What’s that coming over the hill – is it a monster? No, it’s just 2020…but if you want it to be friendly rather than scary, it’s time for venue sales managers to take stock and make some changes.
So we’ve come up with a quick guide to what you need to do to keep you – and your venue – firmly on the road to success in the new year.
Our 5 great year-end housekeeping hacks to make your life easier in 2020
- Get your reports right
- Check you have the right people in the right place
- Tidy up your categories
- Consider the case for automation
- Check your relationships
1. Get your reports right:
Have you had a tough 2019 putting together the information your managers demand?
Doing reports the hard way can be incredibly stressful – and it can divert attention away from the all-important business of selling.
Take the time now to carry out a review of your reports, and ask your managers if they are hitting the mark, or if there are further elements they want covering.
This is a great time of year to check your KPIs, such as price per head and occupancy rate, and make sure you are focusing on the metrics that really matter.
Then take advantage of your venue management software – a good system such as Rendezvous by NFS will provide many ready-made reports, but will also allow you to easily create ad hoc reports for any situation.
2. Check you have the right people in the right place:
We all know the venues and events business is continually changing, but have you kept track of developments in 2019?
For instance, your venue may have seen lead times get shorter and shorter – it’s common across the industry. The result might be that you may now not have enough reactive sales staff in place to deal with demand.
That in turn can mean your managers are unhappy because your team’s conversion rate is not up to scratch.
But if you are supported by solid data from your venue management software, you can make a convincing case for getting more people in the right place next year to deal with quick turnarounds and clinch those deals.
3. Tidy up your categories:
Because there’s a strongly-individual element to every event – and because clients often demand it – it can be easy to start a new category for the event.
However, by year-end, venues often find that they have dozens if not hundreds of categories – and some only actually contain a single event.
Use your venue management software to sort through these categories and put them into bundles. It’s a great way to streamline operations and cut out clutter, and you can gain deeper insight into what’s working well by collating and analysing the shared data.
4. Consider the case for automation:
No, it’s not putting yourself or your team out of a job!
The truth is, if you analyse data on your venue management software and find out that (for instance) you mostly host meetings for five people, you might want to look into a limited element of useful automation.
For example, could some clients self-select space on your website before confirming their booking with you? It could reduce admin and free up your people for their more important customer-facing duties.
5. Check on your relationship:
The one with your software supplier, of course!
Many sales managers and other venue staff could get a lot more out of their venue management software if they just knew how.
But everyday duties get in the way, and useful and advanced functions that can make your life easier can sometimes get forgotten.
You need to be sure you have a trusted software supplier who understands your business, and who takes a consultative approach to providing what your venue needs – not just selling stuff.
The end of the year is a great opportunity to draw on that that trusted relationship, and to review how your executives input data and use the system day-to-day.
An annual refresh of knowledge and practices can go a long way towards streamlining your operations and making sure everyone is match-ready for the coming year.
After all, today’s venue management software has far more applications than even just a few years ago. In 2020, make sure you open the lid on that toolkit fully – and use it to full advantage for you and your venue.
