have drinks at events, it tends to show that something is really missing. So you have got to ask your client the types of drinks they would like to be served. Would it be soda, beers, non-alcoholic drinks, wines, Chapman, and what have you? Be sure to establish this before you quote.
16. Would You Provide For Vans To Move The Meals?
You have got to ask your client this, as some clients prefer to come move the meals to the venue when all is set so as to save cost. On the contrary, if you would be the one catering for that, then you have got to factor in the cost of gas in the car, as well as other vehicle maintenance cost.
17. Would It Be A Buffet?
You would also be required to ask your client if their event is a buffet type of event, or if you would be the one to serve the guests what they demand. Why is this important? This is particularly important because buffets would cost you more to handle, against if you were to serve the guests all they required.
18. Would There Be An After Party?
So many event these days, end with after- parties. It is for that reason that you have got to ask your client if they would be having one. This is so that you can also make provision for it. One way that you may want to do this is by reserving some refreshments for the after party so that you do not fall into a hitch.
19. What are Your Success Benchmarks?
The hallmark of an event is when the success benchmarks are meet or even surpassed. So part of what you need to ask your client as a professional event planner is to know key measurable areas where they would want the event to be assessed.
It could be the numbers of participants that attended the event, the feedback they got from the event and it could be any success indicator as agreed by the organizers of the event. These are top questions that you would really need to ask your clients so as to quote well and at the end of the day get a best profit deal. Be sure to really consider all these so that you would to a large extent smile to bank.