Affordability when it comes to Events
“I’m on a tight budget”
“Looking for reasonable quotes”
“Want something that doesn’t cost the Earth”
“As cheap as possible”
Statements like these are uttered every day when you work in the events industry; over the phone, in social media groups, emails & messages – every day.
I get it – cost of living crisis and all that – we all want a good bargain HOWEVER there is a reason that these phrases are incredibly unhelpful and, worst case, cause absolute time wasting when time is the most precious thing we have at the moment.
The reason these are unhelpful to everyone involved is numerous, and I’m going to use this blog piece to explain and hopefully help others have meaningful conversations around events, quotes, businesses and progress in much more thought out and productive way.
Firstly; if you don’t state a numerical figure, no one on the planet knows what your ‘tight budget’ is. This fails to set expectations all round so you’ll either have 1 of 2 things happen:
- People won’t bother to offer quotes because they assume (rightly or wrongly) that your budget is tiny/not enough/unrealistic and they will be out of it.
- You’ll get quotes that do not fit your budget anyway because you’ve given no guidance, which just wastes everyones time.
Give an idea of what you’re looking for e.g. less than £1000, less than £500 etc. to help narrow down the companies that are within budget.
Secondly, when it comes to ‘as cheap as possible’ I would urge absolute caution. I bang on about it but if its too good to be true – it probably is! Offering services that have a base cost attached for next to nothing screams scam. In which case you will LOSE the money completely and get nothing for it. A business has costs that it must cover. Yes, these are different for every business, but they will have costs that need to be covered – by doing something so cheaply (if they aren’t a scam artist) they will run out of money and go under. Again, you will LOSE the money and get nothing for it except added stress.
I would completely recommend joining this group on facebook Wedding scams, brides & companies to be aware of | Groups | Facebook to keep up to date – although the name is specific to weddings, its events in general and raises valid points about known scammers, businesses who have ceased trading, and more.
Thirdly, I don’t know anyone who will willingly spend more than they want to, or need to, to get something. When you put ‘reasonable’ in your request – what do you mean?
What’s reasonable to you, is unreasonable to someone else. Same with all those phrases “doesn’t cost the earth”, “a good deal”, “not too expensive”. All subjective, and not specific enough.
A good business will calculate their price with thought; it will cover their requirements like utilities and bills, insurance, the cost of running the service, the salary of the workers, the consumables, the motor running costs, and make a small return to the business. If a business is not profitable, it will not last and will close; in which case you’ve got less choice in the future. I can assure you; no good business will just create a figure and hike it up for the sake of it – they won’t get bookings if they are uncompetitive in the market for the service they provide. Without business, they will close. We’re in a tough, competitive industry, that focuses on luxuries that when times get hard, are the first to go (not be booked). All these things lead a decent business to consider their pricing carefully.
When a business quotes you (providing they have as much information as possible to accurately quote) they will be providing their best price. If they have an offer on, most will tell you e.g. book an additional service to get money off etc. Most legitimate businesses I know also provide other guidance e.g. this may not be within your budget but have you considered XX instead?
So, it isn’t expensive or unreasonable – it is out of your budget for that particular day/time/service/location.
Effectively, you’re looking for what you can afford; this is the kind of conversations you want to have;
“I am looking for XX for less than £00”
“I am looking for XX in LOCATION on XX Date for less than £00”
“Does anyone have recommendations for XX for less than £00 in LOCATION”
So my recommendations:
- I love when people go to groups online and ask for estimates for services. This research is a valuable use of time to understand what other people in your position have paid previously or been quoted previously. You can then make a more informed decision on whether the service is right for you, and within a budget you have.
- Get inspo photos as a starting point for discussion around budget. Find the ideas of what you want and give it to the experts and research what sort of pricing it would take to get along the same lines.
- Ask for quotes and provide as much detail as you have: the amount of requests for quotes I receive without a location is baffling. Let alone those who don’t provide a date – I could quote you but have no availability on the date you need so that’s just wasted everyone’s time. Set up a template; “Please could you provide a quote for XX on XX date in LOCATION, and let me know what that service includes, Many thanks”. Doesn’t need to be in depth but it will certainly allow those without the availability or ability to cover your location the option to bow out immediately.
- If you have an absolute budget figure for a service – state it. Or if you’re worried someone may just say the cost is whatever you’ve put, put a lower figure! (We don’t do this – we’ve always been transparent about our prices and they are easily available online, but I do appreciate in some circumstances for some industries they are at the mercy of wildly fluctuating prices so have to be as current with pricing as possible – looking at you florists and bakers – who have to start with a base cost and then price according to what is selected. And then some do rip people off – but that is far less than you think)
- Genuinely, if it seems way too cheap be careful – its likelihood of being a scam increases tenfold. Consider very carefully before booking.