Venue-Rental Partnerships: Why Event Clients Love Them

Designing a stellar client experience starts with understanding customers’ expectations. Then, you do what you can to go above and beyond. A big part of wowing your clients is providing them with convenience at every step of the planning process. After all, they’re paying for your service and it’s up to you to make it as seamless as possible. This is where venue-rental partnerships come in.

Convenience comes in many forms. However, one of the best things you as a venue can provide is easy access to rental equipment. This completely streamlines the client’s experience. Additionally, it becomes an easy way to up-sell rentals and provide upgrades when built into the client onboarding process.

Perhaps your clients love the venue space, but aren’t sold on the in-house table and chair options. Working with a rental company makes the upgrade process much easier on the client. This type of partnership also expedites day-of production, as the rental team will be on site to speed up the setup and make the day as seamless as possible.

A venue’s partnership with a rental company isn’t just convenient, though. It can also provide your clients with an advantageous discount that will open up their budget to more options.

If you’re wondering how to build rentals into your existing business structure, here’s how to get started.

Start the conversation

Partnering with rental companies to enhance your client experience is as simple as reaching out directly to explore collaboration opportunities. Call up your local rental partners, invite them to tour the venue if they haven’t visited yet, and request a digital catalog so you can discuss options on site. If you host open houses for prospective couples, ask if they want to set up a few pieces as a creative way to market their brand and solidify your partnership. Partnerships are beneficial for everyone involved— the venue, the rental company, and the clients.

Prepare a space

If you plan to store rental items on site at a venue, you need to plan ahead for safe and efficient storage of the inventory. Ensure that you have a sizable storage space with ample room to store inventory pieces. Ideally, it should be climate controlled and easy to access on event days. If you don’t have a safe space to store things, they will deteriorate over time and, ultimately, be a waste of money.

Select the right products

Your rental partners will be able to walk you through the different inventory options available. Since you know your clients best and you’ve seen countless events hosted at your venue, you will have a good idea of what your clients truly want and the items that will be the most popular. Consider the areas that they upgrade the most and review the rental catalogs to decide the right fit. With your partners’ insight and your experience, you’re sure to make the best selection possible for your clients.

Be mindful of the maintenance required for certain items. You need to have the labor and workforce available to set up large items and store them without damage. For example, farm tables may be too unwieldy and heavy for your team to maneuver in the event space. In this case, it’s not worth keeping them on site and becoming a costly burden.

Clients love built-in venue-rental partnerships

The key to elevating the client experience is to build in efficiency and convenience at each touch point, from the initial intake to the post-event wrap-up. By providing them with helpful solutions and removing the obstacles along the way, you can ensure that their planning journey will be seamless and simple. This opens up the possibility for glowing client referrals and testimonials for both the venue and the rental company.

Feature Image by Amy Kolo