Become a YOIN excellent meeting place: what's in it for you?

As a YOIN excellent meeting place, you set yourself apart from other venues. The YOIN quality label demonstrates your commitment to quality, innovation and exceptional service, while positioning your venue as a knowledgeable and reliable partner for current and prospective clients.

The YOIN audit is the most comprehensive independent assessment in the Dutch business events market, evaluating your organisation against more than 380 assessment criteria. As a result, YOIN certification is not only a valuable internal quality management tool, but also a powerful marketing asset that builds trust with current and prospective clients.

What are the benefits?

• Independently verified quality – demonstrate your commitment to excellence.
• Greater confidence among event planners – making it easier for clients to choose your venue.
• A stronger competitive position – giving you an advantage when responding to enquiries and tenders.
• A practical management tool – providing valuable insights to support continuous improvement.
• CLC-VECTA membership – access to industry expertise, research, professional guidance, networking opportunities, knowledge resources and support from the Dutch business events association.

How does it work?

1. Independent audit
The YOIN assessment consists of two stages: a preparation phase (self-assessment) followed by a site visit conducted by an independent auditor. The total time investment is approximately half a day. Read more about the audit process and the assessment criteria.

2. Assessment against more than 380 assessment criteria
During the audit, your venue is evaluated against more than 380 assessment criteria, covering every aspect of your organisation. Following the auditor's visit, the results are processed and presented in your personal dashboard. Venues achieving a score of 80% or higher are awarded the YOIN excellent meeting places quality label, become part of the YOIN community and may display the quality label in all their communications.

More importantly, the audit provides valuable insights into your organisation. It highlights your strengths, identifies blind spots and motivates your entire team to keep improving. Combined with the auditor's recommendations, it provides a clear roadmap for continuous development. Because the audit is repeated every two years, it forms an effective cycle of continuous quality improvement.

3. Mystery call (sales & proposal process)
In the years when no site visit takes place, your venue receives a mystery call. A telephone enquiry is often one of the very first—and most important—touchpoints in a potential client's customer journey. During the mystery call, we assess questions such as:

• Are the right questions being asked?
• Does the employee show genuine interest?
• Are they friendly, knowledgeable and proactive?
• Is the proposal professional, clear and complete?
• Is a provisional booking (option) offered and actively followed up?

Afterwards, you'll receive a personal feedback report with a detailed evaluation of the interaction, together with practical recommendations for optimising your first customer contact and sales process.

4. Recertification audit
The YOIN audit is repeated every two years. This gives your team the opportunity to implement the recommendations and continue improving your organisation, facilities and expertise. The assessment itself is regularly updated to reflect developments in the business events industry. As the market evolves, so do the assessment criteria—ensuring that the YOIN quality label remains current, relevant and valuable. This means every recertification is a fresh assessment rather than simply repeating the previous one.