Francisca
Marketing · Vivencias Travel
The twelve questions that turn a nice-looking PDF into a comparable proposal. Useful for assessing anyone, ourselves included, and what a procurement team needs to decide on more than the bottom line.
When three proposals arrive for the same event and all three have attractive photographs and a number at the end, there is no way to compare them. The difference between them is almost never the price: it is what each one assumes and did not write down.
These are the questions that make three proposals comparable. They work for assessing us just as much as anyone else.
About the company
- Which legal entity is the contract with, and where is it registered? It determines who issues the invoice, in which currency, and who is answerable. If the event crosses from Chile into Argentina, it may be two different entities.
- What registration licenses them to operate? SERNATUR and the Q seal in Chile, a travel agency licence with its file number in Argentina, Cadastur in Brazil. It is a verifiable number, not a logo in the footer.
- Who will be in charge on the day, and are they staff? A flawless itinerary with nobody responsible on the ground is a document.
About what is actually included
- Is transport included, and is it both ways? This is the price difference that most often turns up at the end.
- What catering is included, and what about dietary restrictions? And above all: can the kitchen genuinely handle them, or did it just say yes?
- What happens to someone who cannot do the main activity? With no alternative quoted, that person spends the day apart.
- Is the weather plan B quoted and booked, or only mentioned? They are not the same thing, and in the mountains the difference shows the same day.
- Does the price include tax? Between two proposals, that alone can explain the entire gap.
About the operation
- Is the fleet their own or subcontracted, and who are the drivers? A subcontracting chain assembled the week before is the source of most transport problems.
- How many of their people will be on the ground? Not how many guides the activity has: how many of the supplier's staff accompany the group.
- What insurance covers the activity, and up to what amount? In writing, not verbally.
About the small print
- What happens if fewer people attend than estimated? Almost every proposal is built on an estimated headcount, and if twenty people are missing on the day, the cost per person rises. Worth knowing in advance whether there is a guaranteed minimum.
The question that says most about a supplier
There is one that appears on no procurement checklist and reveals more than the twelve above: what relationship do you have with the place where the event will happen?
An operator who works year-round with a protected-area administrator, a landowner or a mountain hotel resolves in one phone call what takes another one two weeks. It does not show up in the budget and it is exactly what shows on the day something shifts.
What to send with the request
The quality of the proposal depends on the quality of the brief. With these five things, an operator can build something real:
- What the event is for. Integrating two departments, rewarding a result, closing a year. It is the detail most often left out and the one that most changes the proposal.
- How many people, and their age and fitness profile.
- The date or date range.
- How many hours or days, and whether a working session needs a room.
- A budget range. Not so it all gets spent: so you are not sent three proposals that were never going to be approved.
Without the objective, what arrives is a generic itinerary that could belong to any company.
Next
What a team building day costs explains what moves the price and what the cheap proposal tends to leave out, the company convention checklist covers rooms, catering and logistics, and if the group is over eighty people, team building for large groups explains what changes operationally.
Frequently asked questions
What should you ask a corporate events supplier?
Twelve things: which legal entity the contract is with, what registration licenses them to operate, who is in charge on the ground, whether transport runs both ways, what catering is included, what happens to anyone who cannot do the activity, whether the weather plan B is quoted, whether the price includes tax, whether the fleet is their own, how many of their staff accompany the group, what insurance covers the activity, and what happens if fewer people attend than estimated.
How do you compare two corporate event proposals?
By asking for both at the same level of detail and comparing line by line rather than by the bottom line. The difference between proposals is almost never the price, but what each one assumes without writing it down: transport, alternatives, the weather plan, tax and staff on the ground.
What information do you need to provide to get a serious proposal?
Five things: what the event is for, how many people and their age and fitness profile, the date or date range, how many hours or days and whether a working session needs a room, and a budget range. Without the objective, what arrives is a generic itinerary.
What happens to the price if fewer people attend than estimated?
The cost per person rises, because fixed costs such as transport, guides and the room are split between fewer people. It is the commonest surprise when the invoice is issued, and it is worth asking in advance whether there is a guaranteed minimum.
