Choosing a technological solution for your company in the meetings industry
Many organizations that try to implement a management technological solution in the Meetings Industry haven’t achieved the savings and improvements they expected.
In many cases, it’s not because of the selected technology, but because of the experience in the meetings industry that the ICT company implementing the solution has. Another reason stated is that internal procedures and processes are not compatible with the chosen solution and do not facilitate the adoption of the solution.
It is important to bear in mind that selecting a company with little or no experience in the meetings industry will have a significant impact on the implementation time, since it will be necessary to allocate personnel and time for the "education" of the implementer to understand the business, with all the costs that this unplanned process implies. In the end, these unplanned time and money costs will be added to the cost of the project, which will inevitably be paid by the company that acquires the technology and will influence the low satisfaction with the implementation of the solution.
Another factor to consider is that the implementation of a new technology in an organization, is often unconsciously rejected by staff, or by overly conservative approaches in the processes to which both management and staff have become accustomed. "That's the way we've always done it", is often the explanation for this refusal.
The main factor concerning the selection of an effective solution in every aspect, is the experience of the implementing company in the Meetings Industry. The experience, alongside the tool, additionally allows the best industry practices to be incorporated when necessary, for managing the change and, both client and supplier to speak the same business language, without the need to add additional learning times.
Incorporating new technologies should include various preliminary stages that include personnel and administration in the review of existing processes, the identification of areas for improvement, and development of objectives for the implementation.
It’s important to adopt a standardized approach to reduce costs, following an established methodology for the meetings industry that facilitates improving performance and achieving measurable objectives.
As a guide, we suggest starting with the question: Who is my client? It can quickly determine who should be the greatest beneficiaries of the technology. In other words, the reason why you’re putting the effort to change.
If the technology does not improve client satisfaction, or doesn’t bring economic benefits, then, why are we reviewing the process? If it doesn’t directly improve the services for your client, you may not be approaching the solution correctly and may not be able to reach the quality levels necessary to implement the technological solution successfully.
Try identifying the following:
In the meetings industry, spreadsheets have taken most of our time without providing a better organization and without being an efficient and effective solution for the industry. Favoring the “isles” and uncommunication between processes of our company.
Many organizations have selected the most popular installed base, the largest or most attractive, or the one that offers the greatest support worldwide, without realizing that it could not be applied to the Meetings Industry, losing time, money, and effort.
It’s recommended to take into account that the company selected will accompany you not only until the live release of the system, but also, it will be the company that will have to provide solutions to the changes imposed by the market reality in the future.
If the selected company is the “most expensive” or it doesn’t speak our language, or your company doesn’t have the characteristics to be the “most attractive” client or important to the selected provider, then you’ll be facing problems in the near future, when the market imposes changes and you need to adapt to them.
Considering this last point we suggest selecting a company that at least brings solutions in our language, in our market, and if it’s possible in our continent. Usually, when the main clients of the selected company have most of their clients in other continents, or with a different reality to yours, when assistance is needed, even for minor changes, it could be very expensive or you wouldn’t be a priority for the supplying company.
In this sense, the selection of a regional provider guarantees a better attention and the possibility of “preventing future fires” with ease.
Finally, the selected technology provider preferably should be the proprietor of the technology offered. This will ensure that it will be able to have the sufficient flexibility to permanently adapt your solutions to the new needs that the future of the industry demands, to not fall into obsolete systems, which would imply having to go over the same process of technological renovation over and over again.
If the selected provider speaks the language of your industry, and the majority of your clients are from the meetings industry, then your company will be included in all the future strategic plans of the provider, and the improvement costs of the solution implemented in your company will be close to zero.
The incorporation of technology cannot become the objective, it’s about always being an efficient tool that allows productivity-growth and positioning.
In many cases, it’s not because of the selected technology, but because of the experience in the meetings industry that the ICT company implementing the solution has. Another reason stated is that internal procedures and processes are not compatible with the chosen solution and do not facilitate the adoption of the solution.
