Introduction
A venue right in the heart of London, Thames Luxury Charters own and operate the largest fleet of luxury private charter boats in London, presenting a selection of unique venues for hire that are perfect for personal and corporate events.
Stepping aboard its fleet of beautifully appointed river boats guests discover a quiet sanctuary in central London, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. While sailing along the River Thames, enjoy a blend of delicate flavours from foodbydish with carefully matched fine wines and a discerning level of service. With an even split between private and corporate functions, events ranging from weddings through to Christmas parties, Thames Luxury Charters hosts approximately 600 events and around 100,000 guests each year. The company is part of the Livett’s Group, one of the most experienced boat hire companies working on London’s river Thames.
Key Challenge
Using a bespoke system that was reliant on one person for support and updates.
“For a number of years we had been using a bespoke CRM solution that has been tailored to our needs. However, as it had been developed by a single person, it had many limitations especially when it came to support during illness or holiday. The system had also not been designed by someone with knowledge of the events industry. We, therefore, decided we needed to find a replacement solution.”
Kirsten Belham
Sales and Operations Manager
Livett’s Group
The Solution
Easy to use and intuitive cloud-based solution from a company that understood events.
Thames Luxury Charters reviewed three solutions including Priava, Rendezvous and Artifax, but according to Kirsten, “We liked Priava best. It had all the functionality we needed, felt better, easier to use and more intuitive. The fact that it was cloud-based was also important.” The company has outsourced IT support, so it was also advantageous that all software updates and support could be handled by Priava.
Training was provided by Priava to five members of the events team with Kirsten in attendance. “The training went really well and we were able to build the system exactly how we wanted it. We really appreciate that we now have a solution that is fully supported and in constant development. It felt that Priava just spoke the same language and truly understood the events business. Everyone has been really impressed.” Says Kirsten.
The Results
More independence, increased efficiencies, faster bookings and performance tracking
With the new system, Thames Luxury Charters can be more self-sufficient when it comes to day to day use of Priava, “As the administrators, we can upload all our menus and pricing ourselves, it’s very important that we are able to do this, rather than be reliant on a third party.” With use of an on-line calendar, the team can also check instant availability of different boats for different occasions from dinner parties through to weddings. “The on-line diary makes it easier and faster to see what is free and confirm quickly. We did not have this functionality with the old system” says Kirsten.
Understanding sales
With Priava’s sales activity reports, Thames Luxury Charters can monitor the efficiency of the team by measuring how quickly they are responding to enquiries. “With Priava, we can review monthly targets and see what is being achieved.” With a suite of more than 35 core report templates, users can quickly and easily create highly detailed reports that show important metrics such as average spend and where and how this is allocated, top hirers based on the number of events booked and the total revenue, as well as a summary of venue occupancy rates and more.
Tracking revenue and facilitating cash-flow
In the past, many reports would need to be generated manually, including the tracking of payments. Although the company has an accounts team as Kirsten explains the events team also plays a role in cash-flow management. “With Priava we can track payments easily, saving a significant amount of time. We can then chase clients if invoices are overdue. It is also less complex to split payments across different events. So for example a client may have booked 3 events in one year, the accounts team might just log it against the first invoice. With the new system, it is easy for us to identify where payments need to be staggered and notify the accounts team accordingly.”
“Generally more efficient”
Summary
- Increased ROI from efficiencies in the event management
- On-line diary makes it easier and faster to confirm/check bookings
- Reassurance of using a system that is continually updated and supported
- No responsibility for IT maintenance and updates
- Independence to tailor the system to their own needs
- Supports tracking of revenue and payments
- Measurement of metrics such as average spend, top hirers and occupancy of different venues (boats)
- Evaluate individual staff performance such as ‘sales’, ‘speed of response to enquiries’
- Ability to continuously monitor business performance versus monthly targets
- Catering module enables streamlined process of booking and coordinating catering bookings with external suppliers
Final comment from Kirsten
“Priava can be integrated to encompass the whole business.”
On Priava
“We like the fact that the support team is proactive and they often simply ring up to say ‘are you ok?’. It’s great to know that they’re there if we need them”
Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how you can introduce live availability and instant bookings at your venue using Priava.
