Behind every successful event is a series of decisions that impact its performance on the day, as well as during post-event budget reviews. Two of the biggest drivers of that outcome are sourcing and cost optimisation.

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This topic is hugely prevalent given the current climates. We’ve spoken to CMOs, marketing and event leaders across the globe in companies like Adobe, Cisco and Expedia. It’s been clear that a common theme of rising costs in combination with stagnant or decreasing budgets is putting teams under pressure to deliver more with less.

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Souring and cost optimisation usually starts with finding suppliers, comparing quotes, and managing spend across a long list of moving parts. But if you're still relying on email threads, spreadsheets, or agency intermediaries, the process can quickly become more complex than it needs to be.

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You’ve probably seen how delays, vague pricing, or last-minute changes can throw off timelines and stretch budgets. And when leadership asks for a clear breakdown of spend versus value, those gaps are hard to explain.

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In this blog, we’ll explore the sourcing strategies and cost levers that give you more control from the start. With the right approach, it’s possible to run standout events while keeping your numbers sharp and your ROI story clear.

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Traditional Sourcing vs Strategic Sourcing in Events

If you’ve planned events, you’ve likely followed a familiar path. You find a few suppliers, collect quotes, compare prices, and pick the one that fits your budget or timeline. This kind of reactive sourcing gets the basics done, but it often leaves little room to think about long-term value, supplier performance, or how one choice affects another across the event.

Strategic sourcing starts earlier in the process and looks beyond individual transactions. The focus shifts from simply booking services to understanding total cost, managing risk, and building stronger relationships with trusted suppliers. It’s a repeatable cycle of analysing spend, developing a plan, negotiating value, and reviewing what worked. This model offers more control and better visibility to event teams under pressure to deliver results and justify costs.

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Event Sourcing and Cost Optimisation Best Practices

Event teams today face more scrutiny over how budgets are spent and what value is returned. That’s why sourcing needs to evolve from a reactive task to a repeatable process backed by data, planning, and the right tools. Below are six key levers that help marketing and procurement teams bring more structure, control, and efficiency into their event sourcing workflows.

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Comprehensive Spend and Market Analysis

Before you reach out to suppliers, it’s worth taking a closer look at where your event budget has gone in the past. You might spot familiar patterns such as vendors charging premium rates, overlapping services across suppliers, or certain categories that always seem to creep over budget. Identifying these trends early helps you avoid unnecessary costs and plan with more confidence.

A strong sourcing strategy also considers what’s happening in the market around you. Take the time to review:

• Current pricing benchmarks for core services like AV or staging
• Supplier capabilities, including scale, delivery reliability, and regional coverage
• Trends in sustainability, tech innovation, or service consolidation that might affect value or availability

When you combine internal spend insights with external market research, your sourcing decisions become less reactive and more strategic. Lumix makes it easier for you to compare supplier rates, spot areas to consolidate, and act on data rather than instinct.

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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

A competitive quote might look good at first glance, but if you have dealt with late deliveries, last-minute staffing changes, or scope creep, you know the real cost can be much higher. Total cost of ownership is about understanding the full picture, not just what you pay upfront, but everything that comes with managing a supplier before, during, and after your event.

For example, if you receive two quotes for staging, one supplier might offer a lower rate but arrive late on setup day. That delay can force your team to work overtime and push other vendors off schedule. The second supplier might charge slightly more but arrive on time, finish early, and prevent disruption. Once you factor in extra labour, timeline pressure, and follow-up issues, the higher quote may turn out to be the better decision.

Thinking of total cost helps you prioritise reliability, consistency, and time saved, not just short-term savings. It is a mindset that pays off across multiple events, especially when you are trying to build a supplier pool that performs under pressure.

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Supplier Evaluation and Relationship Management

Strong supplier relationships can make all the difference during an event. Quicker response times, more flexible terms, and reliable on-site support all become easier when working with vendors you trust. The key is to start with a clear and consistent evaluation process.

