8.5.2024
The effective management of event and venue spaces is crucial for hotels seeking to maximize revenue and enhance guest satisfaction. Lauren Hall, Founder and CEO of iVvy, recognized the complexities inherent in this process and sought to provide a streamlined solution. Since its inception, iVvy has become a leading player in the hospitality technology sector, offering software solutions designed to optimize venue management for hotels.
With over two decades of experience building and leading companies, Hall brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Under her guidance, iVvy has expanded its reach to service thousands of clients across multiple countries. From automating administrative tasks to providing real-time booking functionalities and facilitating seamless communication between stakeholders, iVvy offers a comprehensive suite of tools for hotels.
In this interview, Hall discusses her journey as an entrepreneur, the development of iVvy’s platform, and the specific ways in which it addresses the needs of hotels. She also shares her expert advice on the steps that venue and event managers can take to enhance their operations and efficiency.
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming the CEO and Founder of iVvy? What was the inspiration behind the creation of iVvy?
I started iVvy with the global problem of booking groups and meeting spaces between the event organizer and venues. The ecosystem was broken due to manual processes, legacy systems, and lack of real-time connectivity to rates, availability, and inventory for function space and group accommodation. Having experienced the painful process firsthand of organizing events for large organizations, I wanted to streamline a process that would typically take up to 6 weeks to organize an event, down to 6 minutes.
This has been a significant journey, building robust and scalable technology available across 16 countries in multi-language and currencies for hotels, stadiums, restaurants, and unique venues. I am proud of the contribution we have made to the industry by helping it digitize assets and connect them online, whilst driving revenue growth, lowering costs, and improving customer experiences end to end.
How does iVvy’s venue management software streamline operations for hotel function spaces? Can you share some of the unique features of iVvy’s venue and event management tools?
Absolutely. First off, our centralized CRM system is a real game-changer. It brings together all customer interactions, tasks, and emails in one place. For hotels, this means the end of missed opportunities and the headache of sifting through multiple systems to find client information. Everything is right there in one spot. Plus, our real-time function diary is designed to prevent the frustrating problem of double bookings by showing all tentative, prospective, and confirmed venue bookings.
Then, consider our quick document creation function. Imagine needing less time to create and send contracts and quotes because you have access to templates and digital signing right at your fingertips. It’s all about making processes quicker and smoother, so you can spend more time delivering great experiences and less time getting bogged down in paperwork.
Our instant booking engine is another feature I’m really proud of. It allows venue bookings to come directly through a hotel’s website and pop up automatically in their CRM. This cuts down on manual entries, saves our team members time, and increases enquiry response rates. One of my favorite features is our live availability functionality. This shows the real-time availability of a client’s venue spaces, working hand in hand with instant booking. It’s a fantastic way to reduce those endless back-and-forth emails and phone calls, contributing towards a seamless venue booking experience.
On the financial side, iVvy makes it easy to send invoices and collect payments online. Plus, our software offers detailed revenue reports to help you make smart business decisions. For event coordination, our Virtual Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) are a lifesaver. They keep your entire event team updated in real-time, enhancing communication and ensuring everyone is on the same page without any last-minute surprises.
iVvy isn’t just about serving individual venues. We can manage multiple venues from a single platform, which is perfect for hotel chains and event companies. Clients can customize event layouts to fit specific needs, connect with a wider marketplace to boost visibility, and even manage operations on the go with mobile accessibility.
Can you share how iVvy’s solutions have evolved since the company’s inception in 2009?
It’s been an incredible journey since we started iVvy back in 2009 on the Gold Coast of Australia. What began as a small startup has grown into a key player in the global event management and venue booking industry. Reflecting on this journey fills me with immense pride and gratitude.
When we launched iVvy Events, our goal was simple: to streamline the complex process of organizing and managing events. The platform was a hit, and by 2012, we had already processed our millionth registration. This was a huge milestone for us and a testament to the platform’s effectiveness and popularity among our users.
But we didn’t stop there. In 2013, we introduced iVvy Venues to cater to venue providers looking to manage their bookings more efficiently and showcase their facilities. This expansion was part of our commitment to serve both sides of the event planning process – the planners and the venues.
The next big step came in 2016 when we launched iVvy Marketplace, the world’s first online booking engine for venues. This innovation connected event planners with over 1,000 venues, allowing them to see real-time availability and pricing. It revolutionized the way event planners could find and book spaces, making the process easier than ever.
By 2017, our growth took us beyond Australia to North America and the UK. This expansion wasn’t just about growing our footprint; it was about responding to the global needs of event planners and venue providers, ensuring that wherever they were, iVvy could provide the solutions they needed.
Looking back, it’s clear that our journey has been about more than just growth. It’s about constantly adapting and striving to meet the needs of our users. It’s a journey we’re still on, and I am excited about the future as we continue to innovate and lead in this industry.
