Meeting planners can be quite challenging for any sales team and banquet department. While there are meeting planners that are completely professional and forthcoming, there are just as many that seem to thrive on creating difficulties during a function. Working with a difficult meeting planner is inevitable if you are in this business, but there are ways to offset their challenging attitude.
Types of ‘Difficult’ Meeting Planners & Solutions
The Know It All – One of the top two worst types of meeting planners you will run into. While this person may not be familiar with your property, he or she will constantly tell you how to do your job. Generally, it is confrontational from the outset and never lets up.
Solution: This client is going to require the most delicate of approaches because anything you counter him or her with is going to be deemed as an insult to his or her intelligence. You are going to have to choose your words carefully and invoke their trust by citing specific examples of what you have done in the past and what has worked in similar situations as the one you are currently dealing with here.
If the meeting planner makes changes against your recommendations, make sure it is documented as well as the recommendation you made that was refused. Above all, remain patient, because the know it all will pounce if they sense weakness.
Always an Emergency – You know the person… always looks frazzled and every decision is life or death. This type of meeting planner is going to be very needy and will fret over even the tiniest of details. This also tends to be someone that is constantly changing deadlines not necessarily based on the meeting schedule, but on his or her own personal schedule.
Solution: You are going to have to win this person over with a proven record of success during his or her function. When dealing with this type of person, work to keep him or her informed as much as possible to show things are moving along according to plan.
Undecided – This is one of the more frustrating types of clients in that nothing ever seems to be finalized. When put on the spot, it can often cause them to completely break down.
Solution: In this case, decisions are going to be forced upon you, so make sure the recommendations are rock solid and can be carried off without a hitch. At times, it may be like pulling teeth, but get the individual to commit to a plan and stick to it. Once something is decided, however, make sure the client signs off on it so it is documented.
Do What You Want – This may seem like a dream client, but it can often lead to frustration and problems. This is the meeting planner that is completely hands off and leaves everything in your hands but also complains when you do not meet his or her expectations, even though those expectations were never expressed.
Solution: Much like the undecided client, you may be forced to make a lot of the decisions. Even so, work with the individual and fully explain exactly what you are doing as well as the expected outcome. Your job here, just as it is with the undecided client, is to evoke confidence and get them to buy into your plan.
The Complainer – This is the person that is simply not capable of being satisfied. It does not matter what you do or say, things could have been done better or quicker. They often cannot or at least are not willing to tell you exactly what they want… because they want there to be problems.
Solution: This individual is looking for reasons to get a discount, so don’t give it to them. The word “sorry” is built into our vocabulary in this industry, but you have to be really careful when using that word with this type of client because it is immediately interpreted as you having screwed up.
When approaching this type of client, it is important to have every detail of the BEO ironed out before each and every function. When the client complains, ask him or her to specifically cite what you did wrong according to the contract. While doing so, keep in mind this cannot be done in a confrontational way. More than any other client, you are going to have to keep your cool until you eventually wear this person down by simply doing your job correctly and delivering on every aspect of the BEO.
How to Manage the Functions Overall
Communication – For all of these individuals, as well as the profiles not mentioned here, communication is going to play a key role in ensuring these clients leave the property feeling happy and satisfied. Part of that communication is going to be about avoiding trigger words or phrases that will undoubtedly set them off. For instance, NEVER start a sentence of with “There is nothing we can do…” Instead, use phrases like “What we can do here…” It may not necessarily be the solution they want, but it is a solution that will work.
Saying Sorry – When you are wrong, admit it, plain and simple. Trying to cover up a mistake is only going to make matters worse. Having said that, have a solution in place or that is in the process of being put in place to ease their displeasure. On the other hand, don’t hand out a sorry just for the sake of being empathetic to their cause. As mentioned in one of the profiles above, sorry can sometimes be a trigger word that only makes matters worse for both you and the property.
Goals & Measurables – For all of these clients, goals and measurables need to be in place and reviewed throughout the function. If a guest tells you their entire event has been a disaster after a small mishap, ask them for more details. When meeting with the client, specifically go over what has taken place, what is taking place, and what is about to take place to make sure everyone is on the same schedule.
Just Listen – In some cases, the frustration the event planner is experiencing has nothing at all to do with you. Simply put, they just need someone to vent to. Be that shoulder or ear and allow them to have their say. Don’t interrupt, take notes (even if it is not your department), and do not argue with them when they are going off. Once the venting is over, offer solutions where possible or ensure the guest you will get his or her concerns in front of the right person. Most importantly, follow up on these issues as soon as there is progress to show the meeting planner you do care, and their concerns have now become your concerns.
Don’t Overpromise, Overdeliver – When you are under the gun, there is always the temptation to promise the client anything just to get the confrontation over with. The problem here is that when you don’t deliver, you just make matters worse. Instead, offer solutions you absolutely know can be carried out and work as hard as possible to overdeliver on those expectations.
Document, Document, Document – Be it through notations on the BEO or recorded conversations, make sure these changes are always documented. Ask the client if you can record the conversation so there is no discrepancy in what they are saying or agreeing to. If they don’t want to be recorded, make appropriate notes on the BEO and have them sign off.
The bottom line here is that it is up to you to make this relationship work, even when clients are doing what we perceive to be everything in their power to make us fail. Ultimately, regardless of how they are acting, they really do want the function to go off well, so you just need to win them over. Some will take more work than others, but the clients that present the most challenges are often the ones leaving you feel like a superhero when you pull the function off successfully.
Are your guests unhappy with the level of service being delivered by your staff? Are your managers not training your staff properly on how to deal with difficult clients? Joseph David International has been successfully placing managers in the hotel industry for more than a decade because we go the extra mile to ensure we are finding the ideal fit for our clients. To learn more about our hospitality recruiting services, click here.
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