This is a working FAQ for Sales and Client Services to use and refine during the Venue Directory Top Responder launch. It includes confirmed guidance, talk tracks, objection handling, and placeholders where team input is needed.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) What is Top Responder?

Top Responder is a badge shown on Venue Directory platforms highlighting venues with consistently strong RFP response performance, helping planners identify partners who reply quickly and reliably. It will display across venuedirectory.com (VDC), My Events Portal (MEP), and GRATIS for planners, reinforcing a venue’s responsiveness in search results and listings.

2) Value at a glance

  • For planners: Faster, more reliable responses, making sourcing more efficient and predictable.
  • For venues: Increased visibility to planners and differentiation based on real response performance (not pay-to-play).
  • For us (VD): Encourages better response behaviours and adds incremental value to the Enhanced Listing package (badge display limited to Enhanced Listing venues).

3) Where will the badge appear?

Visible to planners across VDC, MEP, and GRATIS in search results and listings (consistent tooltip and treatment across platforms).

4) Who qualifies? (Eligibility & criteria)

To qualify, venues must meet all of the following metrics (calculated monthly over recent performance windows):

  • Response rate: ≥ 90% over the last 3 full months.
  • On-time response rate: ≥ 90% over the last 3 full months.
  • Minimum RFP volume: ≥ 10 RFPs in the last 12 months.
  • Decline rate threshold: Declines must be under 50% of responded RFPs during the same period.

Important: All venues are scored, but only Enhanced Listings display the badge. This adds value to Enhanced Listing while still using universal performance data.

5) How is it calculated and updated?

  • Cadence: Scores and eligibility are calculated monthly using the previous 3 full months of data (and last 12 months for RFP volume).
  • Notifications: Venues receive monthly emails when they first qualify or if they subsequently lose the badge (no email if status is unchanged).
  • System jobs: A scheduled sync job runs monthly; success/failure notifications are posted to the internal Slack channel #vd-top-responder.

6) What it does NOT do

  • No ranking change: The badge itself does not change sort order/ranking in VDC, MEP, or GRATIS at launch.
  • No filter: A planner-facing filter for Top Responder is out of scope and may come later.
  • Not purchasable: This badge cannot be bought; it is earned via performance. It is not an ad or paid add-on.

7) Timeline and scope

Targeted timing: Launch is set January 2026 (week of Jan 21); Product to confirm exact date.

8) Sales talk track (30 seconds)

“Top Responder highlights venues that consistently respond to planner RFPs quickly and on time, so planners can shortlist with confidence. For Enhanced Listing clients, the badge appears right in search results across Venue Directory, MEP, and GRATIS, signalling reliability and helping them win more qualified opportunities and it’s based purely on performance, not spend.”

9) Qualification questions to uncover fit

  • Does your venue typically respond to ≥ 90% of RFPs and meet reply SLAs?
  • Do you have at least 10 RFPs in the last 12 months on our platforms?
  • Are you on an Enhanced Listing (to display the badge if/when qualified)?

10) Common objections and responses

“Can we buy the badge?”
The badge cannot be purchased; it’s earned by meeting objective response metrics. If you have Enhanced Listing and meet the thresholds, the badge will display automatically.

“Will this hurt our visibility if we’re not a Top Responder?”
No ranking changes; however, the badge helps planners spot responsive venues. Use this as a goalpost to improve response KPIs and gain the advantage next month.

“Our declines are high due to poor-fit RFPs.”
Decline behaviour counts toward overall responsiveness. Work with your team to fine-tune routing and reply quickly with context; consistent, timely responses are key to qualifying.

11) What should CS tell a venue that wants the badge?

  • Focus on the three metrics: 90%+ response rate, 90%+ on-time responses (last 3 months), and at least 10 RFPs in the last year.
  • Maintain performance; badge updates monthly. If thresholds are met, the badge will appear in the next cycle (for Enhanced Listing).
  • Check the venue’s dashboard for response metrics and trends to understand gaps and improvements over time.

12) Planner and supplier communications

  • Planner comms: Marketing emails and external LaunchNote to raise awareness and set expectations.
  • Supplier comms: Service emails via Brevo to Enhanced Listing venues; in-product notifications; consistent tooltip/badge treatment across apps.
  • Internal enablement: A Sales/CS FAQ (this document) and short seller scripts/templates are planned per release plan.

13) Pricing and packaging

The badge is not a paid add-on. However, only Enhanced Listings display the badge when qualified, which increases the value of Enhanced Listing for eligible venues.

14) Metrics, reporting, and where to see status

Venues can view performance and track status over time in existing dashboards; metrics are evaluated monthly for badge updates.

No new dedicated report for the tag at MVP; data is surfaced via existing experiences and notifications.

15) Troubleshooting and escalation (CS/App Support)

If a venue believes they qualify but the badge isn’t visible:

  • Confirm they have an Enhanced Listing (badge display is Enhanced-only).
  • Verify latest monthly metrics meet thresholds; remember updates occur on a monthly cadence.
  • Check for timing: The sync runs monthly; allow for the next cycle and processing window.
  • If data appears out of sync, log a case and reference internal sync checks (RPT_TopResponderStats and c4_venue_top_responder tables; see tech notes).
  • Monitor internal Slack for job status (#vd-top-responder) and raise to Product/Engineering if sync failures are indicated.

16) Technical reference (for escalations)

  • Monthly stats populate RPT_TopResponderStats; sync computes and updates c4_venue_top_responder (current and previous month) used by apps/search to display badge.
  • APIs/flags expose IsTopResponder to consuming apps; UI displays the icon with tooltip per design guidelines.

17) Owners and contacts

  • Product: Sohini Das (PM).
  • Product Marketing: Jessica Kimball; Customer Marketing: Diana Tamboly.
  • CS Readiness: Elizabeth Wasserman; Support: Zachary Warren.
  • Sales leadership (HC): Jason Gutteridge; Emma Reeves.

18) Appendix: Planner- and supplier-facing draft language (reference)

These messaging snippets reflect current marketing drafts and may evolve pre-GA.

Planner email: “Top Responder will appear next to venues that demonstrate exceptional responsiveness, helping you quickly spot those likely to reply quickly and thoroughly. The feature is performance-based and not paid.”

Supplier email (Enhanced Listing): “Eligibility is calculated monthly. The badge is awarded based on performance and is not a paid add‑on. It will be visible to planners across VDC, MEP, and GRATIS.”