Can you tell us more about the impact of iVvy’s solutions on revenue generation for hotel customers? Any recent success stories you can share?
iVvy has been making a significant difference for hotel customers across the globe. For example, Comwell Hotels in Denmark, iVvy’s impact has been quite transformative. One of the big wins for them is the massive time savings. They’ve cut down the time to complete automatic tasks on a confirmed booking by 40-50 seconds. This might sound quick, but when you multiply this by making hundreds of bookings, the total time saved is huge! They’re also saving around 7-10 minutes per booking thanks to iVvy’s streamlined online booking process. This allows their team to focus on providing even better service rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.
The time it takes Comwell’s 15 venues to generate reports has also been cut, down by 50%. Faster reporting means Comwell can quickly adjust strategies and operations to better meet the needs of their clients and market demands. As a sustainably focused hotel, Comwell has managed to reduce paper consumption by over 25%. This is not only great for the environment but has also cut operational costs.
Similarly, TFE Hotels has also seen fantastic results. TFE Hotels have integrated iVvy venue management software across 50+ hotels worldwide with a team of approximately 230 users. Since 2012, iVvy’s partnership with TFE Hotels has delivered a more detailed understanding of business performance at an individual and group level, with data-driven insights on enquiry lead times, length of conversion, booking patterns, marketing campaigns, and forecasting. TFE’s properties now have one unified platform to view all customer interactions, providing greater opportunities for personalized communication and re-targeting.
Can you explain how the Billing Automation feature works and how it benefits hoteliers?
Billing Automation is one of our more recent additions to our product features for clients in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. It enables clients to automate recurring venue invoices, saving up to 10 minutes of manual administrative work per venue invoice. For hoteliers managing venue space, this means more time free to focus on current and prospective function bookings rather than routine billing tasks. This feature is especially beneficial for managing multiple bookings and complex billing cycles efficiently.
How does the recently launched iVvy Pay payment platform enhance the customer experience?
iVvy Pay is another feature available in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. It enables our clients to accelerate payment collection, offer more payment options to customers, and save money on each venue booking transaction. When combined with our Billing Automation feature, venues can easily embed instant payment links on recurring invoices, making it convenient for customers to pay through various payment methods, including digital wallets.
Payrix, a trusted global payments facilitator, supports iVvy Pay. Payrix uses advanced security features, including level 1 PCI-DSS, the highest level of security compliance available, to ensure all client data is secure.
Can you tell us more about the iVvy Marketplace platform? How does it provide easier and quicker access to information? And how does it help hotels get more bookings?
iVvy Marketplace is an online venue directory connecting event planners with venues and service providers. Venues listed on the Marketplace come in all shapes and sizes, including hotels, restaurants, clubs, and unique venues like golf courses, stadiums, and universities. iVvy Marketplace offers venues greater exposure, placing their venue before the eyes of over 32,000 event planners each month looking for the perfect place to host their next event.
One of the standout features of iVvy Marketplace is its real-time booking system. Event planners can check the availability of venues in real-time and make bookings directly through the platform. Venues can also benefit from the platform’s tools to manage their bookings and sales more efficiently, which can lead to more revenue opportunities. These tools can help venues capture more leads and convert them into paying customers, leading to increased profitability.
Can you tell us more about the third-party programs, apps, and tools integrated with iVvy?
Our 60+ integrations cover essential business operations, including finance, customer relationship management (CRM), and property management systems. For venue and event professionals, these integrations mean better event coordination, improved resource allocation, and smoother customer experiences. Users can have essential venue and event data shared in near real-time between iVvy and other systems used in day-to-day operations. Data sharing between systems improves efficiency and avoids overselling while minimizing risks associated with manual input or duplicate data.
What advice would you give to venue and event managers looking to enhance their operations and efficiency?
Start by assessing what processes are currently in place, what pain points you and your team face, and what challenges need to be overcome. It’s easy to get swept up in the ideals – cutting edge AI, state-of-the-art data analytics, transformative digital tools – but reality on the ground may be very different. Identify the gap between where you are and where you want to be. This is your starting point for developing an ambitious yet achievable strategy.
Based on your initial assessment you can then outline what improved operations and efficiency would look like. This could be shorter event set-up times, increased attendee satisfaction, or streamlining the venue booking process. Identify which goals are most critical to success and which can deliver the highest impact with the least resources.
Finally, identify and evaluate the most appropriate solutions to bridge the gap between your current operations and desired outcomes. This involves exploring various options, analyzing their feasibility, and considering their potential impact. This could include new software tools, process improvements, training programs, or changes in management practices.
Look for case studies or examples where similar challenges have been successfully addressed – and don’t be afraid to reach out to your network! Learning from the experiences of others can provide valuable insights and help you avoid common pitfalls.