20% cost savings across 13 countries and counting

At a glance

This company's events program was growing fast, but the process behind it wasn't keeping up. Planned consolidated the entire M&E program into one platform and became the single vendor of record. The result: 20% in direct cost savings, 40 hours saved per event, and a program that now spans 13 countries and 32 cities.

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"Compliance can't come at the cost of speed and experience. Planned can flag contract risks or preferred venues without slowing things down, and that's the sweet spot."

Global Travel & Expense Manager

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Challenge: Fragmented processes, limited visibility

As the company's events program expanded, planning was scattered across multiple stakeholders with no unified system. Requests were managed manually. Negotiations dragged. Payments were split across teams and POs.

The result was long sourcing cycles, compliance gaps, and almost no visibility into spend. Procurement and finance couldn't track costs consistently or enforce policies across the organization.

The company needed a single system that could move fast for planners while giving leadership the oversight they required.

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Solution: One vendor of record for a global program

Planned became the single point of entry for all internal meetings and events. Every brief, every supplier interaction, every contract flows through one platform.

Hundreds of individual POs were replaced with bi-monthly consolidated invoices. Sourcing that used to take days now takes hours, with Planned's specialists and technology delivering competitive quotes across 32 cities in 13 countries.

Policies and approval workflows are embedded in every event. Planners don't need to think about compliance. It's built into the flow.

In Q1 and Q2 2026, the program grew 10x year over year.

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Results

20% direct cost savings

9.8/10 customer CSAT

11X return on investment

Since launch, the program has scaled steadily quarter over quarter. Event volume grew 10x year over year. Savings have reached 20% of total spend, driven by supplier negotiation, consolidated invoicing, and enforced compliance. The team saves 40 hours per event on sourcing, proposals, negotiation, and contracting.

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