Why Reports are Crucial to Business Success

Any event pro will attest that putting the right tools in your belt is a no-brainer — finding a Customer Relationship Management platform (CRM) with reports that are designed for you ensures long-term success and stability. However, 48% of Sales Leaders still say their CRM doesn’t meet their reps’ needs, which is likely why many businesses fail before they even get off the ground. If you want to maximize your business’ potential, you need custom reports where you can track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and diagnose problems early to maintain the health of your business.

Keeping updated on these metrics will double your investment, if not more. We’re not talking small potatoes — the average ROI for a CRM is $8.71 for every $1 invested. 

Our Approach

Planning Pod is an all-in-one platform with tools designed to support your team through every part of your business’ life cycle. Whether you are just starting out or have multiple locations, our platform is unmatched in nurturing your business and maximizing its full potential. In the past 10 years, we’ve helped thousands of event professionals streamline their sales pipeline, drive up their event ROI, and make the most of their resources. 

Our tools are made especially for you. We take user feedback to heart and frequently update our platform so you have the most robust & ground-breaking functionalities ahead of the industry. Now, we are expanding our Reports tool to include flexible, custom reports that allow you to obtain valuable insight and make data-driven decisions. This update was designed solely based on your feedback to help you calibrate your business strategies and filter high-quality data.

Your Reports, Your Way

We offer completely custom reports to streamline every aspect of your business. With over 25+ possible starting points, you have unlimited options to propel and ensure your growth. Customizable favorites and titles allow you to set your team up with the most important reports and build around your naming conventions. 

You can pull the exact metrics you want, in the order you want them. This means you can take your prep work from hours to minutes for leadership meetings, budget discussions, 1-on-1s with team members, and more. Since we are mobile-friendly, all reports can also be generated and viewed on mobile devices.

Additionally, you can send notifications to team members for reports, either by permission group or contact. And yes, you can now share your Reports outside of Planning Pod too! Dynamic filters allow you to filter between the contact viewing what is assigned to them in the report or organization-wide. Any related content is hyperlinked in Reports, allowing you to seamlessly access them in real-time.

Because our reports are fully shareable, you can further reduce your carbon footprint. With that said, we have print-ready versions of any report available for your most important documents. Minimizing printed reports will save you significant revenue long-term — studies show that 3% of company revenue is spent on printing supplies and filing.

Want more proof that we are a cut above the rest? Click here for an in-depth comparison of Venue Management platforms between Planning Pod, TripleSeat, Dubsado, and more. 

Flexible Access

Collaborating with your team doesn’t have to cost your peace of mind. You can grant view-only access to team members who need the most updated information without having to generate their own version of reports. This will minimize your risk and allow them to keep data at their fingertips.

Sharing with team members outside of Planning Pod is as easy as giving them a quick access link. This link doesn’t expire, so they can bookmark it and come back to it again and again. This comes in handy, especially for senior management, C-Suite level employees, and stakeholders.

Privacy Filters

Our privacy filters allow you to protect yourself while still providing your employees access to pertinent information. Securely sharing your information with employees or stakeholders outside of your Planning Pod account is a breeze with our domain and password protection options. Combined with the ability to choose between only showing report items related to the user or organization-wide, you ensure that your confidential information remains, well, confidential. 

Implementing these features takes your data security up several notches. Your information can remain locked if you implement the privacy filters, even if the link to the report has been made public.

Sales Analytics

Sales reports are some of the most important reports to pull regularly since they prove the efficiency of your sales process and shed light on areas to grow. You can check for any variety of factors, including your conversion rates, how long it takes clients to book with you, and other customer data based on demographics.

This makes it easier than ever to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy, marketing initiatives, & sales team performance. By focusing on these activities, you can fine-tune your sales process to ultimately improve the quality of your leads and reduce the time it takes to close a deal.

You can also use Planning Pod in conjunction with a marketing platform like Mailchimp to create personalized marketing automation and campaigns, leading to higher engagement.

Say Goodbye to Money Stress + Missed Opportunities

Even if your business has an accountant, staying on top of your finances is a challenge and only becomes more difficult as you scale. Many business owners struggle to collect on invoices and end up missing opportunities due to lack of revenue, but it’s seamless to set up Profit and Loss Reports, track your Revenue, and review your quarterly or annual budget.

