{"id":572,"date":"2024-04-10T19:10:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T19:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/?p=572"},"modified":"2024-04-10T19:10:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T19:10:06","slug":"event-planners-can-break-bad-news-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/event-planners-can-break-bad-news-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"How Event Planners Can Break Bad News to Their Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662cbf5d82428\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-662cbf5d82428\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/event-planners-can-break-bad-news-clients\/#Here_Are_A_Few_Tips_That_Event_Planners_Can_Use_to_Break_Bad_News\" title=\"Here Are A Few Tips That Event Planners Can Use to Break Bad News\">Here Are A Few Tips That Event Planners Can Use to Break Bad News<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/event-planners-can-break-bad-news-clients\/#Final_Thoughts\" title=\"Final Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>As the saying goes, nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news. That statement holds true for event planners. I\u2019ll admit, it can be difficult to deliver bad news. Especially when the person you\u2019re delivering it to is your client or customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s the fear that the customer will blame you. There\u2019s no doubt that a meeting planner\u2019s job is demanding and therefore many meeting planners need to make decisions quickly. Therefore they\u2019re relying on their service provider, the event planner for example, to be straightforward with them. Top event planners understand that sometimes breaking bad news is unavoidable. It must be done. After all, it\u2019s your job to make sure that your customer is armed with all of the facts and information in order to make informed decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are ways to deliver bad news. It\u2019s an event planner\u2019s duty to inform the client when something is wrong. Or if something needs to be changed. But it\u2019s the way that the bad news is delivered that can make or break the working relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Here_Are_A_Few_Tips_That_Event_Planners_Can_Use_to_Break_Bad_News\"><\/span>Here Are A Few Tips That Event Planners Can Use to Break Bad News<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do not be yes man or woman from the get go.<\/strong>&nbsp;The worst thing that you can do is to simply say yes to your client because you\u2019re afraid to upset, or offend, him or her. After all, as the saying goes, the truth only hurts once whereas lies continue to hurt over and over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Choose your words wisely.<\/strong>&nbsp;Have you ever been in a restaurant and perhaps you\u2019ve asked for a menu substitution and your server simply said \u201cno we cannot do that\u201d? How did that make you feel? If you\u2019re like me, you may have wanted to get up and leave the restaurant simply because of the servers attitude. Perhaps if the server had taken the time to explain why a substitution was not available at the time, rather than simply jumping to no, you may have been more understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have a solution.&nbsp;<\/strong>Piggybacking on \u201cchoose your words wisely\u201d, if you have to say no you need to have a solution or a valid reason why the request cannot be completed. It will show your potential customer that you\u2019re thinking on your feet and that you also have additional options available for him or her to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Timing\/don\u2019t delay.&nbsp;<\/strong>If you know you have to have that conversation, do not put it off. Putting it off will not serve you nor your client favorably. When you find out if something cannot be executed as promised, begin your problem-solving (i.e. look for solutions) and have a conversation with your client ASAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deliver bad news in person.<\/strong>\u00a0If the opportunity presents itself, it\u2019s always best to meet with the person face-to-face. First off, it will soften the blow as your client, the meeting planner, will appreciate that you took the time to meet with them. It also shows that you have strength, knowledge and your dedicated to finding solutions for your client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I always joke that event planners need to be jugglers. On one hand they are dealing with their clients, meeting planners, and on the other hand they\u2019re dealing with multiple suppliers and vendors. All at the same time. So naturally there will be bad news from time to time that needs to be delivered. Seasoned meeting planners know that. But it\u2019s how an event planner delivers the bad news to their client that can make or break their relationship. Don\u2019t be one of those event planners that sticks their head in the sand hoping things will simply go away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They won\u2019t \u2013 you need to address them. Now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the saying goes, nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news. That statement holds true for event planners. I\u2019ll admit, it can be difficult to deliver bad news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mastertheevent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}