It is important to bear in mind that selecting a company with little or no experience in the meetings industry will have a significant impact on the implementation time, since it will be necessary to allocate personnel and time for the "education" of the implementer to understand the business, with all the costs that this unplanned process implies. In the end, these unplanned time and money costs will be added to the cost of the project, which will inevitably be paid by the company that acquires the technology and will influence the low satisfaction with the implementation of the solution.
Another factor to consider is that the implementation of a new technology in an organization, is often unconsciously rejected by staff, or by overly conservative approaches in the processes to which both management and staff have become accustomed. "That's the way we've always done it", is often the explanation for this refusal.
The main factor concerning the selection of an effective solution in every aspect, is the experience of the implementing company in the Meetings Industry. The experience, alongside the tool, additionally allows the best industry practices to be incorporated when necessary, for managing the change and, both client and supplier to speak the same business language, without the need to add additional learning times.
Incorporating new technologies should include various preliminary stages that include personnel and administration in the review of existing processes, the identification of areas for improvement, and development of objectives for the implementation.
It’s important to adopt a standardized approach to reduce costs, following an established methodology for the meetings industry that facilitates improving performance and achieving measurable objectives.
As a guide, we suggest starting with the question: Who is my client? It can quickly determine who should be the greatest beneficiaries of the technology. In other words, the reason why you’re putting the effort to change.
If the technology does not improve client satisfaction, or doesn’t bring economic benefits, then, why are we reviewing the process? If it doesn’t directly improve the services for your client, you may not be approaching the solution correctly and may not be able to reach the quality levels necessary to implement the technological solution successfully.
Try identifying the following:
- Evaluate your company’s needs that the technological project must satisfy
- Determine the current performance and target performance of your company, this will allow you to measure improvement
- Identify which areas and processes need improvement
- Measure client satisfaction (allows us to know what and who)
- Do I have the resources (human and others) to reach the desired new scenario?
- Who will be the technology implementer with experience and focused on the Meetings Industry that will accompany us to achieve success? Have they proven knowledge and experience in this industry? In the contrary, dissatisfaction will grow exponentially, alongside the cost of the project
- How will the technology implementers help in this aspect, are they the developers of the tool, or just a representative? How many years have they been in the meetings industry? Do they add value to the company? Or should we invest time in training them on our business’ topics?
In the meetings industry, spreadsheets have taken most of our time without providing a better organization and without being an efficient and effective solution for the industry. Favoring the “isles” and uncommunication between processes of our company.
Many organizations have selected the most popular installed base, the largest or most attractive, or the one that offers the greatest support worldwide, without realizing that it could not be applied to the Meetings Industry, losing time, money, and effort.
It’s recommended to take into account that the company selected will accompany you not only until the live release of the system, but also, it will be the company that will have to provide solutions to the changes imposed by the market reality in the future.
If the selected company is the “most expensive” or it doesn’t speak our language, or your company doesn’t have the characteristics to be the “most attractive” client or important to the selected provider, then you’ll be facing problems in the near future, when the market imposes changes and you need to adapt to them.
Considering this last point we suggest selecting a company that at least brings solutions in our language, in our market, and if it’s possible in our continent. Usually, when the main clients of the selected company have most of their clients in other continents, or with a different reality to yours, when assistance is needed, even for minor changes, it could be very expensive or you wouldn’t be a priority for the supplying company.
In this sense, the selection of a regional provider guarantees a better attention and the possibility of “preventing future fires” with ease.
Finally, the selected technology provider preferably should be the proprietor of the technology offered. This will ensure that it will be able to have the sufficient flexibility to permanently adapt your solutions to the new needs that the future of the industry demands, to not fall into obsolete systems, which would imply having to go over the same process of technological renovation over and over again.
If the selected provider speaks the language of your industry, and the majority of your clients are from the meetings industry, then your company will be included in all the future strategic plans of the provider, and the improvement costs of the solution implemented in your company will be close to zero.
The incorporation of technology cannot become the objective, it’s about always being an efficient tool that allows productivity-growth and positioning.