If you don’t have trusted vendors, you’re losing out on business daily.
Hi y’all,
Welcome back to Busy Season, your guide to the hot takes, pro tips, and real stories sweeping the events industry.
We’ve talked before about networking, but today I want to talk about building a strong network of vendors. These are the people you can refer inquiries to when they’re not the right fit, exchange subrentals with, and more. Let’s get right into it!
One of the reasons I love the event space is that it’s so community oriented. The way everyone rallies together to bring a client’s vision to life is awe-inspiring.
And having a strong network of other event professionals is essential to growing and thriving amidst fluctuations in your business, market, and industry. Especially with the holiday season approaching, a strong network will help you respond to increases in customer demands, mitigate risk, and better negotiate.
There are two types of businesses I believe you need in your rental network:
1. Businesses you can partner with when you’re at or over capacity.
These businesses should align with your company values and inventory. They’re perfect for subrenting inventory if you run short on an item. Ideally they care for their inventory in the same way you care for yours.
(Example: If you’re a growing boutique furniture company and clients are requesting seating beyond what your limited inventory can provide, it would make sense to partner with another rental house in your network to supplement your inventory.)
2. Businesses you can refer clients to when a potential client doesn’t align with your business objectives.
This second type of business does not have to align with the type of inventory you carry for your ideal customer. In fact, there should actually be very little overlap — otherwise, you would take on the business yourself!
(Example: If you’re a typical rental company and folks want fancier linens than what you normally provide, it would make sense to partner with a linen company to offer a ‘premium’ line of linens.)
But what else should you look for in a partner?
In either type of partnership mentioned above, you shouldn’t just refer business to partners — partners should also refer business to you. If at any point you don’t feel like partnering is beneficial to your short- and long-term goals, you should revisit the terms of the agreement.
Besides that, your business practices should align. As an example, if customer service is one of your top priorities, it should be one of theirs too. And you should be on the same page when it comes to the financial terms of your agreement. Iron things like volume-based discounts out ahead of time.
I’ll leave you with a really fun success story. Before Melissa Teague joined our customer success team, she was the owner of Simply Chic in Celina, TX. She and Autumn Sadler from Shindigs and Socials helped each other grow by forming the first type of partnership listed above. Now Autumn is a Goodshuffle Pro user — and all these years later, they’re still sub-renting linens from Simply Chic.
Here’s a picture from a couple weeks ago, when Melissa went out on a “site visit” to Autumn’s warehouse:
With that in mind, get out and get networking before the holiday season begins! You may just make a lifelong connection.
See you next Tuesday,
Mallory Mullen
Goodshuffle
