Corporate hospitality: for your clients or you

We’ve all seen the balconies at sporting venues with the VIP boxes in the background. We imagine the fortunate and favoured sipping chilled champagne and eating mini shrimp and avocado starters in climate controlled luxury. One of our secret ambitions is to be invited to join the exclusive circle of chino clad sports revellers and see for ourselves just what goes on in one of those suites. A primary obstacle for the majority of sports goers is how to go about procuring that invitation. For most, it’s simply beyond reach.

For those who operate in corporate business circles, the chances of attending your dream sports events are much greater. Businesses are taking advantage of an increasingly popular method of wooing clients, rewarding existing clients and expanding distribution networks. They have found that one of the keys to good business is to invite important decision makers to corporate hospitality events. Treating important clients or prospective clients to their favourite sporting event, complemented with the best food and drink, creates a favourable impression and goes a long way to securing their future favour.

Before inviting any clients to a corporate event it is important to do some investigating to find out what their interests are and to accommodate them in planning. Some clients may appreciate a private box at the ballet rather than prime seats at the rugby. Others may be table tennis nuts and would therefore be less appreciative of a night of Romeo and Juliet at the theatre. It might also prove useful to find out if any of your competitors make use of corporate hospitality as a means of ensuring client loyalty and goodwill. Knowledge of the resulting benefits and disadvantages will help you to better plan your events.

It’s also important to find out if your prospective guests would prefer to attend an event alone or with their partners. Some people are particularly family orientated and wouldn’t think of attending a sports event or fun day without their children, this, too must be taken into account. If they have children or have strong ties in the local community they might not want to travel but stay within the area and support some local talent. As the event is intended to be for the client’s benefit, the client’s preferences must be your first priority.

The invitation can be issued verbally but should ideally be written. It must be delivered with due consideration given to the client’s schedule, with enough time for them to enter it into their diaries and plan around it. The invitation should be attractive and invoke interest, not only in the event, but also in meeting you and getting to know your business. It should also be done in a professional manner, as it serves as the first impression that the prospective client will have of your business. Included in the invitation package should be all the information that they will need to attend the event. If the event isn’t local you should include a map, an itinerary if the event involves more than one activity, and a card indicating that they are entitled to free VIP parking.

Corporate hospitality needn’t only be an entertaining day for prospective clients. After all of the planning and organising, it can be a rewarding day for the business staff and owner. The hospitality market is growing at an estimated rate of 150 million Pounds per year. It stands to reason that businesses that don’t take advantage off all that it has to offer, will soon find themselves scorned by clients who’ve come to expect five-star treatment, and all the courtship that they can handle. Corporate hospitality is tailor made for a world that values materialism and consumerism above all else. Businesses should just be careful that in their desire to convert clients to their side, they don’t create corporate monsters with insatiable appetites for free tickets to the most popular events.
Recommended site:

http://www.corporatehospitality.com/information/Corporate-Hospitality-.html