Question

What would be the individual Action Plan that an event manager should consider worthy of implementing in order to improve his “customer focus” competency?

Please answer the question by using the following “3W approach”:

• WHAT – Identify the actions to be included in the Action Plan
• WHY – Motivate your choices
• WHEN – Rank the identified actions in terms of priority

Answer 1

Event management is a business with many moving parts and multiple stakeholders. One of those stakeholders is the customers or the attendees of the event. This is why managing customer expectations and delivering a good experience is a top priority for an event manager. Here's an action plan that an event manager in order to improve his or her customer focus competency.

Stage 1 What

It's important to identify what does customer focus involve. Customer focus is a business-centric approach that involves putting the customer first and ensure that the customer has a good experience throughout the event. Here are the following experiences that need to be perfected or improved in order to improve customer experience or to become more customer-focused as an event manager.

• Advertising & Promotion - It's important to ensure that all of our advertising and promotion for the event is as clear and transparent as possible. It's also important not to misrepresent the event or misinform customers.

• Ticket Bookings & Sale - Ensuring that customers have access to an easy online and offline booking system along with easy refunds or transfers policy. Terms and conditions should be clearly communicated to the attendees

• Logistics - Transportation and accommodation are two factors that greatly influence customer satisfaction and manage their expectations and leave them with a great experience. Which is why its import for the event manager to ensure that logistics are well-taken care, months before the event commences

• Amenities & Facilities on-site - Its also essential to ensure that amenities such as F&B, restrooms are easily accessible and serviced periodically. An event which mismanages amenities on-site could tank a customer's experience.

• Event experience - This is the most important factor to take into account when planning and event. The experience that a customer has at the main event is what primarily determines their overall satisfaction. Thus, it's extremely important to ensure that the main event delivers as advertised.

• Attendees Surveys - It's important to survey attendees before, during and after the event via focus groups and opinion groups in order to improve the overall customer experience in the event. This could be done via focus groups or even sending out open and close-ended questions in the form of a survey to attendees or customers.

• Safety & Security - Last but not the least, ensuring that the safety and security of the event's attendees is of paramount importance. An event manager should ensure that his or her event as the right permits in order to operate safely.

Stage 2 Why

Here are a few reasons why its important to focus on the factors stated above in order to improve an event manager's customer competency

• Since event management has multiple moving parts and multiple stakeholders. it's easy to get distracted and get lost in the programming and planning of the event and forget about the core experience being delivered to the customers or the attendees.

• While the brand or the company that's sponsoring the event may be your clients, they're the event manager's customers, the attendees are the event manager's real customers. Ensuring that they're satisfied and that their expectations are met is as important as ensuring that the host brand or the host company is satisfied with the event.

Stage 3 When

Here's the order in which the event manager to prioritize improving his or her customer focus

Steps	Priorities	Description
1	Event experience	This should be the first step in event management. If the event manager is able to design or plan an event with a good experience, they've already done half of their work. This stage involves planning & programming.
2	Attendees Surveys	Once the event manager is done drawing up a blue print for the event experience its important that he or she stress test their ideas with a focus group of the target audience or give out surveys to their target demographic or attendees in order to customize and deliver on their expectations.
3	Logistics	Managing and planing logistics is the next most important step, this would involve working with various vendors to ensure that customers can commute and stay with ease at the event.
4	Amenities & Facilities on site	Once logistics are taken care of, it's important to work with various vendors to ensure that on site amenities are arranged.
5	Safety & Security	Before promoting the event, the event manager will need to arrange for security personel, obtain the necessary fire, police and other safety permits, in order to ensure that customers can experience with no disruptions.
6	Advertising & Promotion	As mentioned earlier It's important to ensure that all of our advertising and promotion for the event are as clear and transparent as possible. It's also important not to misrepresent the event or misinform customers. Which is why this should be the second last step. Event managers should only advertise once all of the steps above have been taken care of or completed.
7	Ticket Bookings & Sale	This should be the last stage, once all 6 stages of event management have been completed, it would be fair to open up the event for ticket bookings and sale.