This document will aid you in the esoteric art of processing VDC enquiries. 


For further info see this video of the most recent training session: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1plOFeE-hYCH2SrxGM1se446TF7fMLNd3/view?usp=sharing




New Contacts: Assign the new Contact to a Client (under New Portal Registrations), if the client doesn't exist create a new client.

When creating a new client be sure to add the client's address and under the agent tab you must populate the fields :

  • Market Sector
  • Industry Category 
  • Add the client's company branded logo whenever possible as this will appear on the client documents.


Communication: Send an acknowledgement email to the contact using the comms templates advising the enquiry has been received.
(This should be a touchless process so avoid speaking to the contact unless completely necessary) 

 

Add more venues:  The client will often only add one venue when making an enquiry. If this is the case you must ensure that you always add at least another four venues to the enquiry before sending it out and ensure that these are A-listed venues.



Event Date Fields: The primary event date and approx/alternative dates field. If you enter a primary date using the date selector and then type a single date into the approx date field the system will hide the primary date and use the approx date as the primary.


  • Here is a good example of how to correct an incorrect date entry:



Change to:




Conference Rooms: If the client hasn't added any rooms, add the rooms and the schedule along with any equipment requested. Ensure the room layout is appropriate as sending out 60 boardroom, for instance, will never be met with a positive response from venues


Venue Search: Use the advanced search as this gives you the star ratings - use a three-star venue for most of these enquiries. Never use B listed venues 



Sending the Enquiry to the venues: Be sure to use the RFP preview so that you can be 100 % certain that the information you are sending to the venue is accurate and relevant




Time took: Always record time spent on the enquiry using the PROCESSING TIME  from the contact type list







Proposal document: Ensure the images are the best images available for each venue. Include other venues considered on all client proposal docs and always show venues that have declined. 


Follow Up: Always set an activity to chase the client within two days of sending the proposal if you haven't heard back. Chase through the system so everything is recorded.


Client Response: Confirm or lose the booking once you have heard back from the client

  • If the booking is lost always ensure that you enter the details for losing the booking as these will be reviewed 





Processing New Portal Registrations



Contacts appear under new portal registrations when they have registered on our website.  These could be people who have sent an enquiry (see above for actioning the enquiry), just registered, are spam, etc.  There are several ways to deal with these.  


* If linked to an enquiry, these should have already been assigned using the process above.


* For venues that have registered, I add them to VDC Webenquiries - New Portal Registrations (Assign) document (link to document) that I share with Graham and Elaine to contact them if required.

  Once added to this, I then assign them to New Portal Registration - Venue, supplier, group.  You then need to deactivate them, to do this go to Clients > select client New Portal Registrations - Venue, supplier, group > contacts > view contact > remove the tick from active for client > save.  Then in contacts module > select contact > privacy tab > remove the tick from active > save in the privacy tab and save in contacts tab.


* For venues that have sent a test enquiry, I still register them to New Portal Registration - Venue, supplier, group and then send them an email using the comms tab under company preferences, the title of this template is "venue test enq reply".  Once the email is sent I lose the enquiry and deactivate (as above).


* For spam registrations, I assign them to client 'no enquiry contact' and follow the deactivation process above.




* If the registration is a client who hasn't sent an enquiry but may be a potential user, I find their company on google, add them as a client, assign them to the client and then email them using the email template in company preferences > comms > New Portal Reg (no info)







Communication Templates

Company preferences > comms tab, I have set up several templates that you can use when processing VDC enquiries:




* More info required - this is a template for requesting further information, I used to use this a lot but now assume details and send out the enquiry


* Proposal email - I add this in when sending the proposal to the client, making changings to dates, etc where required


* Venue unable to assist - I send this via email when the requested venue is unable to help with the enquiry


* Confirmation Client and Confirmation Venue - I add this in when sending the confirmations from GRATIS


* New Portal Reg (no info) - I send this to new portal registrations that have not submitted an enquiry


* Enquiry being actioned - once I have sent the enquiry to the venue(s), I send this email to the client to acknowledge that their enquiry is being actioned.


* Which venue - I used to send this when a venue wasn't requested, now I do a search based on location and requirements


* Update Email - this is the email I send to the client asking for an update following sending them a proposal


* Venue Test Enq Reply - this is the email I send to venues when they send a test for their own property or one within their group


* Release Enquiry to Client - this is the email I send to the client to let them know we are releasing space holding for their enquiry