Cvent Supplier Professional Certification · In December 2014, Cvent, Inc. acquired Elite Meetings...

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Cvent Supplier Professional Certification Prep Guide

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©2019 Cvent, Inc. Updated March 2019

Training Outline During this four-part training series, you will gain a deeper understanding of how planners use Cvent, how to increase your leads, along with best practices to efficiently manage your account. Preparing for the Exam Attend Training – Whether watching the videos online or attending in-person, this guide provides an outline to the key content you will learn. Take Notes – Add your notes to the outline and answer the questions throughout. Some questions ask you to recall information from training, where others give you the chance to think about how the concepts apply to you or your venue. Review the Objectives – At the end of this guide, review the objectives. A certified Cvent supplier professional will be able to demonstrate expertise for each item. Take the Exam – Put your knowledge to the test and complete the certification exam, good luck! The Certification Program Part 1: Understand the Planner Perspective Do you ever stop to put yourself in the mindset of the buyer? This session will provide you a hands-on experience with the three Cvent sourcing tools available, while also teaching you the value-add of each to a meeting planner. You will also better understand your venue’s visibility on the Supplier Network, as well as how a meeting planner sends an RFP, receives responses, and compares them side by side before awarding. Part 2: Market to the Right Audience Competition on online networks is higher than ever, so it is important to learn how to stand out in the right ways. Learn how your profile appears to the Cvent meeting planner and how to take it to the next level. We will take a consultative look into how an enhanced profile can increase not only your profile completion score, but also your chance of receiving business. Part 3: Manage Leads within an Account The right account set up is imperative to a successful sales process and the first step to success with Cvent. We will review how to update user access and permissions, how to assign and prioritize inbound leads, and other helpful practices that will help your sales team manage leads in the most efficient way possible. Lastly, this session will provide tips for the best way to handle common scenarios by using features available such as forwarding RFPs, withdrawing proposals, and self-awarding leads. Part 4: Increase Online Conversion Rates Winning more business is the foundation of Cvent Certification, and creating a great proposal is an essential piece to increasing your lead conversion. We will discuss what planners want to see in proposals, understand how to identify your audience and their needs before creating a bid, and explain what it takes to create a standout proposal while saving time. These handy tips and tricks will not only benefit you, but your property as a whole.

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I. Understand the Planner Perspective Use Cvent for Site Selection Planners perform their site selections by using three tools.

Tool What is it? Benefits? Notes Destination Guide Serves as an area for event planners

to conduct preliminary research on their event’s city

______________ Centralized portal for planners to search for discounted rates or deals by market, date range, popularity, and more!

_______________ Planners use the main Supplier Network search page to search over 200,000 venue profile pages, review their details, and ultimately add them to their RFP.

Search the Supplier Network - Recognize how your venue appears How are the hotels ordered in the search?

Try It - Search for your own venue on the Supplier Network and make note of what you’ve done well and what you would like to change about your venue profile pages, knowing that a planner is using this material to search for meeting venues. How did you find your venue? What looks good?

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What should you change? 1.

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3.

Bonus:

• Find your property on one of the Directories. • Locate a desirable promotion on the Promo Hub. • Check out the info for your favorite city on the Destination Guide. How does it

compare to your metro area?

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Understand Planner RFP Preferences RFP Types – A planner can choose the type of RFP they will create. Quick and Advanced RFPs are the most common. What’s the difference? Planner Preferences – The planner can indicate which costs should be required in the bids they receive from venues. Custom Questions – In the last step, a planner can add custom questions. How are these questions created? How should you form your response to these questions in your proposal? Send and Manage an RFP Once a planner has created their RFP and utilized our Supplier Network to find appropriate venues, they’ll go through the process of sending the RFP and managing responses. RFP Showcase- A planner can choose to opt their RFP into the RFP Showcase in addition to sending it to venues directly. Why is the RFP Showcase valuable to planners? To venues? NSO Contacts – Planners can manage a list of industry contacts in their Cvent account. If a planner chooses to involve an NSO when sending their RFP, what are the two ways they can do so?

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Who controls whether NSO contacts are copied to a RFP? Validations – Measures have been put in place to ensure venues are receiving more qualified leads. What should you do to ensure your venue is receiving qualified leads? What are the Cvent best practices for the number of venues and metro areas to which an RFP can be sent? How does this affect your venue?

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Compare Bids Report - This is a side-by-side comparison report that planners use to view their proposals. How does your response and venue profile impact this report? Planner Awarding Process – The planner can award the RFP to one or more venues. Who can award an RFP? How are they alerted to do so? Other ways for planners to submit RFPs In December 2014, Cvent, Inc. acquired Elite Meetings International, expanding Cvent’s eRFP channels to include EliteMeetings.com and SpeedRFP.com alongside the Cvent Supplier Network. In April 2016, we integrated the proposal workflow for hoteliers, so all RFPs are showing in your Cvent account. Planners can send RFPs using the SpeedRFP technology if a hotel purchases what type of product? What types of RFPs can be submitted using SpeedRFP products?

