Hi Mike,
We had more or less given up on finding a flexible and affordable booking solution [for Lucky Voice private karaoke] and had decided to open the venue with a pen-and-paper system when we happened across restaurantdiary™. And thank goodness we did! It was already a great booking engine, but the team were incredibly receptive to new ideas and the customisation that we needed for our unique concept.
Our favourite bits as follows:
Web-based booking
For us, the totally online nature of the offering gives it an edge over products which have to be
installed on a particular computer. Not only does it allow the booking function to be totally
independent of premises location, but it is a great tool for management to keep a remote eye on
things.
Database/reporting
Having details of every booking ever made in a comprehensive database is incredibly useful for
business analysis. The system already includes a huge number of different, flexible reports and if
you can think of any that are missing (and useful), it's never a problem to get them added.
Communications
The customised email and SMS messages which the system sends automatically to our
customers regarding their bookings makes our business look very slick and really assists the
operation (we include our terms and conditions in the emails and also use them to direct people
to other information on our website).
Customer profiling
You can never know too much about your customers. The system allows us to store a huge
amount of information about our customers which can be used to generate tailored lists for
marketing purposes.
We have used the system for over 18 months and still feel that there are ways to profit from it
which we haven't yet discovered. Add to that the fact that there are new features being
implemented all the time and we couldn't be happier."
Nick
Nick Thistleton
Managing Director
Lucky Voice, London (shareholders include Martha Lane-Fox of Lastminute.com fame)