If you are going to organize an event at your office or want to host an event for a charity. And you do not have enough resources within you, then contacting an event planner would be a great idea.

And the good part is that hiring an event management company or freelancer is not as hard as it seems. As there are quite a lot of people and companies are available out there.

And this is where the question appears, how to choose the best event planner? Well, to help you out, I am going to share a list of questions that you should ask an event planner. So here we go:

1. What are their areas of expertise?
To find out, if the event planner you have chosen is good enough for the job or not, you can simply ask them what kind of events they have most frequently worked on. If they usually organize business to business events. Then they might be a great choice for your business to consumer events.

Also, in case if you are some other company and the event company do not have any experience in the kind of event you are looking ahead to build. Then they are not the right choice for you.

2. What services do they offer?
It is highly important to know what services the event planner you are hiring is offering you. So you can be sure that they are covering everything that you need.

Like if you need to find a venue, organize catering, audiovisual services, transportations, accommodation, staffing, and so on.

3. What’s included in their fee?
It is also important to know about the event planner’s fees before only. So you do not have to face any surprises later on. You should be aware of how they charge, a flat fee, hourly rate, percentage, cost per person, and so on.

Also, do ask them if there will be any additional costs for the support staff? Are travel expenses include? Or is there is any additional costs included.

4. Who will be working on your event?
You should also ask the event planner who will be working on your event? There are times when event planners simply assign someone else to work. So make sure that the person will be working on the even whom you are meeting.

Also, you should ask some other questions like Will there be a team of people working on my event or just one? Will there be any backup team? And a few other questions.

5. What software and technology do they use?

You should also be aware of what kind of tools they are going to use for project management, budgets, event websites, registrations, ticketing, and analytics/reporting. And you need to make sure that they are using the best.

By using good technology, you will not just be able to make sure that everything is well organized. But it also adds value to the event.

6. How will they protect your event?
Your event planner should be up to date with all the latest health and safety regulations. And they should also be familiar with carrying out events while keeping some risk assessments in mind. They should also have their own event planning liability and ensure that all the event suppliers are insured.

Do you ask them if they will be able to create en event safety plan for your event? Plus, you should also ask about other security and safety measures.

7. What are their cancellation and refund policy?
Finally, you should ask them about the refund policy. You should make sure that you know the details of your event planner contract terms up from. Like in case if you have to cancel or if you are going to make some changes in the event. Then how they are going to charge you?

Most of the event planners will be charging you on the basis of hours and services already used. Also, for any outlay that they have already made. Also, the venue and the caterers will have their own cancellation terms. So you will have to pay some extra bucks.

Just do not forget to ask them if they will cover up extra costs too or not? In short, be sure about the refund policy before hiring an event planner.

Conclusion
Finally, you should interview a bunch of event planners and see which kind of services they are offering
and compare them. And finally, choose the event planner that is offering you more.