Do DMCs provide ROI to your meetings, conferences and incentive travel programs during challenging economic times? This is a question I’ve been asked many times and my answer is, emphatically “YES”! A DMC accredited by the Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME) can greatly enhance your corporate image as well as save you time and money. Below are 3 questions, along with my responses, related to ROI that were asked of me in a recent interview:
Q. Why should a business work with a destination management company?
In today’s environment of reduced staff, reduced budgets and shorter deadlines, destination management companies (DMCs) help companies do more with less. DMCs save time and stress by leveraging their expertise, experience, and extensive local knowledge and connections for their client’s benefit in planning and producing corporate events.
Q. What are some of the costs associated with working with a DMC?
Rather than say that we save our clients money, and we absolutely do on the purchasing and consolidation of services, we do point out that there is a fee for our services. So the question becomes, how much more are you paying us to do it than if you did it yourself? In most all cases, our cost is less than the cost you would pay to do it yourself. I don’t want to contribute to the misnomer that it’s going to cost you less to hire us than to produce your own event, but if you add up the true cost of doing it yourself, including your time and the time of your employees, then we are definitely saving you money. You have to look at the whole cost, including the time of the people involved.
Q. What are some of the challenges a business faces when working with a DMC in this economy?
Unfortunately, there are many people out there who claim to be professional event managers and destination management companies, who are not properly licensed, insured or accredited. Most of the ‘bad experiences’ I hear about from clients have to do with companies or individuals that they thought were professional, but turned out to be frauds. The best way to ensure that you are working with a professional is to check their professional credentials, memberships and references thoroughly.