Why should you use a venue finder you ask yourself – I’ve got Google! BUT Google does not have all the answers!
We have compiled a list of 22 reasons (we’re in 2022 so why not!) on why you should use DeSouza Associates as your venue finder.
Here are reasons 8 – 14
DeSouza Associates pride ourselves on the great service we provide our clients and we feel we do a great job – we just have to shout about it!
8. Free service – we can find you a venue at no cost to you, no catch!
DeSouza Associates are able to offer our venue finding and event sourcing service for FREE!
How? What’s the catch? I hear you say!
Well, we will work on your behalf to identify the ideal event solution and negotiate competitive rates to encourage confirmation with us! If, and only, if you choose to book a venue or event supplier through us, which we have recommended and proposed, do we earn a small commission from the venue for directly introducing the business. Only once your event has taken place and all final invoices have been paid do we then receive this payment.
9. Experience – you can’t buy experience!
DeSouza Associates are currently celebrating being in business for over 25 years! Collectively the team members have a wealth of knowledge and experience within the events industry and have formed established relationships with lots of venues, hotel groups and events suppliers both in the UK and Worldwide.
We pride ourselves on our professional integrity and impartial advice. Our efficient service and strong standing client relationships has meant many of our clients come back to us time and time again.
With our combined knowledge and expertise you can be assured that we can assist you with all aspects of your event, from not just the venue finding but offer much more to help you create the perfect event.
10. Saves time – we will do all the research for you
Time is a precious commodity in today’s busy world, and many people say how they are ‘time poor’ in their jobs! Outsourcing venue finding, for an event, to experts who have the direct venue contacts within the industry, and know what questions to ask, can be invaluable.
A venue finder will have, at their fingertips, all the right people to contact and know all the venues that will suit each individual event brief. Instead of having to trawl through the internet for hours & hours looking for that perfect venue, a venue finder can do this for you with just one click of an email or telephone call.
DeSouza Associates has access to thousands of venues on their database and collectively the team have extensive venue knowledge, pulling on their previous industry experience working in venues too.
The ultimate aim is to make your life easier by taking away the hassle and strain of researching and contacting lots of venues.
A venue finder’s service should greatly reduce the administration time & effort required to source and book your event or venue.
11. Less hassle – following on from above – you can get on with your own work
Venue searching for an event is a lengthy process and extremely time consuming, taking many hours of research to ensure finding the perfect solution for your event.
It can be hard to find contact information, the right people to speak to at venues and without having good, long-standing working relationships it is difficult to negotiate and get the best deal!
DeSouza Associates job is to find venues and therefore we have the passion to do this. We take pride in our service we provide to every client, and the end goal is to find the best suited venue for every event.
All you need to do is contact us with a comprehensive event brief and we will then do all the rest! We can obtain information quickly and accurately for you, knowing exactly what is required plus more, pull venue information together in a concise and clear proposal outlining all the relevant details and clearly laid out so you can easily compare each venue from one another.
DeSouza Associates will shield all the venue chase calls that you inevitably have when placing an enquiry at a venue. We take our time to negotiate the best rates, ensure all the correct information is provided.
12. Organise site inspections on your behalf to view your shortlisted venues
When deciding on where to host your next event, one of the most important things is to perform site inspections to the venues.
Desk based research is helpful but nothing can beat physically viewing the venues in person. You can only tell so much about a venue through the website & other marketing paraphernalia!
DeSouza Associates will always recommend and encourage clients to visit their shortlisted venues prior to confirming. We can organise everything for you, just let us know the venues you wish to see and date preferences, and we will check availability for you. We will work out the most direct and affective route for your visits and where possible, if required, we can also attend the venues with you. For visits that are some distance from you where accommodation and/or refreshments will be required we will do our best to negotiate any costs with the venue for you, if applicable.
Once arranged, we will send a detailed itinerary including timings, contact details and directions to the venues.
We believe the benefits of doing site inspections far out way not visiting at all, there is no substitute in experiencing the venue directly.
13. School holidays and key dates – no one wants to book an event when something else is going on or it’s the school holidays’. DeSouza Associates will flag this up to you, (although school holidays can vary county to county!)
Taking into account and avoiding all bank holidays, school holidays and any other key dates when organising an event is vital to ensure you achieve the best attendance possible.
We can’t be on top of all the major holiday dates as these vary in the UK from county to county, and overseas have many different holiday dates from each other. However, we will do our utmost to find this information out for you and make it clear from the offset if we are aware of potential date clashes.
14. Added value – DeSouza Associates will always strive to quote the very best rates and also add value where possible.
In addition to finding the perfect venue for your corporate event, DeSouza Associates can assist in sourcing other elements such as entertainment, team building activities, accommodation, speakers and much more!
Other services can also include onsite management, transfers for overseas events, hybrid events, off site dinners and corporate hospitality packages.
Being an independent and completely unbiased agency, this means we are not tied into any partnerships with specific hotel chains or venues. This ensures that each proposal is bespoke and offers the best fit venues to match both the brief and budget.
With strong venue relationships we have good buying power which enables us to negotiate on your behalf. We’ll never just take the first offer and will always try to get some added value to any booking we make.
Realising there’s a bit more to planning an event? Need some professional help?
We can help in liaising with both venue/supplier and client to ensure nothing is forgotten and can help you with the pre-organising and onsite running of the event too.
Nothing is too small or too big, we will work on all kinds of events and help negotiate competitive rates.
Knowledge – it’s our job to know all the great venues
Our team has years of experience of booking venues for clients so we know some great contacts and also built up relationships over the years with our suppliers.
Our database has over 70,000 venues and is constantly being updated. It has a vast range of venues and includes major hotel chains, training centres, conference brands and many funky, unusual and unique properties.
We are not tied into any partnerships, specific chains or venues. This ensures that you are proposed the venues that match your brief and budget.
