Today i reinforced my belief in the value of building good relationships with your suppliers. With an event looming and an oversight being made, it was so good to be able to make one phone call and everything to be sorted. Although i think courtesy and mutial respect go a long way it would seem that others do not follow suit.
Recently i discovered some practices in an agency (which will remain nameless) being beyond belief. Having worked agency side earlier in my career i know the time pressures you can sometimes face to deliver pitches or events with very short leadtimes. These are the times when your good relationships can be extremely advantageous. It would seem that the practice in agency X was that you ring suppliers for a quote and then if you don’t recieve it after 2 hours you then start chasing them via phone and email. The worrying factor is that this is their general practice not just for emergency situations.
Working like this certainly does not lead to good working relationships and i have heard many of my contacts now refuse their calls.
To be sucessful in the events industry, take time to build relationships and create a good reputation for yourself as a buyer. We are an industry who like to talk!
Happy Planning xx
