Why Event Management Technology Can Help Your Venue Crush the Competition

It’s the last quarter of 2018, so your venue is most likely gearing up for the holiday season, and trying to increase event sales as much as possible before the end of the year.

There’s one huge difference between the venues that grew sales this year the ones that didn’t: technology. The use of event management software plays a huge role in the success of your events program and your restaurant as a whole.

Just adding an event management platform can get you ahead of the competition because a huge segment of event industry professionals are not using technology to streamline their event planning. 64% of event professionals have difficulty securing funding for technology tools.

So we know that technology can grow your business and give you an industry advantage, but the question is why? Let’s look at six reasons why technology — specifically an event management system like Tripleseat — can help you crush the competition.

1. Grow more leads
Your customers and prospects aren’t going to use the same online resources to find and book an event venue. That’s why you need an event management system that connects you with clients on the websites and devices they rely on.

Tripleseat’s SmartLeads features provide venues with a number of ways to capture leads, including lead form tools for your website, an app for your Facebook business page, and a listing on our Venues by Tripleseat directory. Prospects can use their smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer to send inquiries, and your venue can convert those leads from any device, wherever you are.

2. Manage events more efficiently
Planning a great event requires a lot of time, preparation, and a ton of large and small details that you are endlessly crossing off of your to-do list. Event management technology allows you to seamlessly keep on top of those details, meet your deadlines, and save a lot of time.

Efficiency starts at the beginning of the event management process, with Tripleseat’s SmartDocs, a customizable, easy-to-use, banquet event order, contract, proposal, and invoice generator. Build completely branded documents and customize fonts, colors, and more in minutes, not hours. Your professional-looking documents will be pixel-perfect and look great on every device or web browser. And they’re accessible to you and your clients in real time, all in one place.

Next, keep on top of the details by using Tripleseat’s automatic tasks tool. You can assign tasks, along with deadlines and reminders, to track everything that needs to be done before, during, and after an event, including event dates or status changes. You can also send reminders for tasks to clients in just a few clicks.

Tripleseat’s booking features take efficiency to new levels — store all of the details about an event in one central location. View who requested an event and what time and location they desired. Also track documents, notes, and tasks associated with your bookings. Organize all of your venue’s events with the bookings calendar, which shows all your events from one venue or hundreds. Get an overall view of your calendar by status, room, or venue to ensure you know which rooms are taken and which are available. And take it on the go by using Tripleseat on your devices or synching the calendar with Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, or Apple iCal.

3. Get paid faster
The billing and payment process is easier and much faster when your venue uses event management software. Tripleseat enables you to collect payments online, directly from your banquet event orders, contracts, or other documents. You can offer flexibility to your customers by accepting multiple deposits or payment for an entire event at the same time. The entire process is secure — customers have access to a payment portal that’s secure and PCI compliant.

You’ll be able to track payments and get a financial overview for your venue in minutes. Track all payments in your Tripleseat account from the booking screen or documents. Need more detailed payment information? Pull a financial report to share with accountants, chief financial officers, and controllers.

4. Manage your contacts
Your customer database is one of your venue’s most important resources. Manage your customer data and use it strategically to improve your business with the power of event management software.

All of your contacts are easily accessible within your Tripleseat account. Quickly search for contacts for one venue or across multiple venues. You’ll get a complete history of every client, their event details, and all of the events they’ve booked with you.

Use Tripleseat’s reporting tools to get more out of your customer data — pull reports based on location, account, and more. Find your VIP customers who have spent the most or booked the most with your venue within a certain time frame. Use this data to target these groups in your email, social media, or direct mail marketing and encourage them to create more bookings with your venue.

5. Track everything with reports
How do you know how your events business is doing? Track your success any time, in real time with an event management system. Tripleseat’s reports will help you keep on top of the key performance indicators you need to run your business.

Pull reports to help you get an overall view of your events’ details, menu and billing items, financial information, sales, and payments. Track the status of your events, your revenue, and get a visual report with the event revenue funnel. You can also drill down to learn more about your leads, with reports on lead details, sources, conversions, activities, and tasks.   

6. Increase your productivity with integrations
Event management software can act as a one-stop shop for many of the activities you do to keep an events business running. It all works together with the right integrations.

Your Tripleseat account connects you to reservations tools, payment tools, enterprise hotel software, email marketing services, floor plan software, and online marketing tools. Take advantage of our partners and integrations to access the tools you use most without leaving Tripleseat.

Invest in your future
The event business accounts for more than 30% of the overall revenue for venues and it is growing like crazy. Tripleseat — the fastest growing event sales and management platform — can help your venue dominate the private events market and get ahead of the competition. We were named one of Inc. Magazine’s 5,000 fastest-growing companies in 2018 and Gold Stevie Award winner for best event management solution software. More than 4,000 restaurants, hotels, and unique venues use Tripleseat to increase their sales by over 50%.

See it for yourself. If you’re not yet a Tripleseat customer, schedule a free web demo at a day and time that works for you and find out how to take your events business to the next level.