Time to re-evaluate your venue technology stack?
Our answer to this question is a resounding “Yes”. With delegate experience coming to the fore, in a new and competitive post-pandemic world having the right set of tools in place
Read more
5 venue management software tips to save your team time in 2019
Bill Gates says that almost every job now, people use software and work with information so their organization can operate more effectively. Wouldn’t you think venues would be the same?
Not quite…
Recent research has shown that many venues are still relying on manual processes and a patched together bunch of Microsoft desktop applications.
That’s such a shame. Because there are at least five ways an integrated venue management solution can smash costs and save time for venues of all sizes:
- Manage your diary better
- Follow up swiftly
- Capture data automatically
- Bill efficiently
- Know your customers inside out
Manage your diary better
While Outlook, Google Calendar and Excel or even a desk diary are fine for personal use, they’re not so hot when it comes to managing multiple rooms or workspaces right across a team.
It’s easy to double book, and that’s embarrassing and frustrating. On the other hand, a dedicated venue management solution gives your whole team an at a glance view of what space is available.
An event can be booked in seconds – and double bookings disappear into the past.
With dedicated software it’s even is possible to create wait lists, so if a room is cancelled, someone else gets first pick.
Follow up swiftly
You can collect and update sales enquiries on an Excel spreadsheet, but it’s not dynamic, and there are no reminders to prompt you to follow up.
Outlook can also be used for reminders, but it’s not good for note-taking.
A venue management solution, on the other hand, streamlines the experience because you see everything on one screen, including client details, your notes and any reminders.
It means you spend less time on duplicating data entry so you have more time to action sales follow up.
Capture data automatically
Function sheets can be created in Word if you are patient enough to type in every last detail about an event.
Using a combination of Excel and Outlook to record client communications leaves more room for mistakes, unfortunately.
If there are last-minute changes, everything has to be typed up again or you could miss the changes and costs and not communicated to the people providing your services.
Luckily, venue management software can capture every action and resource automatically, and turn it into tasks and reminders that appear when the user logs in. Alternatively, function sheets can be printed off or emailed.
You can feel confident that any changes and associated costs, will always be sent to your service team and accounts department.
Bill efficiently
Once the event is all done, you need to produce swift invoices with all costs accurately captured.
If you have to cross-reference Excel files and type up an invoice in Word it’s a laborious process open to human error.
Using venue management technology, though, it’s an easy push-button process to create an invoice and sent it direct to the client.
The solution captures all costs, so you can be sure that the invoices are 100% accurate; it’s a real boost to cash flow and profitability.
Know your customers inside out
When your guests enjoy a great experience thanks to your venue, it makes sense to have a system in place that keeps them coming back again.
You could keep a mailing list in Excel, but data can become stale quickly, and a state of the art venue software solution with dedicated CRM is a better way to go.
With built-in business intelligence, you can analyze which customers bring you the most revenue and target them appropriately. You can also segment your database by market type so you can creates targeted promotions that really hit the mark.
It’s also possible to clean data quickly and automatically, which is impossible with spreadsheets.
So there’s no doubt – Bill Gates hit the nail on the head when he linked good use of software with efficient operations.
In today’s data-driven world, it definitely pays to invest in software – and that goes for you too, venues…
- Find out more about venue management software here.