Online Registration Services - How to Select the Right One
With dozens of online registration companies to choose from,
selecting one is not an easy task. We recently went through
several sites and found ourselves somewhat frustrated and
confused.
We want it to be easier for you to select an online registration
provider because you have a lot to gain from making the switch.
In this paper we will help you understand what to look for and
which questions to ask when selecting an online registration
provider...
What do I look at first?
First impressions say a lot about a company. If it is easy to
obtain and understand information about their service, then it
is more likely that their product and company are easy to work
with. If it takes too much up-front effort on your part, then it
may be a sign of what's to come.
How responsive were their sales people to your calls or emails?
Did it take hours or days to hear back? Did you like interacting
with them? How clear were their features and pricing? Did you
get straight answers, or need to really dig to get to the bottom
line? As much as you are buying technology, you are buying the
people who make the technology and their ability to make your
life easier.
How do I determine which system will be easiest to
use?
Most providers will talk about their ease of setup and use.
Depending on your technical aptitude and the complexity of your
event, you may or may not agree with their claims. Something to
consider: the simpler a system seems at first, the less likely
it is to have advanced functionality that you may quickly hunger
for. When you look at a system, it's important to consider both
simplicity and functionality. If you go with a very simple
system for eases sake, you may miss out on some important
functionality or vice versa.
The best way to truly understand ease-of-use is to play around
with the system yourself. Most companies have a demo account
where you can log into their system and setup or play with a
registration form. When you do this, ask yourself... Is the
interface intuitive? Can I figure out how to do most of what I
want to do with it? Would my coworkers be able to understand and
use this system? Sometimes you can also get a sense of the
system through their live online demos. It's best to see the
live application in use, versus a PowerPoint, to show you how
the system works.
If you have relatively complex registration needs, you will need
a system that is more robust and therefore may appear less
simple. In this case you will want to pay greater attention to
their training and support (which we will cover later).
What is the easiest way to figure out if they really have the
functionality I need?
An easy way to check if their functionality fits your needs is
to fax your current registration form to the salespeople. Make
an additional list of your management and reporting needs and
identify them as either "have to haves" or "would like to
haves". Ask the salesperson to walk through it with you and tell
you what their system can and cannot do.
A great way to confirm their claims is to ask for and call
references that have events that are similar to yours. This way,
you can talk through how they used it and compare it to your own
needs. Ask the references what functionality is missing and how
easy it is to use.
Most systems cover the basic functions like collecting
information, sending confirmation, reminder, and notification
emails, processing credit cards, and producing basic reports.
However, it's the advanced features that are important to
identify and compare. Some of these include wait listing, hotel
blocks, custom reporting, mass emailing, surveying, and series
meeting management. Within each one of these categories, there
are a host of increasingly specific functions to consider.
If a provider is close, but doesn't have the exact functionality
you need, some companies also offer customization services (for
a fee). You tell the company what you need, and they'll tell you
how much it would cost to customize their system to better meet
your needs.
How do I know if the company will be there for me when I have
questions or problems?
Support falls into three categories: online help, training, and
one-on-one phone and email support.
If the online help is good, it will be the most efficient way
for you to get quick answers 24/7. How easy is it to access? Is
there context sensitive help that will give you help specific to
the section you were in? How thorough and practical is the help?
Do they offer how-to's, tips, and warnings? How often do they
update the help? Updates are especially important with companies
that are improving their technology on a weekly basis. Do they
provide regular email updates on enhancements or changes? Some
companies also offer flash mini-trainings that you can click on
to watch at any time.
The next is training. What trainings do they offer? How often?
Is there a charge for training? Do they have flash trainings
that you can take whenever you like? What do customers say about
their trainings?
As well as some of the systems are built, you most likely will
have questions or needs that require a live person on the other
end (especially if you don't have time for online help or
training). The important questions then become: What is the
average response time to an email or phone call? How helpful and
friendly are they? How many clients per dedicated support
employee (non-programmer) do they have? Do they have
restrictions on how you can use support (email only, $ per
incident, etc.)? Try asking the support team directly for the
answers to these questions. The way they respond will tell you
something too.
