31 March, 2015

BestCities vie for client satisfaction

Delegate boosting and tailored information to fit more closely with delegates’ needs are just two areas highlighted by BestCities’ latest client survey.

The sixth consecutive client survey, conducted by LJ Research, measures the service and expertise provided by BestCities Global Alliance full partners.

“We know that delegate boosting is an area that clients feel very strongly about with 48% of respondents making use of the service in 2014. However, feedback also suggests that more information should be provided and that it could be tailored more closely to fit delegates’ needs and requirements,” BestCities board chair and ceo of Melbourne Convention Bureau, Karen Bolinger said.

“With our capacity to harness the collective power of our partners, BestCities is addressing this challenge by working towards a model of attendance building where clients will receive the same high level of assistance across 12 destinations and five continents.”

According to Bolinger, winning business as a result of word of mouth referrals at a time when competition is rife, indicates that client satisfaction is critical and an area which requires data collection.

“Six years of evaluating our clients has provided BestCities with a highly valuable resource unmatched by any other convention bureaux alliance and the data collected allows us to consistently monitor our commitment to deliver high quality services as well as to make direct comparisons to previous years,” Bolinger said.

“For example, we have seen client satisfaction with ‘Response time to Requests’ increase from 8.97 in 2010 to 9.08 in 2014. Although a minor increase, the data indicates that our bureaux reacted to the feedback and, as part of their regular audits, addressed the areas of concern and improved their internal processes.”

“This improvement in service is a direct benefit to all our clients, and as we embark on a new strategic direction with an even stronger customer focus, it is more important than ever that we continue to ask the tough questions and be ready to listen and respond to the feedback – both good and bad,” Bolinger said.

The bureaus were evaluated among a range of areas including performance, bid services and delegate boosting.

BestCities partners evaluated in the 2014 client survey included Berlin, Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Edinburgh, Houston, Melbourne, Singapore and Vancouver, but do not cover its newest alliance partners Bogotá and Tokyo.

“Regularly capturing and assessing client feedback also provides us with insights into any occurring trends as well as identifying areas for improvement,” Bolinger said.

Image: BestCities

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BestCities Karen Bolinger Melbourne Convention Bureau