1. A show-me-the-money attitude: If a vendor is unusually insistent on receiving the deposit, your money might be the only thing keeping the company afloat.
2. No welcome mat: Most vendors are happy to accommodate a mutually convenient visit. An unwillingness to show you around their place of business might mean they have something to hide, such as a half-empty workplace, threadbare supplies, or a general state of chaos.
3. A nearly empty calendar: “I want to see how busy they are,” says Debbie Baker, director of sales for Extras, an event and destination management firm in Las Vegas. “If they’re only doing one or two events a month, they’re not making it.”
4. No proof of insurance: If a vendor balks at a request for this or to name the group as additional insured parties, walk away.
5. A lack of corporate contracts: Although there’s nothing wrong with working solely with independent planners, in this economic climate it exposes vendors to another layer of risk, because this pipeline is less stable than work coming directly from corporate clients. With so many companies trimming meetings and events, many independents have less work to offer vendors.
6. Slow response to phone calls: The biggest red flag of all. “If all of a sudden you call and nobody’s answering the phone and you can’t get anybody to return your calls,” says Robert Hulsmeyer, senior partner at Empire Force Events in New York, “there may be challenges.”
For more on vendor bankruptcies, click here.
—Martha C. White
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