SMM Starter Kit Provides Easy Solutions to Get a Comprehensive Program off the Ground

Tysons Corner, Va.  – Cvent, Inc. (NYSE: CVT), a leading cloud-based enterprise event management platform, announced the availability of a Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) Starter Kit designed to simplify implementation of SMM programs. The Starter Kit provides organizations of all sizes, not just Fortune 100 companies, with easy solutions to help launch and implement a comprehensive program. Additionally, organizations can leverage a savings calculator, meeting policy, and valuable advice from industry-leading consultants at no charge.

“Cvent has helped hundreds of Global 5000 companies and mid-market organizations implement successful SMM programs over the last several years,” said Anil Punyapu, vice president of enterprise sales at Cvent. “During the discovery phase with our new customers, we encountered a commonly held misperception about these programs. Specifically, that they were too difficult, cumbersome, and expensive. We created the SMM Starter Kit to provide the marketplace with the basic building blocks needed to launch an effective program, quantify meeting expenditure, and create a case for meetings management across an organization, which can all be accomplished in just a few short months.”

Meeting expenditure represents one to three percent of a company’s total revenue, and over 24 percent of the average company’s marketing budget. By implementing an SMM program, organizations can simplify hotel sourcing, reduce risk, and automate processes, thereby achieving an average of 20 percent savings while driving higher client interactions and revenue.

One of the main benefits of the Cvent SMM Starter Kit is a complimentary consultation with some of the industry’s top SMM thought-leaders, providing event professionals with essential insights during their SMM program implementation. The SMM Starter Kit also offers additional advice and best practices throughout the course of this implementation, including crucial guidance to help:

• Build a Business Case for Meetings Management: The template outlines the key considerations for a successful business case, including outlining the current situation, providing the objectives of the program, identifying risks, proposing and justifying a strategy, calculating expected results, selecting technology, and defining a rollout plan. A PowerPoint template is also included for executive presentations.
• Measure Return on Investment: The ROI Calculator enables planners to calculate their potential cost savings and optimize their resources. Cvent’s ROI Calculator also shows the percentage of ROI in meetings management technology for the organization, so planners can budget accordingly for the future.
• Establish a Communications Plan: The Communications Plan template provides meeting planners resources to assist them with generating adoption of an SMM program throughout their organization.

Cvent’s SMM Starter kit has been available for less than 60 days, and more than 350 organizations have already downloaded it. For more information about the new offering, visit www.cvent.com/bizcase