The Big Box vs. the Corner Store: The Advantages of Boutique Event Management Software In the event management software space, you’re spoiled for choice. There are various large and well-known players with thousands of clients. Then there are the smaller event management software houses using a boutique approach.

The Big Box vs. the Corner Store: The Advantages of Boutique Event Management Software

In the event management software space, you’re spoiled for choice. There are various large and well-known players with thousands of clients. Then there are the smaller event management software houses using a boutique approach. They typically have fewer customers, designed specifically so they can provide a more personalised service. It’s the old supermarket versus your local store dilemma. Regardless, everyone’s competing for clients. So who do you choose? 

While choosing the big names may seem wise, it’s not necessarily the case. In fact, event management software with a boutique approach is often a smarter decision. Sure, there are advantages to both, but for clients looking for a tailored experience that caters to their individual needs, boutique event management software (EMS) can deliver just that. 

Let’s look at some of the ways an EMS can help your business using customisable software. 

Unique Features Only a Boutique SaaS Can Provide

An EMS with a boutique approach is designed to give clients a more personalised experience. In doing so, it can deliver the unique features each business needs. That’s not to say larger software companies don’t offer these features, but more that they don’t tailor their software to suit every client as a smaller EMS does. As a result, you may end up paying for features you don’t actually need. Or not using features in a way that maximises the success of your events.

With tailored EMS, event management becomes much more flexible. You can select how you want your software to work so that it benefits your business in the best way possible. For instance, with a registration partner like idloom, customers can:

• Create a complete multipage, multilingual event website
• Set up conditional registration processes
• Manage attendees and sessions, badges, payments, hotels, documents and invoices, and on-site check-in

These can be done in an intuitive and user-friendly environment, packed with unique features. All features come with endless customisation settings, so you can make the software work for you and your business.

Seamless Integrations to Drive Business Success

As a business, you no doubt have a variety of applications you rely on day in, day out. For operations to run smoothly, you need event planning software that integrates with these applications, not software that runs alongside separately to them. 

With larger partners, the software was often initially designed as a standalone system. Not only does this make event planning harder to manage for you, but it also increases the risks of errors and important details being missed. And that’s exactly what you don’t want when planning events. 

Thanks to greater customisation, flexibility, and expertise, an EMS with a boutique approach makes application programming interface (API) integration as straightforward as possible—as long as you choose the right one. The experts behind these EMS platforms dedicate their time to ensuring the software integrates with thousands of popular APIs so that it’s more of a plug-and-play experience than an episode of frustrating trial and error.

As a result, this allows you to integrate applications seamlessly within your existing ecosystem, so that everything works together and communicates with one another for effortless event planning. Many larger companies don't offer this level of integration because they already have all tools in-house. They may also rely on standardised integrations with third-party tools, without going into the details of each client's specific requirements and processes. This means businesses are often forced to use them, which entails changing their software to suit these applications or having them run parallel to existing applications.

Ensuring Quality of Support

Although you’re buying event management software, you’re also buying a service. As a customer, you expect high-quality support, with someone on hand to guide you through navigating the software and how best to use it for your business. However, with larger enterprises, you don’t always get that. 

While you may have a dedicated account manager, let’s not forget they’re also managing hundreds of other clients. So you may not receive the high quality of support you expect. But with boutique EMS, it’s usually much different.

These types of EMS typically employ less staff, but that doesn’t mean their software or service is inferior. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Recruitment standards are high, meaning employees have the necessary expertise to guide and advise businesses and deliver top-quality service. 

A dedicated on-hand account manager can provide personalised support for your software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, guiding you through integration, tools, and use cases for your business. Importantly, they get to know your business and how it works to provide you with a tailored, bespoke solution. In this sense, it’s more of a consultancy service than a supplier. 

Securing Your Business

Data security is essential when planning events. Not just to maintain your organisation’s sensitive information but also the data you hold about your customers, whether that’s addresses, email accounts, or credit card details. So when choosing your supplier, it’s essential to look for certifications, especially regarding data security. 

Working with a trusted partner ensures your data always remains secure. But there’s a false assumption that only larger enterprises can offer you this level of security. Sometimes, well-known software companies cut corners on security efforts, so they can place their focus on sales and revenue. But doing so leaves your and your client’s data at risk. Of course, plenty of big names uphold tight security measures, but not all. 

Many also believe that smaller companies can't offer the required level of security, whether due to a lack of infrastructure, funding, or resource. However, providing you choose your supplier carefully, smaller companies can actually offer you the same level of security as larger companies, with the added advantage of a more personalised approach to event management software. For example, idloom is an EMS platform using a boutique approach that's compliant with ISO 27001, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and SOC 2, guaranteeing complete confidentiality without worrying about your data falling into the wrong hands. 

Software Built for Your Business

When it comes to events, bigger doesn’t always mean better. You’ll know this yourself when planning them. Although you may have sold 30,000 tickets, it’s no use if your event is poorly organised or leaves customers wondering why they showed up in the first place. And it’s exactly the same with your event management software. There’s no use paying a large fee for software that’s difficult to navigate, doesn’t work right for your business, and fails to integrate within your existing ecosystem.

Finding software that you can optimise for your business is key to maximising the success of your events and your organisation as a whole. With an EMS using a boutique approach, you may come initially for the advanced technology solutions, though you find yourself staying for the people and the philosophy. If you're thinking of adopting a tailored EMS solution, check out the leading EMS idloom for all your event management software needs. You can even set up a freemium account to explore the software free of charge.