As delegate rates rise, the BVA BDRC Venue Verdict study for Q2 2024 emphasizes the increasing necessity of providing value for money and enhancing customer experiences to justify these costs, particularly in London where rates surged significantly.
The need to offer value for money is becoming more pressing as delegate rates increase, according to Venue Verdict study for Q2 2024 by BVA BDRC. The group reported that consistent improvements in customer experience were helping to justify the growth in rates, which was led by the capital.
London has seen rapid growth in rates, up 43% to £94.35 against the same quarter in 2019, with the provinces and overall UK & Ireland up 39% and 37% respectively.
Year-on-year increases were reported in all regions except Scotland and NE/York/Humber, which showed a decrease, but overall London rates rose by 5%, with the UK also up 5% and the provinces growing by 4%.
Louise Tawadrous, client services director, BVA BDRC, said: “Perception of value for money has remained fairly low throughout the past 24 months. Given the increase seen in DDR rates it is now more important than ever to make packages more appealing and add value, to see a positive impact on the value for money perception.”
Customer experience continued to see improvements, with a slight dip in Q2 2024 after the previous quarter’s record high, according to VenueVerdict’s Sales Enquiry Performance UK industry average. The steady growth was fuelled by building better customer relationships and experiences.
The feedback module of VenueVerdict reported an all-time low in Q4 2021 UK National average Net Promoter Score of 44. There was divergence in scores between the programmes towards the end of 2023, but performance at the end of Q1 2024 was at an all-time high of 71%, beating 2019 scores, dipping slightly in Q2 2024.
Looking at proposal response times, described by Tawadrous as “vital for winning business”, they also surpassed 2019 levels, despite dipping in the first quarter of last year.
In 2019, around 80% of venues were sending the proposal within eight hours, and around 70% were within four hours. These fell to a low of 54% sending the proposal within eight hours in Q3 2021 and 44% sending it within four hours. There was a steady improvement throughout 2022 and 2023, sustained into Q2 2024, with 87% sending proposals within four hours and 78% within eight hours.
Of the three sales attributes – Enquiry Handling, Pre-Event Communication and Understanding Priorities – all were on track to beat past year’s scores. The first two months of 2024 were slower, but March scores were at an all-time high, with scores stabilising from April onwards. Of the three, Understanding Priorities had the biggest influence on customer experience scores.
Also outdoing the 2019 figures were the softer customer skills, including friendliness and flexibility.
Tawadrous concluded: “This is an area which should remain a focus, given its impact on customer satisfaction. F&B quality and delivery scores remain the lowest from all attributes, suggesting this could be a real area of opportunity for improving customer satisfaction, particularly as delegates seek better value for money.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
