Well……we’re still here, pinky swear. It may look like we have given up on helping rid the world of overpriced (and under performing) help with all your Bar/Nightclub tech consulting needs, but we were really just hunkering down and working hard to do just that.
Recently we were tasked with creating an all inclusive collaboration and management tool for a local group of nightclubs and restaurants. The must-haves were pretty simple:
- An easy enough to use interface that even old-school managers didn’t need a PHD in Geekology to actually benefit from the service.
- A central location for the managers to collaborate that wasn’t subject to the prying eyes of their employees.
- …..and a simple way to organize and store all the documents, contacts, sales leads, and various digital materials that are needed to run a successful business.
After experimenting with a few pre-built solutions (Here’s looking at you Basecamp) we decided that a hybrid custom/pre-built solution was really the only option that allowed for the flexibility and specific needs of the Service Industry. We ended up with a cloud-based collaboration and organization suite based upon the wonderful work of the group of people behind the open-source version of Teamlab. The list of features and functions available to the managers now is an impressive one, to say the least. Due to the nature of the information being shared within the site we can’t really give specific examples or allow access so you can see it for yourself (although we would love to give you a demo if you are interested in adapting the service to your needs), but we can list some of the things that the clients are now able to accomplish at the click of a button….
- Full Online Cloud-Based Document Sharing and Editing including the ability to import from Google Docs, Zoho, Box.net, etc… all while allowing multiple managers to edit from directly within the browser.
- Extensive Social Functions to keep everyone interested and on the same page. Things like the ability to create posts in venue specific blogs and forums, view other manager and employee details, share photos, pages, interesting links, and information that helps the business as a whole.
- One Calendar to Rule Them All – A place to organize your personal and work schedules. Set meetings, arrange events, coordinate staff activities, and always have advanced notice of local happenings that may affect business.
- A complete CRM module that allows for storage of pertinent contacts (distributors, inspections, promoters, DJ’s, etc…) and organization of Opportunities and delegation of tasks and projects to your staff.
- A fully realized mobile version of the whole service that lets you manage everything from your Android or iOS devices. Track and join team activities on the move. Access documents and make notes regardless of location.
- A real-time Chat and Online Meeting module for those times when you all can’t be in the same place at the same time.
- ……and much more.