Effective teams look at more than price when assessing supplier performance. They track how well each partner delivers against the outcomes that matter. This often includes:

• Timeliness of delivery and setup
• Quality of work and materials
• Communication throughout the planning process
• Ability to adapt when plans change
• Commitment to sustainability and transparency

At Lumix, evaluation is a core part of how we build our supplier network. We have spent the last 10 years curating partners who deliver value at scale and finding those harder-to-source specialists who perform under pressure. This helps your team save time and work with partners who have already proven they can deliver.

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Risk Mitigation and Diversification

Even with the best planning, events are vulnerable to last-minute changes. A supplier might cancel, a shipment could be delayed, or weather might affect access to your venue. This is why building flexibility and fallback options into your sourcing strategy is essential.

A strong risk mitigation plan usually includes at least one backup supplier per core service, especially for areas like AV, build, transport, and staffing. The goal is to avoid relying too heavily on a single vendor. If one fails, you have a proven alternative ready to step in without slowing down the rest of your event.

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Technology and Automation

Manual sourcing workflows can create more work than they solve. Chasing quotes over email, updating supplier details in spreadsheets, and coordinating approvals across disconnected tools slow everything down. It also increases the risk of errors, missed updates, and duplicate spending. That is why more event procurement teams are turning to platforms that centralise everything in one place.

With the right tools, you can streamline the sourcing process from the start. AI-driven features like guided RFP and proposal creation help teams move faster without sacrificing clarity or quality. Instead of building every brief from scratch, teams can generate structured, accurate supplier requests in minutes.

Technology also plays a key role in tracking costs. Lumix gives teams access to real-time spend data through a centralised payment network. This means you can monitor budget usage as it happens, flag issues early, and reduce surprises at reconciliation. 

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Where we’ve seen teams go wrong

We’ve worked with event planning teams for over a decade, and even the most seasoned teams can fall into patterns that create risk or add unnecessary cost. Under pressure to move quickly, it’s easy to default to what's familiar or convenient. But over time, these habits can undermine event quality, reduce flexibility, and make budget conversations harder to manage.

The points we’ll go through below are particularly prevalent given the current climate. We hear all too frequently how budgets are coming under more scrutiny or declining and combined with rising costs, now more than ever there’s reason to evaluate your processes to make sure you’re getting value for money. 

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Sticking with the same suppliers without re-evaluating

It’s natural to lean on vendors you’ve worked with before. But relationships can mask performance gaps, especially when no formal review process is in place. Without regular evaluation, you may miss shifts in pricing, service quality, or capacity. Build in routine performance checks after every major event and track feedback from the wider team, not just the lead coordinator.

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Waiting too long to start the sourcing process

Last-minute sourcing usually narrows your options and weakens your ability to negotiate. It also increases the risk of rush fees or schedule misalignment. Teams that bake sourcing into their early planning cycles have more leverage and fewer surprises. Keep a shortlist of pre-approved suppliers across core categories so you're not starting from scratch every time.

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Focusing too heavily on price 

Comparing quotes is important, but price alone can be misleading. A lower rate may come with hidden costs, like poor communication, scope creep, or last-minute changes that affect your entire timeline. Look at value in context: reliability, consistency, and fit for the event matter just as much as the number on the page.

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Operating in silos between marketing and procurement

When teams work independently, sourcing can become fragmented. Procurement may not have context on the event’s goals, and marketing might move forward without the necessary checks in place. Creating shared visibility, aligning on key objectives, and using a central platform to manage suppliers can improve coordination and minimise friction.

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The Bottom Line

Sourcing is one of the most important levers in running successful, cost-effective events. The decisions you make early on around suppliers, budget, and risk management will shape how smoothly your event runs and how well it performs against expectations. When sourcing is reactive or fragmented, it becomes harder to stay on budget and difficult to explain results when leadership asks the tough questions.

Lumix gives procurement, marketing, and event teams a shared view of suppliers, spend, and performance in one place. With built-in tools for RFPs, supplier tracking, and budget monitoring, you can streamline your workflows and make the right sourcing decisions.

If you want to take a more strategic approach to event sourcing, book a demo to see how Lumix can support your team.

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