Knowing better means doing better. Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” This is especially true for event companies when crew scheduling and managing their contingent, mobile workforce. Here are the top 3 things event companies need to know:
- Know your people: Let’s face it. Event companies are spread thin and asked to juggle a lot. Many spend too much time seeing who is available rather than investing that time in getting to know their crew. Understanding your crews’ technical and soft skills are critical to making sure you put the right people on the right event. During the crew scheduling process, so often we see companies put whoever says “yes” on the roster. Are they really the best person though? Having enough people in your database that you know and trust is a game-changer for event companies when managing their mobile workforce.
- Know your costs: Margins are tight, labor is scarce, and budgets are shrinking. You work too hard to win the event, produce it, and bill it, only to find out later that your margins are thinner than you thought. Accurately predicting your costs and then being able to proactively manage them during an event is gold. In the event industry, companies often work so incredibly hard to produce an amazing event only to find out afterward that they did not either charge their clients enough or adequately manage their labor expenses to maximize profitability.
- Know why you’re better: Ask and answer one question for yourself … what makes you better than other event companies? We often hear companies answer this with things like, “We are national” or “We never say ‘no’ ” or other misguided responses. The reality is that you win because of relationships, and that’s all about your people! While both answers could be argued as important, companies are actually hiring you because of you and your mobile workforce. Leverage that! Your people bring creativity, energy, their individual communication style, and many other facets to an event. Stop focusing on the gear and commodity side of your business. Your people and their individual talents are your differentiators. Invest in knowing exactly what talents and strengths you bring to the table and then learn how to best communicate that – throughout the crew scheduling process and beyond! Ask your team to answer the question, “Why are we better than our competition?”
We built LASSO’s crew management software to ensure that growing event companies like yours have the best tools to not only attract and retain the best techs but also scale your business faster and more efficiently. Once you “know” these things, it enables you to accomplish even greater things.
To learn more, watch our video.
