The Meeting Planner's Online Advantage: 7 Ways to Cut Down
Customer Service Issues
Meeting planners can dramatically reduce customer service issues
by getting their attendees' information right, with
personalized, consistent communication and by getting the
payments handled efficiently.
7 Things You Can Do
NOW with a Fully-Automated Registrations System to
Improve Your Customer Service:
1. Get contact
info right the first time.
There's nothing more
frustrating to a registrant than when an event organizer gets
their information wrong. Each instance in your process where you
manually enter or transfer data poses a risk for making errors.
Using an automated system, which has everything built-in (online
registration, accounting, badge printing), eliminates all data
entry and data transferring issues.
2. Be sure that payment information is correct.
When
a registrant thinks they are registered because they gave you
their information and credit card number; then finds out a week
or two later their charge did not go through; stress is created.
You can automatically processes credit card transactions in
real-time; so there is no miscommunication.
3. Send impeccable follow-ups.
Registrants like to
know that everything is being properly handled with their
registration and your event. When they don't hear from you after
they register, they get worried. Automatically send confirmation
and reminder emails with a personalized touch.
4. Keep track of numbers daily.
Events can go wrong
when an event organizer doesn't know the details of their event
numbers on a daily basis. Real-time awareness of lack of demand
or hyper-demand for different aspects of your events, allows
sufficient time to make alternate preparations. Automated online
systems make it easy to tally registrant data on a daily basis.
5. Organize your information.
If you are managing
your events with multiple spreadsheets or systems, you know it
can be difficult to stay organized. If information gets lost or
falls through a crack, it eventually becomes a dissatisfied
attendee. Avoid unhappy customers by using a fully-integrated
system... it should have all of the systems built-in: registrant
preferences, accounting, badge printing and reporting.
6. Automate the waitlisting process.
Registrants
don't mind things being sold-out when there is a
well-communicated waitlisting process in place. A good
registration system automatically provides a waitlist for
registrants then notifies them the instant a spot opens up. If
they accept the open spot, then their payment is automatically
collected as well.
7. Eliminate frustrations with early-bird specials and
discounts
Registrants love to ask if they can get
early-bird specials and discounts for which they know they do
not qualify. They hate to hear "no" and you hate to say it. A
fully-automated system qualifies everyone for the appropriate
discounts, so you don't need to.