Prior to COVID you may not have felt that your business needed Event Management Software with a CRM. However, as events slowly start to come back, now may be the time to invest in software that helps you manage your prospects and your bookings all in one place.
Let’s start by defining Event Management Software and CRM and why they’re important for venues.
Event Management Software or EMS is a broad term used for software that supports event organizers with the tools to efficiently manage a successful event or booking. This can include menu selection, proposals, event order forms, and invoicing. When you invest in Event Management Software, you should be able to increase your operational efficiency. You no longer need to build multiple spreadsheets or multiple versions of your contracts. Event Management Software allows you to keep all your booking, from inquiry all the way to invoicing and reporting, in one place.
A Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a type of software that helps track all your interactions with current and potential customers in one place. Imagine someone on your team quit today, what would you do? Would you know where to start with their prospect communication or bookings or would you be lost? What happens if their client calls referring to something that was agreed to beforehand? You don’t want to be caught in the dark.
That’s the power of a CRM.
You and anyone else on your team can not only pull up current and potential client information but you also can see exactly what has been communicated to who and what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by.
1 - The WHOLE Picture In One Place
Have you ever had 10 tabs open, 3 programs running and a notepad to create a booking or send a contract? Have you ever sent version 2 of a proposal when you’re actually on version 5? Events are dynamic and customer requests are always changing.
You and your venue team need to be able to stay organized and effectively manage your time so you can prospect for new business and manage all your current event opportunities and confirmed bookings. That’s where an Event Management System with a CRM comes in.
When you have all your prospecting information as well as your booking information in one place, you and your entire team have full transparency over the state of the business. You’re able to easily identify gaps in your booking schedule and send emails, make phone calls, or set tasks to reach out to prospects with event promotions during those dates.
2 - Save Time And Increase Efficiency
What happens when a new lead comes in? Traditionally, you would reply to the email or give the lead a call. Next, you copy over details discussed to your tentative booking spreadsheet and manually fill out and send them a proposal with their event details. Once they confirm, you send them version 1 of the contract. Maybe you have to scan it or maybe you’ve built online templates in Google Docs. Finally, they sign version 5 of the contract and you copy all event details to your confirmed booking spreadsheet.
Does this system sound familiar? Most venues follow some version of this process which can take 3-10 days before a contract is even signed. With the right Event Management Software, venues can have their leads automatically funnel into the pipeline and can quickly go from an inquiry to a proposal to an invoice in a matter of minutes, all in a couple of clicks.
And guess what? You didn’t have to leave your software.
Inefficient business practices can cost companies 20-30% of their annual revenue. Time is wasted and mistakes are made. Businesses that invest in Event Management Software with a CRM found that they had a 60% faster return rate on documents. They also found that they were able to seamlessly communicate with their clients throughout the pandemic and could easily reschedule cancelled bookings or check in to maintain current client relationships.
3 - Accurate Reporting
We all rely on data to make business decisions. When using multiple systems, you have to create a master spreadsheet that includes all the data from your different systems and then you can make a decision based on those numbers. Not only is this time consuming, it also increases the chance for human error and misreporting.
When your venue uses Event Management Software that includes a CRM, you can easily track your sales activity and your booking statistics all in one place. Systems now include the ability to quickly generate and email or download a report in a matter of seconds. Event coordinators and sales teams can quickly access the reports that matter to them so they can make informed business decisions.
Easy access to accurate data gives you the ability to create repeatable event sales processes and identify areas of opportunity in your business so you can thrive in 2021 and beyond.
Final Thoughts on Event Management Software With A CRM
Investing in Event Management Software with a CRM gives you the ability to fully understand your business. You can respond to leads and confirm bookings faster. Manage your client relationships all under one roof and lower operational inefficiencies and increase revenue.
Businesses that invest in software that includes both the sales side and event side of running a venue, gives owners and managers accurate insights into their operations. They’re able to make decisions backed by data and further improve their overall bottom line.
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