This is a response to an article from The Chasm Group concerning questions that prospective customers have about your offering, and what you should be letting them know in order to assist them with making a decision. Each of the paragraphs below is a response to a risk the customer may see. Use the response as a guide only.
Risk 1: Who are you, and how do we know you’ll still be in this space in a year from now?
TLA has been around for 6 years, gradually building a suite of applications designed to assist companies in the
successful management of functions. We are committed to continuous improvement in our software applications,
and are continually looking to integrate the various time consuming aspects of everyday tasks into a successfully
manageable and easy-to-use software solution that cost effectively saves time and money.
Risk 2: What does your product do, and what does it not do?
YOURfunction provides you greater capabilities to manage customer relationships and history, provide informed
personalised quotations to more prospects and their function value to your business, the ability to centralise
management of function sales for multiple venues, and provide operational level information for all levels of
your organisation.
Whilst the list of features and processes that the YOURfunction product achieves is extensive, it is important
to note that the software is not currently linked to existing property management systems. It is also important
to mention that export files can be created from YOURfunction that could be used by these related applications,
with some minor development work. It also does not create individual trace reports that are automatically emailed to
system users, however acts as a central work management area that other users can also view in order to work
as a team to manage customer responsiveness.
Risk 3: Do you actually have a product we can install and use?
YOURfunction is able to be installed, and configured by TLA for use within one day. This initial setup contains
very generic items for selection in quotations and event orders, but the concept of how YOURfunction comes
together can be determined from this setup. The implementation of YOURfunction involves a fair amount of
analysis of data and user training to populate the database with information and data that is relevant to
your organisation's requirements from the system.
Risk 4: How is your offering different from the other ones we (could) use?
YOURfunction offers an organisation the ability to determine the most efficient sales process for their own
purposes, and to allow this to be managed in a central area, providing a standard and consistent image to all
prospective customers.
In cases where you have multiple venues in a similar market, YOURfunction allows the centralised
management of a number of properties from the one location or office. Each venue can use separate
correspondence items when communicating to customers, but one user can effectively manage bookings and
customer events for any number of venues.
Whilst competitor offerings offer a database system to record particular elements of function quotation and
management, the management of resultant documents is maintained outside their system. YOURfunction
enables you to manage all related correspondence produced for customers in the one similar location, and to
enable centralised management of outstanding tasks.
Risk 5: What critical problem does your product help me to solve?
YOURfunction allows your company to create personalised quotes at the time of enquiry, checking resource
availablility to avoid double booking, whilst also allowing you to view the estimated profitability of a proposed function.
This gives your organisation the information it requires to respond to a greater number of prospects, using a managed
format of response, whilst also being able to manage prospects in such a way that more profitable functions can
be pursued above less profitable ones. The more quotes you send out, especially after being able to identify those you
should pursue more vigorously, the greater the likelihood that your function business will become more profitable.
YOURfunction allows you more time to concentrate on profitable customer relationships, whilst also applying a
consistent image to prospective customers, to whom you can respond more swiftly.
Risk 6: Which companies in our industry use your product with positive results?
Le Meridien at Rialto in Melbourne, Australia, attributes YOURfunction to the success of their Conference and
Events department in increasing sales and revenue from function business. A standard and consistent response
enables easier customer management, and revenue (input in the YOURfunction system) for the first 6 months of
2005 was already greater than the total revenue registered in the application for the entire 2004 year. The
management of a greater number of functions at the venue has also been managed using the same number
of employees in the Conference & Meetings team.
Another customer changed to using the YOURfunction Quotation system for 7 business days, just to see how
it coped with their customer demands. The sales team previously used a 14 page presentation to quote
to customers. In the 7 days used, 16 quotes were sent out, with 14 won, and the other 2 quotes unable to be
accommodated at the venue. Pretty impressive figures
Risk 7: How difficult is your product to install and implement?
The YOURfunction software is simple to install as TLA configure it off-site, and simply download your instance to
your computers when it is ready. As the software works on the concept of having selections present to choose
from when you are composing quotes and function sheets, the implementation period requires a fair amount of
effort on your part to build the system as you require it to work. Once something is input into the system, we like to
use it in multiple locations for multiple purposes. It is getting to this point where all choices are available that forces
you to think about the best way in which you wish to provide information to your prospective customers.
The installation of YOURfunction usually forces an organisation to analyse their current work practices and to
determine the most efficient processes in the functions being carried out by the team. This is the main thrust of
the shift in culture that we notice with YOURfunction installations. The process is consultative, and really makes
an organisation determine their most desirable way forward with regard to customer service levels and how they
wish to carry out their daily tasks.
Risk 8: How will your product impact the way I/we work?
YOURfunction follows a sales process that has been tried and tested in a number of organisations, each of
whom do things differently. It has been designed so that you, the end user, can attribute any number of statuses
to a booking, that will assist users in determining what the "next step" should be in managing a function. Existing
YOURfunction users have all been forced to determine the way they wish to operate, and have configured the
system to operate as they deem fit. The application works to make it easier to communicate with customers, and
to follow a standard agreed process that the whole team can use to provide the best customer service possible.
YOURfunction is a tool for your business, that when used correctly, can contribute to the increased success of
your venue.
Risk 9: What proof do you have that I/we can achieve the results you promise?
The number of TLA customers using YOURfunction to manage their quotation and function management process
that have increased their sales and function totals, whilst managing the whole process with no increase in staff
numbers, is testament to the product contributing to the success of a business. A number of our customers have
won various awards for best in category (region, small conference venue - up to 100 guests) at a number of industry
awards. We also consider the continual upgrading of sales forecasts being consistently achieved on a monthly basis
is also proof that the application, when used correctly, can assist in the continued success of your business. A
number of "TLA champions," (users who were the customer project manager) have also moved onto other organisations
and installed YOURfunction at their new places of employment, as they have seen the success of the system.
A customer has gone from an average of $100,000 per month in conference sales to $250,000 per month within a year,
simply by quoting on more business and gaining a reputation for consistent service to their customers. YOURfunction mixes
increased customer service and satisfaction with a more efficient sales process to contribute to your ongoing success.
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