Want to drive more reservations? Of course you do!
Then, you should check out the latest sports-event housing management software. These solutions are easy to use. They also boost reservations, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
Booking team travel manually is like chugging uphill in a Model T when you could be cruising in a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport.
Why? Because cranking out spreadsheets and bouncing back and forth between apps is a slow, tedious way to get where you want to go.
You spend hours sending requests for proposals… going back and forth with hotels… chasing concession payments… and handling customer complaints.
The good news:
Using the latest event housing management software, you
can zoom through these tasks and deliver better event outcomes.
Now when we say all you need is modern event tech, we don’t mean stitching together five or six single-point solutions. We’re talking about robust technology that moves you swiftly from sourcing to booking, room block management, and reporting – all with one easy app.
In this article, we’ll show how you can use all-in-one platforms to breeze past the roadblocks to effective team lodging so you can grow your events and your business through better housing management.
After reading this post, you’ll have five simple steps to improve housing performance and event success.
But before we get started, you may be wondering…
What exactly is sports-event housing management software?
Sports-event housing management software streamlines managing accommodations for players and attendees.
These all-inclusive solutions handle the entire event lifecycle on a single platform. You get tools to simplify hotel sourcing and booking, requests for proposals (RFPs), room block management, data analytics, invoicing, reconciliations, and reporting. All in one easy app.
The old-fashioned approach uses single-point solutions to cover different parts of the team housing process. Travel planners juggle multiple platforms and struggle with solutions that don’t work in sync.
Comprehensive housing management software, on the other hand, handles everything on one platform. It helps you save time, generate more revenue, and simplify travel for players and their families.
This may sound like a lot, but it’s really not. In fact, we’ve broken down our streamlined approach to team housing into five simple steps…
Step #1: Simplify your RFP process
Is your team still using spreadsheets to manage group housing? If so, you probably need a bigger staff to handle labor-intensive processes.
Technology makes people’s lives easier. To this end, travel planners need solutions that do away with repetitious tasks and free them up to focus on the responsibilities that matter most like delivering stellar customer service and growing their events.
Automate RFPs
All-in-one event housing software simplifies the massive job of requesting proposals and contracting group room blocks.
They automate the entire hotel RFP process for speedy results:
• Enter your event requirements to create a custom RFP.
• Search for hotels, using filters to zero in on your best competitive set.
• Send them all an RFP in one click.
• The software compiles bids on a single screen. Side-by-side comparisons make it easy to spot your best offer and negotiate from a more informed position.
• Once you choose your hotel, hit “accept” and contract your room block with a single click.
Step #2: Find hotels near the venue
Are you tired of fielding complaints: The hotel is too far from the sports complex. Rates are high. They don’t serve free breakfast.
Leading sports-event housing platforms put the brakes on that.
They give you access to thousands of hotels, including leading family-friendly brands. Conduct location-based searches to find hotels near the venue that satisfy team requirements.
Leading tech providers have longstanding relationships with major hotel brands. As a result, teams get the best possible group rates and added amenities at popular hotel brands.
Better rates and concessions mean satisfied teams
who are thrilled to come back.
Step #3: Simplify room list management
Think about the hours your team spends creating rooming lists, searching through email threads for the latest changes, making updates – and then repeating that process again and again.
Do any of these tasks drive more revenue or enhance customer satisfaction?
No.
In fact, many travelers only pay attention to rooming lists when something goes wrong. That's why planners spend even more hours double- and triple-checking these lists.
Automate room block management
By contrast, using comprehensive group housing platforms like Staybook there’s no need to update lists manually. Modern platforms like Staybook automate the complete process:
- Each event gets a custom reservation website. Attendees can pull up the site on their phones or computers and reserve rooms in no time just like they do on retail travel sites.
- Now, here’s the magic of all-in-one platforms: As attendees book accommodations, the system creates a rooming list that updates automatically.
Goodbye, human errors from manual data entry. Hello, more time to focus on other activities that fuel event success.
Step #4: Capture more room nights
Managing stay-to-play teams manually can eat up a lot of time. You need to move back and forth between systems to view rooming lists and reservations and ensure teams meet requirements.
That’s why leading housing software like Staybook integrates housing with Playbook365's event registration software.
Increase visibility
Using our platform, you can view real-time event housing performance for stay-to-play teams on one screen. And batch-message those who aren’t on pace to hit their goals.
What about families who book outside the team block?
No worries. The technology also provides tools to locate lost reservations in an instant, so teams get credit for all reservations.
Bottom line: You drive more revenue, improve compliance, and give more kids a chance to play.
Step #5: Get paid faster
Modern group housing software closes the loop on events by providing easy reconciliation and invoicing.
Ditch the long waits for commission payments.
The latest solutions power easy, transparent communication with hotels on no-shows and cancellations. They calculate revenue and commission automatically based on information you and the hotel have already confirmed.
And so, you bypass the back and forth with hotels. Invoices go
out sooner, and you get paid faster.
Wrapping up
Sure, the Model T was a marvel in its time. But it’s not a fit for today’s superhighways.
Just like cars, event housing management software has come a long way in speed, performance, visibility, and ease of use.
If you haven’t seen the latest innovations, you’re in for a treat.
Using cutting-edge group housing technology, you can drive more reservations, improve the customer experience, and fast-track event success.