So you started your business and you’ve got leads rolling in! Congratulations!! What an exciting time!!

Now it’s time to get some systems in place to make sure that you can deliver that exceptional client experience that you’ve promised (without burning yourself out!).

Here are 3 tech items that I think every event business should have to maximize efficiency and client experience!

1. An Online Scheduler.
Adding an online scheduler to your contact page and to your social pages will allow clients to quickly book a consult with you. This can eliminate hours wasted on back and forth trying to find a time convenient for all parties AND it will help you to set boundaries so you only open availability when you want to!

I personally LOVE Acuity Scheduling! It’s user friendly and so simple to setup and sync with your google calendar or other internet based calendars!

2. A CRM (Client Relationship Manager).
Goodness gracious I went for almost 7 years without a CRM for our business because I never wanted to take the time to stop what I was doing to figure out the tech. DON’T DO WHAT I DID!

A CRM will not only help you to keep your leads streamlined so you can follow up and keep them moving through your pipeline (to an ultimate sale!) but it can help you to quickly get an electronic contract fo your lead to sign and also automatically send your payment link to take your retainer and future payments efficiently!

Depending on your market, there are so many amazing CRMs out there! We use Planning Pod for our Blush and Eleven clients as it also provides a client portal so we can interact with our clients and keep all of their important documents together. We can also create our timelines and diagrams in this CRM as well as send all of our email communication! It’s a great all in one tool for event planners!

3. A shared file drive.
In the beginning, you may be tempted to keep all of your files on your computer but as you bring on team members (even part time) you will need them to have access to your templates, client info and some company info. To avoid a big change, start with an online file storage like Dropbox or Google Drive and organize it by folders.

What are some of your must have tech items?? I’d love to know!!