Brand agency Strata’s new group head of strategic meetings management Caroline Lumgair Wiseman discusses the need to reimagine SMM and why it’s imperative to ‘be the client’.
I once watched a hugely successful fashion designer addressing his senior leadership team, and he said something that has always stayed with me. He explained that a principal belief he had embraced throughout his career was that he and his wife were first and foremost their own customers. This idea informed his designs and, ultimately, he believes it is the key reason behind the success of the billion-dollar empire he still leads to this day.
Reflecting on it now, it remains a favourite piece of advice. If you know who your customers aspire to be, and what they envision for their events, you can identify what they need, as well as introduce them to ideas they may not have considered – infusing your work with the excitement of what you as a seasoned professional might wish to explore and embrace. Thinking about it, as strong relationships with clients are established, you find yourself curating for them as you work, noting places they may love, people they would connect with and ideas they might utilise.
Defining a new standard
Imagining what other people might want informs my thinking. I’m relationship-oriented and an advocate for bringing people together to create lasting memories, both in my work and in my personal life. To be heading up Strata’s new division is a wonderful opportunity to further embrace these fundamental passions. Moreover, to be given the opportunity to reimagine strategic meetings management (SMM) is exciting. It may sound bold to say ‘reimagine’ and that is our goal – to give SMM a bit of a shake-up and to define a new standard with a unique lens on our ever-changing world.
Currently, Strata is on a journey, an ambitious period of growth, which includes SMM. As we progress, we’re looking to go beyond processes and systems that track event and meeting effectiveness; we’re focusing on collaboration
To meet any organisational goals, one must collaborate. This involves humility, teachability and a genuine receptiveness to the ideas of others. We desire to further support our clients to gain a full overview of their events programme in order to design a roadmap.
Collaborative partnerships
Historically, SMM has looked at cost savings and efficiencies. However, I believe a greater focus on creativity, innovation and value creation would challenge that perspective.
When partnering with clients, honesty and transparency are essential. It’s paramount that you get to a point with a client and key stakeholders where you can say, ‘Let’s look at the dream and then what your priority is within that dream’.
To be truly consultative, you also have to be able to grasp any underlying complexities and be candid, troubleshooting and finding workable solutions as you move through the process. This kind of back and forth requires a deep level of honesty and trust that can only be achieved by building great relationships over time.
Tailored service
Over the last 12 months, Strata has made several strategic acquisitions and we have recruited highly experienced and talented professionals who will support our growing global roster of clients – our partners – with their business goals.
Each brand offers clients an exceptional and comprehensive range of support. This collective offering is one of the reasons why I’m particularly excited to take on this new role. I’m working with brilliant minds and this support network will enable me to listen to what it is that our clients want and specifically tailor our service to each client and their unique projects. And this brings me back to my key values. You can only achieve great things if you value people on every level across the industry ecosystem; if you’ve taken the time to build each client relationship and if you truly collaborate and consult with your colleagues and industry partners. It takes a village!
Consultative approach
Being consultative is key. The events industry is all about relationships, so spending time with people; colleagues to understand their strengths, and clients to understand the things that keep them awake at night, is paramount if making a difference is the goal. It’s all about people – that village – your client, their internal stakeholders, their relationship with their colleagues and their relationship with their audience.
The real nitty-gritty and the nuances that surround each relationship. This is what real SMM is all about: It’s about being efficient. It’s about being useful. It’s about creating value. But never at the expense of quality of work, service or creativity.
Vision and value
We are living in interesting times that present challenges for the industry. But there are challenges in any given field, and we can choose to view the issues we’re facing as opportunities for constructive conversation and debate, for co-operation and a chance to find new ways of working to build resilience.
As event and meetings professionals, it’s our job to define – alongside our clients – the pace of their meetings and events strategies. Not everyone enjoys change, and it may take some longer than others to adapt to new ways of thinking and working. The last few years have provided me with renewed faith in people’s ability to adapt and to change, and if we take the time to have proper conversations, applying empathy and kindness and if we adopt a hospitality prized, client-led and colleague-alongside approach, we can achieve the dream vision and add value too. CN