What Corporate Planners Need From Your Venue During the Pandemic

Events are making a comeback, here at Tripleseat we are even starting to see leads come in at pre-COVID levels. That means that it’s time to start welcoming corporate clients back to your venue. Corporate businesses will be looking for venues that they can trust and who are able to provide full transparency into the current COVID-19 policies and procedures in place.

It may take some extra hospitality efforts on your part, but by anticipating their needs and giving clients easy access to the information they require, you will be sure to end up at the top of their venues list. Here is what they will be looking for:

Flexibility 

Flexibility is what may make you stand out to clients looking to plan an event, and what attracts them to your venue. Planners will need to know what happens to their deposits in the event they need to cancel or reschedule for the safety of their attendees. While we have made a lot of positive steps forward, we never know how restrictions will change. By being upfront and flexible with your rescheduling or cancellation policy, corporate planners will feel more secure about giving your their business.

• Put it into action: Add flexible language to your contract cancelation clauses such as “all monies or deposits will be returned or put towards a future event in the event of cancellation due to coronavirus,” or “There will be no penalties in the event of a cancellation due to coronavirus.”

Health Protocols

Corporate planners will need to know that your space isn’t just clean, but that it is sanitized and that you are putting thoughtful and intentional policies and procedures in place. They will be interested in knowing how your food and beverage has changed, how your staff is screened (and if you have a contact tracing plan in place), and how often you are cleaning and sanitizing common spaces. Provide detailed information on these efforts and promote them on your website, social media pages, and event proposals.

• Put it into action: Create an event-specific safety and sanitation FAQ page and link it to the events page of your website so that it is easy to find. Include it in your marketing, including emails to clients, and promote it on your social media channels where planners may be looking at your venue.

Technology

While corporate planners try to host safe in-person events, the reality is that they will still need to reach a virtual audience as well. With hybrid events being the reality of the future, your clients will need to know what capabilities your venue has so that they are able to bring in a virtual audience (and it goes beyond your basic wifi). Making sure you are able to highlight and promote your live-streaming and other technology-related features will help take the guesswork out of if your venue is equipped for their needs.

• Put it into action: Make sure you are showcasing what your virtual capabilities are by creating and promoting hybrid event packages, or provide a list of audio-visual providers you are partnering with as a resource for your clients — and make these both easy to find and access on your website.

Additional Modifications

Show corporate planners the benefits of booking at your venue by highlighting and showcasing how you are making events safer at your venue, like virtual site visits, outdoor spaces, contactless processes or experiences, and more. Consider showing them options of rearranging the space and ideas for enforcing social distancing by limiting attendee flow or creating “zones” to keep guests distanced. Showing them that your venue is proactive with solutions will make you stand out.

• Put It Into Action: Consider creating a video touring your venue and walk through the process of hosting an event in your space. Highlight setups, sanitation procedures, food and beverage displays, social distancing strategies, and anything else that gives the full picture. Use that video when promoting your venue to corporate planners!

Use TripleseatDirect for contactless booking

There are many ways to offer unique, virtual experiences to your corporate clients that can showcase your brand and will leave a lasting impression, and TripleseatDirect can help! TripleseatDirect offers restaurants, hotels, and unique venues the ability for their customers to complete the entire event or catering booking process, from choosing the perfect space or room to selecting their menu to making payments in just a few clicks.

If your venue isn’t currently using TripleseatDirect to book in-house events and catering orders, there’s no better time than the present. There is no additional fee associated with TripleseatDirect. You must be a Tripleseat customer and have online payments set up with one of our online payment partners: CardConnect or Stripe. For help setting up your TripleseatDirect feature, reach out to our support team. You’ll be on your way to generating event revenue with TripleseatDirect in no time.