For something to be transparent, by definition it is “characterized by visibility or accessibility of information (especially concerning business practices).” This sounds like such a simple concept. Why wouldn’t a business make information easily accessible? For such a no-brainer, it doesn’t always happen.

For this reason, it puts a strain on a potential customer looking to make a decision. Is there a reason all of the pricing isn’t available up front? What extra charges are they hiding? The bottom line is, you don’t know until you ask. And having to wait for an answer can mean you decide to take your business somewhere else. When time is money, who has time to dig for the facts?

Transparency from all Angles

Whether you recognize it or not, information and transparency are marketing tools. But more than that, they are the foundation of a relationship.

In an article from July 2014, Entrepreneur looked at transparency between brands and their customers—but the ideas behind it can really translate into any kind of relationship. As contributor Mat Franken points out:

“Companies that build authentic relationships with their customers are not only rapidly gaining market share, they’re gobbling up mind and heart share by putting buyers in control and enabling them to make better, more appropriate choices.”

It is that control that not only allows expectations to be managed, but it is also what paves the way for trust that you are making the best decisions. This is true whether you are nailing down the details of an event or someone is deciding to choose you to be at the helm.

Where this fits into the Event Space

When it comes to transparency in event planning, venues should let customers sell themselves into or out of a space and be there to assist when help is needed.

This is especially true when it comes to a race against the clock when you need a venue fast. You don’t have time to wait for an e-mail back to schedule a tour next week or look up photographer’s blogs to see photos or a video of a past event the venue held.

As noted in a post by industry resource EventMB, people are no longer relying just on word-of-mouth when choosing a venue. They found that “according to a study, professionals trust online information almost as much as information gotten from in person.” That trust is built through transparency—those photos, videos and rate cards—so whomever is in charge of choosing the event space is armed with all of the pertinent information to feel they are making the best choice for their event. Even if the event space isn’t traditional, this transparency allows for spaces to not only expand business but for the person in charge of the event to take time and plan out how the space can work for them.

Even though they may not be able to immediately secure the space by booking online, at least the decision has already been made and the only communication needed is to answer any final questions and get the event date secured.

Closing

We believe in the power of transparency—it’s why we are here. Spacesift works to help venues become more transparent and people looking to book spaces have all of the information at their fingertips.

Transparency is a proven pathway to success—in both business and relationships—and we will continue to work to foster it within the industry.