With some providers, they will build the registration pages for
you (for a fee). If you are in a pinch for time or find it a
hassle, this can be a life-saver, so be sure they have it.
How do I figure out the real bottom-line cost?
Unfortunately, pricing is one of the most confusing aspects of
this industry. This has come as a result of providers trying to
tailor their pricing to too many different client needs. Small
events, large events, frequent events, processing credit cards,
etc.. Here are the categories of pricing: per event, per
registrant, % of transaction, annual fees, up-front fees, flat
rate licensing fees, and additional service fees.
Mix all this together with volume discounts and long-term
contracts, and there are a lot of numbers to look at. To sort
them all out, start with a most likely scenario of what your
events will look like for the next year and get the prices for
that.
Create a spreadsheet and input all the numbers from the
different providers to come up with a bottom-line price for
each. Then weigh the total cost against all the other criteria
discussed here. Don't make the mistake of going with the
cheapest at the expense of missing out on features, stability,
or good service.
Also, be careful with entering long-term contracts, just to get
a better price. It is important to do a test-run with a couple
events before locking into the long term (if at all). Some
agreements have auto-renewal clauses that, without you really
knowing, lock you in year-to-year.
What do I need to know about processing credit cards
online?
If you are using their merchant account, how does billing work?
How quickly do they pay you? Do they hold back on any portion?
If so, for how long? Can you view real-time transactions? How
easy is it to do refunds?
If you are using your own merchant account, do they support your
gateway? How long does it take to connect up? How do you do
refunds?
Pricing for merchant services can be confusing as well. If you
are trying to decide if it makes more sense to create you own
merchant account or use the providers merchant account, consider
the following: If you use your own merchant account you will pay
monthly, per transaction, % of transaction (plus their hidden
non-qualified rates), as well as monthly, and per transaction
gateway fees, plus whatever fees the registration provider
requires for integrated processing. All totaled, you may be able
to save a percent over if you used the provider's merchant
account. You need to weigh the potential savings with the
hassles that go with setting up and managing your own merchant
account, gateway, and all their fees.
How do I know which company I can count on to be around for
years to come?
How long has the company been around? How many developers,
support, and sales people? How long has it been profitable (if
at all)? How is it funded? What is their employee turnover? What
percentage of new business is from referrals?
A company that has a healthy percentage of referrals usually
means they are investing well in their technology and people. As
a result, they have a greater likelihood of being around for the
long haul. Online registration has changed many people's lives
for the better, and created some great testimonials. The
question is what percentage of the customers are raving fans?
How consistent is the company and its technology with making
people happy? One good way to find that out is to ask... What
percentage of new business is from referrals?
What aspects of security and stability are important?
Is your information safe? How secure are their servers? Who has
access to your information? If you will have multiple users or
administrators accessing the system on your end, do you have the
ability to set different security access levels?
All systems have down time (including the Yahoo's and Amazon's
of the world). The question is how much? There are several
factors that cause this: the internet, the host, the hardware,
and the software. Be sure to ask how many times in the past year
has the system gone down, and for how long? NO ONE has zero
downtime. So, ask for specifics if they say rarely or not at
all. What advanced notification do they give for downtime. What
guarantees do they offer for uptime?
Will the technology grow with my needs?
A huge benefit of using an online registration provider, instead
of hosting your own application, is the ability for the provider
to make constant upgrades to improve the system. Which brings us
to our next question, How committed is the company to improving
their technology? How frequently are they making upgrades? Ask
for the upgrades that were made in the past couple months and
compare the amount of enhancements between systems.
How do I get my information out of these systems?
Reporting enables you to monitor ongoing progress of your
registrations, plan for the event, and then manage the actual
event. How easy or difficult is it to access the information you
need? Do the standard reports give you what you need? Can you
produce your own custom reports? Can you sort the reports the
way you want? Can you save and export reports? When you demo the
system, check to see that the reports will give you what you
want, the way you want it.
We hope you found this paper to be valuable in helping you
select an online registration provider. No matter who you
choose, it will make you and your staff's life easier and events
more successful by taking and managing registrations online.