Just because an event or hold is placed on your calendar doesn't mean that it will happen! Holds may never confirm for various reasons and confirmed events may fall through or be postponed. In this article we're going to outline our recommended best practices for various scenarios. These best practices allow you to keep your calendar clean and accurate, retain the not-happening hold/event for reference, and report on why these holds and events did not come to fruition.
We have found that holds and events typically fall into one of several scenarios:
- An event was booked during training/practice or in error.
- Inquiries, prospects, and holds which will not become confirmed events.
- The hold or event is canceled and will not be postponed or rescheduled.
- The event is postponed and will be rescheduled (you know the new date).
- The event is postponed and will be rescheduled (you don't know the new date yet).
We outline the best practices for each scenario below.
An event was booked during training/practice or in error
If an event was booked that was never "real" business — a mistake was made or someone was in training or trying a new workflow — we recommend that the event is canceled. By canceling it, it will not be included in event reporting.
More information:
Inquiries, prospects, and holds which will not become confirmed events
Inquiries and prospects may not become qualified leads, private events may choose a different venue, and holds may be released or even denied. We recommend that these events are marked as lost. When you mark an event as lost you will choose a reason for that loss which then allows you to gain a picture across time why you aren't securing those events and take steps to mitigate those reasons or target different business.
More information:
The event is canceled and will not be postponed or rescheduled
If an event is canceled and will not be rescheduled, it is also considered lost business. We recommend you mark the event as lost. Just as above, this allows you track and report on reasons why events are not happening.
Once the event is marked as lost be sure to:
- Delete any tasks which are no longer needed.
- Handle any outstanding financials, including voiding invoices, charging a cancellation fee, issuing refunds or credits, and so on.
More information:
The event is postponed and has been rescheduled
In this scenario, the event will still happen and you've been able to work out a date with your client. Since the event is the same event, we recommend moving the event to the new date. This will retain all event history (in the activity log) as well as notes, contracts, detailing, etc.
- Step-by-step instructions for moving events are available in Move an Event to a Different Day. Follow the instructions for moving an entire event. We recommend doing this on the event details page.
- Once the event is moved, be sure to:
- Update outdated rental rates. If you are not changing the rates, you can simply click the pencil on the rental rates tab and then save.
- Regenerate new contracts or create an addendum as needed. If you need to update or add a template specific to this situation, please contact Client Success.
- Add a note in the notes tab about why the event was moved and record any conversations you had with the client.
- Check and update task due dates as needed.
- If the event is rescheduled in a different fiscal year, you may prefer to copy (rather than move) the event and then mark the original event as lost. This process will show the loss of revenue in the current fiscal year while recognizing the revenue for the fiscal year in which the event takes place.
The event is postponed and will be rescheduled
If the event will happen in the future but you don't have those dates yet, we recommend that you flag the event rather than canceling it at this time. We recommend flagging events to be rescheduled using an Event Tag. Create a tag (called to reschedule
or such) and tag the events which you need to follow up on. The event tag can then be displayed on the calendar so everyone can see that the event will be happening at a later date.
Now that the events are tagged, you can filter both the calendar and event list by that tag to only view your "to do" list of events to reschedule. On the event list, be sure to select All Days as your date range. You can also add a task to each event to remind you to follow up with the client in the future.
As you work with your client, you'll need to track and hold potential new dates. We recommend you add new booked spaces to the existing event (see Add More Dates or Rooms to an Event). These spaces will have their own status, independent of the original event status.
Once the new dates are confirmed, you can either:
- Remove the original booked spaces and confirm the new ones. If you don't have any functions created this method works well, or you can use the function mass editor to move the functions to the new booked spaces.
- Remove the new, tentative booked spaces from the event and then move the whole event to the new dates. This will move the functions along with their booked spaces and save you having to update the functions to the new booked spaces. If you have details on the event, this is our recommended method.
If the event is rescheduled in a different fiscal year, you may prefer to copy the event to the new dates and then mark the original event as lost. This process will show the loss of revenue in the current fiscal year while recognizing the revenue for the fiscal year in which the event takes place.