When you choose an event platform, you are not just choosing software.
You are choosing the team that will stand beside you when your reputation is on the line. That moment at 7 AM, 30 minutes before the doors open, is where true partnership shows itself.
During the selection process of an event technology partner, most buyers focus on features: registration flows, analytics dashboards, and access control systems. But after two decades supporting exhibitions across four continents, I’ve learned that global support determines success far more than any feature list.
You can sit through endless product demos that promise smooth registration flows, predictive analytics, and access control that looks ready for a secret service operation. But at every demo there is always someone who asks the real question: “What happens when something goes wrong in the first hour on the event day?”.
And suddenly the talk shifts to documentation portals and community forums. That is when you know the feature list has reached its limit.
Even the best designed systems will meet the unexpected.
What matters most is not whether something goes wrong. It is what happens in the thirty seconds after it does. Research from Gartner and Emplifi shows that event tech support during critical moments is the single strongest driver of customer satisfaction and vendor loyalty.
Why Global Support Matters Most on the Exhibition Floor
Picture the exhibition hall at 7 AM: your registration system has been tested exhaustively, your access control has processed thousands of mock entries, your networking features performed flawlessly in staging.
Then reality hits: new environmental variables, network conditions you didn’t anticipate, concurrent user loads you couldn’t perfectly simulate, and integration behaviors that reveal themselves only when all systems collide.
And when theory collides with reality, the smallest environmental detail can become the biggest operational challenge. I’ll give you two examples.
At a trade show in Africa, last year, registration stations were set up in 40 degree heat, although the printers were only built for up to 35. At another event in the United States, the organiser used badge paper slightly thicker than standard, which caused repeated printing jams.
These things never appear in test plans. They only appear on site, under pressure, when every minute counts. Our teams solved both issues quickly, improvised, sourced the right materials, and had everything running before the doors opened.
Moments like these reveal something most procurement teams don’t realise until it’s too late: support is the reason organisers stay or leave.
What Makes Organisers Choose to Switch Event Technology Platforms
Across the industry, organisations switch platforms for one primary reason: event technology support issues.
According to research from The Insight Collective, inadequate customer service prompts 42% to seek for alternatives. Switching event technology is anything but trivial: it’s months of data migration, integration cleanup, staff training, and the risk that something critical gets lost in translation.
This is one of the main reasons why organisers switch technology vendors. Not because the product is missing a feature, but because support failed them when it mattered.
So how do you tell, before the contract is signed, whether a vendor will actually show up when it matters?
What to Ask Event Tech Vendors about Global Support
When you speak with vendors, it is easy to focus on performance, reliability, design, and integrations. Those things are important. But the real test sits somewhere else: How do they respond during a live issue? How fast are they? Who picks up the phone? How do they escalate?
Events do not follow office hours, and global support matters because your event could be anywhere in the world, at any time.
Ask specific and practical questions:
- When will someone answer you during a live event?
- Is the person you speak with part of the delivery team or a general help desk?
- Do they have global support or local presence where your events take place?
- Can they give you references from organisers who faced issues and emerged successfully on the other side?
These answers will tell you more about your future relationship than any product brochure.
Evaluate Event Technology Support During the Sales Process
The quality of event technology support during evaluation is the strongest predictor of post-purchase support. If a vendor is slow to respond when they are trying to win your business, they will not suddenly become responsive after the contract is signed.
During trials, pay attention to:
- How quickly they respond
- How specific and actionable their answers are
- Whether they anticipate issues or wait for you to find them
- How well they understand event operations, not just software.
When asking for references, do not ask whether the platform works. Ask how the vendor behaved when something did not. The best results come from partners and event platforms that combine solid technology with strong operational support.
Building Events That Succeed, Not Just Launch
Bain & Company’s 2023 Customer Experience Economics study found that companies prioritising customer experience grow revenue 4 to 8% faster than their competitors, and support is the most influential driver of that experience.
At Visit, this thinking has shaped our entire approach. Our 30+ years in the industry have shown that innovation only works when it is backed by global support teams who understand events end to end. This is why we invest heavily in 24/7 global support coverage across multiple regions.
Because at the end of the day, choosing an event platform isn’t a technical decision. It’s a trust decision. Reliable technology, backed by global support from people who know what to do when reality shifts, is what creates events that succeed.
Research Sources
- Gartner: 2023 Global Software Buying Trends – https://emt.gartnerweb.com/ngw/globalassets/en/digital-markets/documents/2023-global-software-buying-trends-report.pdf
- Emplifi: 70% of consumers will abandon a brand after just two negative experiences – https://emplifi.io/press/emplifi-reveals-70-of-consumers-will-abandon-a-brand-after-just-two-negative-experiences/
- Microsoft: Global State of Customer Service – https://community.dynamics.com/blogs/post/?postid=95543fd1-c6a9-4170-9f8b-ece3dc41634d
- The Insight Collective: B2B Tech Buyer Behavior – https://www.theinsightcollective.com/insights/b2b-tech-buyer-behavior-stats
- Forrester: Who Do B2B Buyers Trust? – https://www.forrester.com/blogs/who-do-b2b-buyers-trust/
- Bain.com: Are you experienced? – https://www.bain.com/insights/are-you-experienced-infographic/