II. Market to the Right Audience Capitalize on your Marketing Strategy Ask yourself: What is my venue’s marketing strategy and how can I translate it to my Cvent profile? What types of business are you trying to capture? Are you highlighting unique selling factors? Do you have a full and current profile? Update your Cvent Profile Venue Overview Section – See the overall health of your Cvent account. What are the key metrics visible in this section? Supplier Profile Audit – This report will show the features that are configured or missing in your profile.

Try It - In your Cvent account, review the Overview Section and run the Supplier Profile Audit Report. What is your venue profile completeness score?

Download the sample report. Click here or locate the document in the Support Center: 1. Click Support Center at

the top-right of Cvent when you are logged in.

2. Click Articles and search “Comparison Bids Example”

3. Click on the article name, then download the PDF.

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When you ran the Supplier Profile Audit Report, what did you identify as something that should be changed on your profile? Update your Cvent Profile Use this checklist to keep your profile in top shape. ü Tell your story.

Venue Description – Keep it geared towards group business and use paragraphs or bullets to help planners digest the information.

Facility Information – Add sleep room numbers and meeting room information. How does your facility information impact the meeting planner’s search?

ü Boast about your accomplishments.

Awards – Build credibility by adding accolades to your profile. What third party ratings will you show? How can you manage the Northstar rating?

ü Line up all meeting space.

Meeting Rooms – Add a capacity chart for planners and show the flexibility of your property. How can adding meeting rooms be used as a timesaver?

ü Visually represent your property.

Image Gallery– Capture the planner’s attention. How can you tell which images are included from Leonardo? How can you manage them?

What size images should be loaded into your account for high resolution?

ü Sell your location

Local Attractions – Stand out from your competition. What attractions can you include for your venue?

ü Promote what the planner is looking for.

Promotions What are the top three things planners look for in a promotion? 1.

2.

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What can make your promotion a winning one?

Certain profile features will be available based on your marketing listing level. Questions? Contact your Cvent Sales Representative or call 1.888.318.4358.

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ü Provide additional collateral.

Documents – Provide all of the information a planner may want up front. What documents will you add to your profile?

What is the new way to categorize documents on your profile?

Try It – Commit to at least one update to make to your venue profile.

I commit to updating_________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

More notes:

III. Manage Leads within an Account In this section, you’ll learn about managing leads within your Cvent account as efficient as the rest of your business! Understand the Venue Administrator Role A venue administrator ensures your account is efficient and the other Cvent users have the access they need. The venue administrator can…

Cvent recommends that each property has a venue administrator. Who is the Venue Administrator at your property? The venue administrator can stay on top of your Cvent account, especially with the high-turnover in hospitality. They can also be someone who can educate your Cvent users or serve as the main contact between Cvent and your property when communicating new feature and updates

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Differentiate between Lead Catchers and Users User - an individual that has a login to Cvent and can access the RFPs for a venue. What area of your Cvent account will you go to delete a user? How can you change a password on behalf of a user? Where can you change the properties that a user can see when they log into Cvent?

Try It - If you are the Venue Administrator, visit the Users section to add or delete users for your account. Lead Catcher - An individual that receives email notifications when a new RFP is sent for a venue. Does a lead catcher need to also be a user? How can someone who is not listed as a venue administrator update a lead-catcher? Where are the two locations a lead catcher can be updated? Enhance the Lead Management Process Ensure that no business is left behind by taking advantage of the features in your Cvent account. Routing Rules – Send a lead to a particular sales manager based on the criteria you define. What is a routing rule you could set up at your venue? Escalation Rules – A lead will be moved to another person based on certain triggers. What is an escalation you could set up at your venue? Venue Overview Page - view your current venue administrators, users, lead catchers, and quick links to a couple of reports. Custom Views – use to organize your account in the most efficient way possible. Use advanced filters to customize the columns that appear.

Try It - Set up a custom view in your account.

Interested in using any of the following paid features? • Routing Rules • Escalation Rules

Contact your Cvent Sales Representative or call 1.888.318.4358.

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RFP Actions There are several actions that you can take upon receiving an RFP.

Scenario 1 - You need to ensure that no incoming business is missed. What feature do you use?

Scenario 2 - You need to let the planner know you are working on their response. What feature do you use?

Scenario 3- You are not able to accommodate the business. What feature do you use?

Scenario 4- You turned down a piece of business that you later discover that you can accommodate. What do you do? Is the planner notified?

Scenario 5 - You can’t accommodate the business, but a sister property might be able to. What do you do?

What information is most important for you to see? How can you use this tool and demonstrate its value to your team?

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Scenario 6 - You have responded to 3 RFPs whose meetings occur at the same time. One piece of business turns definite. What should you do with the other RFPs?

Scenario 7 – The planner has awarded your property the business but the RFP is not listed as “Awarded” in Cvent. What feature can you use? When will the status change in your Cvent account?