Our reports allow you to make data-driven decisions faster, preventing opportunities from slipping through the cracks, and maximizing your ability to collect on open accounts. 

Expand Faster + Make Better Business Decisions

If you want to expand your business, your lender will want to know your financial situation. Even after obtaining a loan, they will want regular touchpoints on a quarterly or annual basis. Comparison periods allow you to track your business’ growth, whether it be by period, quarter, or year. This is handy for internal purposes, but sending snapshots of your finances regularly to lenders can ultimately make them stickier and increase your capital.

On top of giving them link access to the Report, you can send notifications to lenders automatically even if they’re not a user on your account. Set it up once and let our platform take over the hardest part of managing your lender relationships. 

Task Management

It’s never been easier to get a 360 view of incomplete tasks across the team. Give your staff an easy way to manage upcoming tasks by creating dynamic or static reports. These allow you to communicate outstanding tasks, their deadlines, and the staff, clients, or vendors responsible; significantly shortening the time it takes for event prep. Outside of internal use, you can send these reports to assure clients and stakeholders that major projects will be completed by their deadlines. Select our Dynamic filter option to only show tasks assigned to the user viewing the report.

Communication Reports

You can pull Communication reports for insight into any day-to-day communication between staff, clients, and vendors. Additionally, any files attached to messages are downloadable from your reports. This comes especially in handy for auditing template usage and employee communication with clients while still in training. 

This also makes it easy to check your email delivery rate when sending emails through our servers. If you’re finding a lot of emails are bouncing due to email errors, you are likely dinging your sending reputation. This is a “credit score” that internet service providers use to decide whether your emails land in your clients’ inboxes or their spam. 

Event Data Reports

You collect a ton of data throughout a single event. This is useful when you are planning with the client, but post-event a lot of data becomes irrelevant. When you are pulling a report across several events, it’s easy for valuable information to get lost in the shuffle. On top of that, hosting events to generate revenue versus private events are different ball games. We understand that your event’s success depends on the occasion.

If you want to target more virtual events, in-person events, or hybrid events, these reports play a key part in building your strategy.

With this flexibility, you can develop strategies to reduce budget while increasing attendance, attendee engagement, and client satisfaction for every event type. You can analyze multiple factors at once, drawing lines of cause & effect to improvement over time. Build a reputation with your clients for high event ROI, with data to back it up. 

Keep Your Kitchen + Prep Areas Stocked

Easily generate a report with all of your upcoming catering orders and due menu items, including recipes for kitchen staff. Pulling these reports regularly streamlines your event planning workflows and minimizes risk by placing accurate orders for inventory. You can even include the designated prep area, time allocated, pricing, and client information. Meet demand all year round, even during busy season!

Event Registration Reports

Discover key information about event attendees, including the date of purchase, the number of tickets purchased, check-ins, any discount codes used, and more. Use this report to keep track of trends, evaluate the success of your event marketing campaigns and promotions, and improve your attendee event experience.

Looking for an event management platform? Click here to find out how to take your future events to the next level.

Integration Error Logs

Don’t get lost in the overwhelm that is technical error reports. By tracking any errors that Planning Pod is sent by your payment processor or Quickbooks Online, you will recognize common errors early, minimizing downtime and streamlining even further. These reports include clear explanations for possible issues to aid your resolution time. 

User Activity

Keeping tabs on your team’s activity comes with managing any business, and pulling these reports regularly is especially helpful for evaluating your team’s performance and ensuring your policies are being followed. These reports can also help you recognize peak activity times and schedule staff around your busiest times of the day. While they are easy to keep up with, incorporating these reports is a key point in exceeding your event goals.

Streamline your business with Planning Pod

From baby event planners to multi-location venues, Planning Pod has reports to help you unlock your business’ untapped potential. If you are trying to grow your business, an all-inclusive CRM software with customizable reports is the first step.

We look forward to helping you streamline, expand, and nurture your business with these new updates!

Start saving time and money today with Planning Pod — the ultimate solution for your venue or event management business. 
Already love Planning Pod and want to get the most out of your reports? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or click here to speak with our support team.