Venue management software helps organisations manage their venue in a controlled way and makes life of their employees easier by centralising all essential aspects of their workflows. It also makes collaboration easier because all information is stored centrally, preferably accessible from the cloud.
Many cultural venues are already using venue management software, but not all of them. We often hear of preconceptions about this kind of software, so we thought we would fact check and give our view.
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Not all specialised software is expensive to purchase, in fact, most software is now provided as a service (SaaS). Using specialised software and reaping the benefits should also be seen as a continued investment in the future. After all, inefficiency in your processes could be costing you considerably more in the long run. Often with SaaS, the fee depends on the scale of your organisation. In some cases you pay per user. This way, small organisations can also purchase software at an affordable price in order to professionalise their way of working.
Everyone wants to run their venue as efficiently as possible, no matter the size. You want to maximise the use of your venue to the fullest, while saving costs and improving workflows. With a proper overview, extensive reporting possibilities and not having to worry about oversights in planning or conflicts you have the chance to do so. Of course, with less time needed for follow-up, run reporting, produce quotations and plan your rotas, you have more time to focus on giving your customers and artists what they want. After all, nobody likes filling in multiple spreadsheets and systems, right?
"In recent years we have seen software built in a far more intuitive way, so every employee has the ability to start using it with minimal training"
What is vital for the success of software reaching its full potential is having everyone in your organisation use it. SaaS companies always bear this in mind when developing their product. In recent years we have seen software built in a far more intuitive way, so every employee has the ability to start using it with minimal training, regardless of computer skills. These intuitive interfaces are often coupled with a whole host of manuals, tutorials, videos and online training sessions.
Modern software packages can often be configured by the end user. Many systems allow you to add or change fields and buttons to support your own workflows. This way, you do not need to change your way of working when moving to new software or even create your own system. With the addition of APIs the venue management software can ‘communicate’ with other softwares. These integrations ensure the venue management system can utilize or provide additional information held in other systems.
Software development is a never-ending process. Technology is always changing, so are the requirements of the end users, therefore SaaS companies are always working on the next release to improve their software. If a feature you have in mind is not available, it might just be in the future. Dare to ask and don’t be afraid to challenge SaaS companies.
"Software is rarely designed to replace employees but rather to save time, make their lives easier and boost collaboration and communication"
Venue management systems need human input. The more, the better, as the more data employees enter into these systems, the more this can be drawn upon to shape the management of the venue or an event. Software is rarely designed to replace employees but rather to save time, make their lives easier and boost collaboration and communication so that they can focus on adding the most value.
As we covered earlier, venue management software is an investment in the future. At the very start of your journey, it may appear like you are spending large amounts of time by entering data into the system. A good software company should help you get a return on investment by getting you up and running as soon as possible. This way you should start to see ROI shortly and it should continue to grow as you continue to invest.
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