The Challenge

The Pharmaceutical code of conduct changed in 2008 and the impact of this was felt heavily by Pharmaceutical companies. Failure to follow compliance would be costly and seriously affect the credibility of these companies in a world where trading successfully relies on their reputations. The challenge was to support our client in the selection of venues for external events where a healthcare professional would be in attendance. There was no additional headcount available for the project and a reluctance to mandate the policy, which had to be offset against the dangers of not adhering to the compliance changes. The company needed the new implementation requirements policing in a subtle way, but one which highlighted non-compliant activities to the compliance department. At this stage there was no procedure in place to support external meetings, as they were often small, without full event management support, and run by the Sales Managers in the field. With no idea how many meetings were currently taking place, or the workload, putting together a business case for increased headcount was extremely difficult.

The Solution

A direct support desk for meetings of fewer than 15 people, allowing the stakeholders with external meetings to book by phone or through an online booking form. The telephone system implemented immediately identified the booker through CTI technology, ensuring the process was fast, informed, supportive and easy. Firstly we discuss their choice of preferred venue and highlighted any possible issues with compliance through solution-driven process. The venue was then secured at the best price, ensuring compliance on the rooms and catering areas, and delivered as a budget confirmation direct to their inbox. In the event of the preferred venue not being available a suitable alternative venue was suggested. We also checked all contracts against a pre-agreed contract checklist and liaised with the venue on final numbers and last minute details.  Thus the stakeholder has only one point of contact for all their meeting needs.

This new service is called Xpress Meetings

Outcome

The pilot was such a success that it was rolled out to the business within 3 months and has now been running successfully for 4 years. External meetings follow a completely controlled process which is now part of the staff induction on joining the company. Compliance is secured and a preferred programme of suppliers is currently in the pilot stage to ensure that maximum benefit is achieved from every pound spent, no matter how small. The sales team now has more time to be customer-facing and are receiving maximum support for their meeting planning. The events team has complete access to all correspondence and we highlight any issues before they become a problem. We now offer a similar system to our contracted clients depending on their needs and challenges.

Key Successes

- Achieving maximum buy-in from all stakeholders' within 18 months of programme rollout
- Requirement increased to include meetings for fewer than 20 delegates
- Reduce direct bookings by building confidence in the service and strong relationships with bookers
- Our team becoming a fully integrated part of the client’s event team and bookers being unaware they are booking through an external agency because the process is completely streamlined
- Achieving 24% cost savings for the client on smaller meetings
- Being granted Power of Attorney by client to sign all contracts on bookings under a certain value – equates to about 85% of smaller meetings
- Implementation of a small meetings contract working with preferred suppliers on a local and regional level
- Negotiation of preferred terms and conditions and cancellation charges on local meetings to support use of client’s internal meeting space