We recently discussed the need for nightclubs to retire paper guestlists. The solution? Moving over to a digital guestlist. Not only is it more efficient, but it’s also more accurate and full of in-depth insight your club needs to propel forward in the 21st century. Yet, many nightclub owners and managers respond to these types of messages with hesitation and fear – fear of the unknown, fear of change, and fear that technology will end up slowing down the speed of night. But after working with many nightclubs on switching them over to integrated digital solutions, I can assure you that technology has actually done the opposite of what they feared.
The key ingredient to digital solutions is that it has to be integrated into all areas of your club. We call this interconnectivity. If the technology between different departments of your club isn’t connected, the data and processes will ultimately be useless. After all, why bother with 4 different technologies if it’s going to add 4 different processes to your club? Those are the types of solutions that slow down the speed of night. Instead, look to a technology platform that streamlines all areas of your club into one centralized spot. Not only does this easily give you access to all club information, but it also increases efficiency across the board, gives you in-depth analytics about how your club is performing, and ultimately speeds up your night.
Here’s how you can use an integrated technology system to speed up your night while also increasing your profits.
1. Start small
Technology platforms are robust and come with a lot of bells and whistles. But just because it has everything you could ever want doesn’t mean you have to start using every feature right away. The reason technology, or any new system for that matter, seems overwhelming is because people think of it as one big overhaul rather than a series of small steps. Pick the features that you absolutely need today and blend it into your current operations (keeping that end goal of connecting your whole club together through this one platform). Once you get the hang of the new features you added, you’ll feel more comfortable about what technology can do for your venue and you will be ready to add more necessary features.
2. Give staff access to the platform
Once you’ve identified which features make the most sense for you, it’s time to unveil it to the team. The same platform noted above has the capability to provide individual logins to each member of your team. And, depending on that person’s role in your club, you get to choose what they can and can’t access, helping to keep your data more secure. Giving staff access (even if it’s limited access) to a technology solution that combines information in one spot is an efficient way to get everyone on the same page.
3. Train staff on the platform
Get all staff members together who will be interacting with the platform. Having everyone in one place makes it easy for you to introduce the system, show them how it works, and answer any questions they may have. After all, your customers interact with multiple members of your staff on any given night, so it’s crucial for each staff member to be adequately trained to handle any type of customer, including VIP customers, and work with one another to give the impression that your club is well run.
Customer experience is elevated when staff and departments are running in sync. While the customer can’t directly attribute their experience to a well-run system, they can feel the difference between a venue running each department in a silo vs. one that is interconnected. This helps increase customer loyalty and customer spending to keep you in business for years to come.
Whitney Johnson is the global director of marketing at BookBottles. Contact her at whitney.johnson@bookbottles.com.
