Never Ever Cancel an Event, Particularly if You Already Have bookings!

Welcome back to "Just One Small Thing". My aim is to share short and simple tips that you can implement straight away to start improving your small business today. Would that be useful?

This one is going to sound like a bit of an opinion piece but it will save you time and money in the long run if you stick to this principle.

Organising, promoting and running events is an incredibly time consuming activity so please don't take it lightly. By rough calculation I've promoted and run well over 300 events in my time. I'm also pleased to confirm that I've never ever cancelled one even when challenges arose.

I get my inspiration for these articles from the people around me and the things that happen to me. This article has been inspired by a close friend who promoted a semi regular event that they're trying to build. I voluntarily decided to spend some of my time helping them by using social media posts, messaging and email marketing. I was a little shocked when I called them to see how the numbers were going. They said I only had 6 so I've already cancelled it.

Obviously, everybody is entitled to their own ethics and principles. I'm certainly not going to name the person as they're one of the most talented people I know and they deserve to succeed. I did however explain to them why I never ever cancel any event, particularly, once you've received people's bookings and their money. After that they agreed with me so I'll share my thoughts.

1. You look unreliable because you've let people down
2. You look incompetent because you can't organise and run an event
3. You've wasted all the time and money you spent promoting the event and you're never going to get that back
4. If it's a regular event people will wait to book even later than before because they're at least half expecting you to let them down again.
5. If it's a regular event people will be reluctant to block out their diary for future dates and therefore go to other events that happen on those future dates.
6. The people who committed to you and were let down will tell other people that you cancelled.
7. Your venue may be reluctant to take another booking from you just in case they miss out on another event that won't be cancelled.
8. If you had a third party speaker booked for your event they'll be very reluctant to work with you again.
9. If you had outside catering booked they'll want to be paid even more up front for next time.
10. You'll find it even harder to invite people to your next event.
11. People who've spread the word for you will be reluctant to do so again because you've made them look a little silly.

So, it's easy to say never cancel but is that realistic. Things happen that make cancellation look like the sensible option. Here are some of the most common reasons for cancellation and some ways to keep the show on the road.

1. The audience is too small for the event to cover it's costs - Remember, the people booking don't know how many other people to expect unless you've told them. When you have fewer attendees you can give them more of your time and attention so it may actually be easier to turn them into customers or at least advocates. You could also offer those who booked the opportunity to bring a friend or colleague for free. You could contact some existing clients or contacts and offer them a free place as long as they give you good reviews and recommendations. You could even draft in friends if you're desperate. In my opinion just make the most of the numbers you have.
2. Your venue has let you down - The most dangerous number in business is One. As soon as you only have one of anything you're taking a risk. My advice is to be prepared in advance. Once you've booked your venue go and see a few other places nearby. Tell them that you have regular events and you need a reliable back up if the other venue lets you down. Make sure you get the managers name and their mobile number. Don't rely on emails.
3. Make sure you have back up equipment - Personally, I avoid PowerPoint like the plague. How many times have you been to a meeting where the presenter was messing about trying to get their laptop to connect to the screen? On one occasion I went to an event where the laptop ran out of battery. If you're dealing with good people like the lovely Jo Ronan from MKFM they'll help you out in a crisis. I ran an event at a place called MK Social when Jo was working there. The speaker had promised to bring his own projector but turned up without it. I was able to call one of the attendees who I knew was coming anyway and asked her to bring her projector which she did. The only problem was the cables she had didn't fit his laptop. Jo let me go upstairs to her office and borrow the right cable from the back of their computers and that kept the show on the road. Don't cancel meetings due to lack of equipment.
4. Keep going whatever the weather - If you know it's going to snow on the morning of your meeting just make sure you set off much earlier. If it's further away, stay in a hotel near the venue the night before. Alternatively, find a friend or attendee who has a four wheel drive car and get a lift. The weather is not an excuse. One of my Business Growth Club meetings was held in a snow storm. I made it clear to all the members that the meeting would go ahead. I asked for volunteers to run the meeting if for any reason I didn't get there. I arranged to pick up the speaker in my car to make sure she could get there. The meeting went ahead with 13 people instead of the normal 30. Everybody enjoyed it and many commented on the fact that the club was so robust. Other Business Networking meetings had been cancelled.
5. The speaker let's you down - This is similar to point number 2 about the venue. Always have a backup. Make sure the speaker has sent you their notes before hand so you can say something on their behalf. Line up an alternative speaker from one of the other attendees. There are loads of people who love a last minute opportunity to speak including me :-) I always have a speech in my mind that I can deliver at the drop of a hat should the need arise. I was recently let down by a speaker at Business growth Club. We've been hosting speakers doing 10 Minute Tips since 2014 and this was the first time we've ever been let down. The meeting went ahead and we adapted the format to cover the issue. The show must go on come what may.
6. The food service let's you down - This happened at BBMK when it used to meet at David Lloyd Leisure. The chef had a bad back and couldn't get out of his car. They told us that the meeting was off because they couldn't cook any food. Following discussions with the management about one of us cooking our own breakfast because, after all, it's only bacon and eggs, they suddenly decided they could find someone. In the meantime, I sent two members who had some medical and first aid experience to go to the car park and see if they could help the chef out of his car. Lo and behold they did. The show must go on come what may!

I'd love to hear more examples from you about the perils of running live events. Even during the covid lockdown when my broadband went down I had a customer with an empty training room in their building. I picked up the keys at a social distance and ran my meeting on my laptop from their offices without breaking any of the rules.

I'd also love to hear some other reasons why you've had to cancel a meeting and whether it made life harder for you in the future.

My view is this never cancel a meeting principle will save you time and money in the long run. People will know you're 100% reliable. They'll know you value them and their time. They'll know you're determined to put on an event which is worth coming to. You'll get talked about positively and word of mouth will help you attract more people in the future.

I'll just leave you with a story about a local employment law firm that are no longer in business. They booked the best meeting room in the best hotel in Milton Keynes. They spent good money on invitations and promotions including promotional gifts. They even organised branded cakes for the attendees to take away with them.

Because they're lawyers and not marketers they hadn't written the best invitations and they did a few small things less well than they could have done. This was their first event and they were learning like we all do.

They told me that they were going to cancel the event because they wanted at least 20 people and they only had 6. I asked them if anybody from an ideal potential client had booked. They said "yes, we've actually got three people coming from Virgin Active which is a key target for us". My advice was to carry on with the event, ask the hotel if they could move them to a smaller room, which I knew they would be able to do. Give all 6 attendees loads more personal attention than they would have been able to and use it to book personal meetings with the Virgin Active people.

The following day I asked my customer how it had gone. They said we decided to cancel. I asked them how much money they'd lost and they said at least ￡500. So, I asked them what about those three key people from Virgin Active. They said, "don't worry, we're going to get personal meetings with them".

A month later I asked them if they'd managed to convert the Virgin Active people to new clients. The phone went silent for a while and I said are you still there. Then a voice came back and said "we're gutted, you were right". When they approached all three people at Virgin Active they all made excuses to decline a meeting. They persisted with one of them who eventually gave them an honest answer. They were told that the late cancellation was really inconvenient. One of them had booked to stay in the hotel and had already travelled before the cancellation. Their parting comment was "we need an employment lawyer we can rely on".

Please, please, please never ever cancel an event, particularly if you already have bookings!