Scenario 8 - You notice a typo in an RFP that you submitted yesterday. Where should you go to make edits? Should you resend the RFP?

Scenario 9 - A planner updates their RFP and now requires more meeting space. What will you see in your account to alert you? Should you resend the RFP?

Scenario 10 – You represent multiple properties and want to take actions in bulk. Or, you’d like to see what your proposal looks like to the planner. Where in your account can you go to perform bulk actions? What will you be able to see on a View Bids Report from your account? RFP Actions – SpeedRFP RFPs If you’re listed on the SpeedRFP Network, or have a SpeedRFP button you may come across certain RFPs that don’t require the in-depth proposal through your Cvent account. If this is the case, send the brochure over using email and change the status in Cvent by

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using Track Offline Proposal, so your response rate isn’t affected and proposal statuses are up-to-date. The Cvent Support Community Our knowledge base, located in the Support Center, connects you to frequently-updated resources like videos, documents, and online trainings so you’re empowered to learn more.

IV. Increase Conversion Rates Determine What Planners Want After conducting research with planners, the following items are key decision factors:

• Price is not the only factor that is considered. Be sure to demonstrate the complete venue value in your response. How can you demonstrate value for your venue?

• Aim for a balance of reasonable response time and response quality

• Tell them something they don’t know, and avoid extra information if it does not relate to the planner’s event.

• Address all of the planner’s questions. What else should you consider when answering questions in the RFP?

Know your Audience Read the RFP to determine how you should respond. These are some questions you can ask yourself: What is the Response Due Date? Did the planner fill out the entire RFP, with detail? If they didn’t, what could you infer? What organization or industry are they from? How can this help you reply? Are they collecting commission? How does your response change based on whether the planner is collecting commission?

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Are the dates flexible? Is there event history with your property? Are there other destinations under consideration? How can knowing the answers to these questions help you? Did they provide decision factors or business objectives? If they didn’t, what could this mean?

Scenario – Use the Sample RFP data to answer the questions below. Nike Women’s Sales Retreat • 200 attendees and 100 non-smoking rooms for a two-day event • Five of the same retreats occurring simultaneously across country • Sponsoring breakfast on both days of the event. Private room preferred. • Meeting rooms: • Day 1: General Session – Classroom Style • Day 2: Five Breakout Sessions What information would you give to make the sale? What factors do you think are most important to this group? Create a Successful Bid Shave time off of your responses by following these best practices:

Use Proposal defaults to ensure that your brand and property’s standards are being upheld in your proposals. What kinds of information can be added as a proposal default?

Use documents to include extra information about your property with attachments.

Use previous responses to send responses sent by your colleagues to the planners. Can you edit the text? What does the option “Set text as Future Proposal default” mean?

The proposal introduction is your first impression. What should you add in this area? What should you avoid mentioning?

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You can change the Event Date if the event is flexible and the whole proposal will reflect with the new set of dates. What should you use the “Event Date Additional Information” to communicate?

Sleeping and meeting room additional information can be populated from your profile. How does the sleeping room copy feature save you time?

Respond to the Alternate Dates the planner provided, or add your own.

The Meeting Room Grid is where you can assign a room to an agenda item. What are the recommended timesavers to make filling this out more efficient?

The estimated cost grid is customized by the planner for each RFP. What does it mean if the cost is bold and red?

Additional questions can be added by the planner. What should you consider while responding to these?

Under concessions and contractual requirements, address any information related to attrition, concessions or promotions.

In attachments, use the document library to provide more detail and information.

Lastly, the proposal key contact information indicates how someone can get in touch with you. Where does this information populate from? What should you do before submitting your proposal?

Communicate Beyond the Proposal Don’t let the sale end after submitting your bid! Use the tools at your disposal to continue to build and foster the relationship with this new customer.

Use the Message Box at the end of the proposal wizard

What should you add in this section? Where can a planner see what you have written?

Copy NSOs and CVBs on your proposal; as well as up to three other people, including colleagues, a boss, or another email address.

Use the Send Message feature

Where can you find a history of messages sent?

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Efficiently Use Reports It’s important to look at your leads and your meetings business holistically. In this section you will use reports to gain insight into your business.

4 Reports every Venue should run… Notes Proposal Status Report

RFPs Won and Lost

Turned Down RFPs

Supplier Response Time

Where can you run reports? What can you select and customize? How can you drill down further? How can you view the report in Excel?

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The Certification Exam The Certification exam is comprised of 40 questions. You will have 75 minutes to complete it. You may refer to your notes and Cvent account during the exam.

Action Items Use this section to remind yourself any follow up items you want to complete after training and certification.

Changes I want to make in my venue profile:

• __Review Meeting Space Grid______________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

Things I want to share with my team:

• __Register for Cvent Certification!____________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

Questions for Cvent:

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

• _______________________________________________________________

Cvent Supplier Professional Certification · In December 2014, Cvent, Inc. acquired Elite Meetings...

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Transcript of Cvent Supplier Professional Certification · In December 2014, Cvent, Inc. acquired Elite Meetings...