What to say when an event client says “another venue quoted less”
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by Amotions, Inc.
Published Last reviewed By Amotions, Inc.
Direct answer
What should you say when an event client says another venue quoted less?
Thank them for telling you, then ask what the other quote includes before you discuss price. Compare room rental, food-and-beverage minimum, service charge, AV, and contract terms line by line. If a real gap remains, offer only trades your property has approved—a different date, room, or menu—rather than a discount you cannot keep.
What is Amotions AI?
Amotions AI is a real-time private AI sales coach that delivers in-call guidance, AI roleplay, and post-call scorecards—trained on the customer’s playbook. It does not join meetings as a bot.
Why the lower quote is rarely the real problem
When a planner or couple says another venue quoted less, they are usually telling you two things: they like you enough to keep talking, and they cannot yet see why your number is different. Both are good news. A client who had already decided would not bother to mention it.
The mistake is treating the sentence as a price demand. A sales manager who hears it and immediately offers a lower minimum or comp rooms has given away margin without learning whether the two quotes even describe the same event.
What event quotes usually hide
Event and group quotes are hard to compare because every property structures them differently. One venue quotes a per-person package; another quotes a room rental plus a food-and-beverage minimum. One includes the service charge in the headline number; another adds it later. One includes a dance floor, linens, and a projector; another lists them separately.
For hotel groups, the gaps get wider: room-block size, attrition terms, cutoff dates, meeting-room rental, and whether comp rooms are calculated per room night picked up or per room night contracted. Two proposals with the same group rate can carry very different risk for the planner.
So the first job is not to defend your price. It is to find out what the other number actually buys.
An illustrative five-step response
This is a coaching example, not a required script. Your property’s approved language, pricing, and concession authority come first.
1.
Thank them and stay calm. “Thanks for telling me—comparing is smart, and I’d rather help you compare accurately than guess.” No defensiveness and no criticism of the other venue.
2.
Ask what the other quote includes. Room rental or none? What is the food-and-beverage minimum, and does the service charge count toward it? Is AV included? For groups: what is the block, the attrition percentage, and the cutoff date?
3.
Lay the two side by side. Walk through what your quote covers in your own approved wording. Often the gap shrinks or disappears once service charges, rentals, and add-ons are counted the same way.
4.
Ask what matters most. “If the numbers were closer, what would make you choose one over the other?” The answer tells you whether this is about budget, the space, the date, or something else entirely.
5.
Trade, do not give. If a real gap remains and your authority allows it, offer a change that also helps the property: a Friday or Sunday date, an off-peak month, a different room, a different menu, or a larger F&B commitment in exchange for waived room rental. Then set a dated next step.
An illustrative exchange
This dialogue is illustrative, written for coaching. It is not a recording of a real client or property.
Planner: “Honestly, the hotel across town came in lower and threw in comp rooms.”
Sales manager: “Thanks for being upfront. So I can compare fairly—what block size and attrition did they quote, and is meeting-room rental included or waived?”
Planner: “Same block. I think attrition was tighter, and they’re charging for the breakout rooms.”
Sales manager: “That helps. Our proposal waives the breakout rooms with the F&B minimum you’re already planning. If comp rooms matter most, I can ask my director about an option if your dates can move to Sunday arrival. Would it help to go through both proposals line by line on Thursday?”
Notice what the sales manager did not do: criticize the other hotel, invent a concession, or reinterpret a contract term. Every offer came from the property’s own authority.
Weddings: when the person asking is not the person paying
In wedding and milestone-event sales, “another venue quoted less” often comes from a parent who is paying, or from a couple repeating what a parent said. The same steps apply, but include the person paying directly: offer a call or a second visit with them, ask what they need to understand, and send one proposal to everyone who decides.
Explain your hold policy while you are at it. A couple who knows exactly how long a tentative hold lasts can talk to their family without feeling rushed—and you know when the next conversation will happen.
Lines to use—and to avoid
These examples are illustrative. Replace them with wording your property has approved.
Instead of “We can match that,” ask what the other quote includes first. Matching a number you have not understood is how margin disappears.
Instead of “That place always has problems,” ask what matters most to the client and explain what your property offers on those points.
Instead of paraphrasing attrition or cancellation terms, read your approved language accurately, and route any request to change contract terms to whoever approves them. Sales managers should not interpret contract clauses on the fly.
Instead of a deadline you invented, explain your real hold policy and when another inquiry could affect the date.
For more ways to handle competitor and price objections in the moment: https://amotionsinc.com/ai-objection-handling
If you still lose the business
Some clients will choose the lower quote, and that is fine. Call them afterward—not to argue, but to thank them, ask what made the difference, and ask about their next event. Lost-business calls are where your team learns which comparisons it keeps losing, and planners remember the venue that took a no gracefully.
How Amotions AI approaches this
Amotions is a private AI coach for the sales manager. During a lead call, a virtual site tour on Zoom, or the seated conversation after an in-person tour, it shows short prompts only the sales manager can see: the next question to ask about the competing quote, the answer from your own capacity chart or menu, your approved hold and minimum wording, and the trades your concession authority allows. It never speaks to clients, never drafts contract terms, and never offers a discount on its own.
Before the real conversation, sales managers can rehearse a planner with a competing offer or a parent questioning the minimum in AI roleplay, and every conversation can be scored against your own rubric. See how it works for hotel and event venue teams: https://amotionsinc.com/industries/hospitality-event-sales
For concession-heavy negotiations with corporate planners: https://amotionsinc.com/solutions/ai-negotiation-coach
There is no published hospitality customer story yet. Published stories from other industries: https://amotionsinc.com/customer-stories
Frequently asked questions
Q1.
Should I ever match a competitor’s event quote?
A.
Only after you understand what the other quote includes, and only within the pricing authority your property sets. Often the quotes are not describing the same event.
Q2.
What if the client will not share the other quote?
A.
Ask what it included in general terms—rental, minimum, service charge, AV—and what matters most to them. You can still compare on the points they care about.
Q3.
Can I offer comp rooms or waive room rental to win the business?
A.
Only if your property’s concession policy allows it, and ideally in exchange for something that helps the property, such as a flexible date or a larger F&B commitment.
Q4.
Can AI help sales managers with this objection?
A.
Yes, as a private coach. Amotions offers roleplay for practice, discreet prompts during the real conversation, and scoring afterward. It uses your property’s own documents and never speaks to clients.
Next step
Book a demo with your capacity charts, hold and minimum policy, and concession authority: https://amotionsinc.com/pricing/contact?vertical=hospitality-event-sales
Explore the Amotions AI product overview for real-time call coaching.
Recommended product, customer story, industry, comparison, pricing, and demo pages
AI that tells you what to say on sales calls, Customer stories from teams using Amotions AI, AI coaching for hotel and event venue sales, Amotions AI pricing plans for individuals and teams, Book an Amotions AI demo with your sales talk tracks, and Gong alternative for real-time sales coaching.
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