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Events

Main Menu - Sales - Events

Video Overview

There are three important reasons to create an event:

1) To establish an Event Date which is the "need-by" date. This becomes a critical reference point. It is required when creating rental event member customers.

2) To establish the decision makers for the event, for example in a wedding it is the bride and groom

3) To link a related set of customers together, i.e. event members, example bridesmaids to a wedding, or Prom girls to a Prom School event)

Members added to an event are automatically added as Customers within the system, and may be Searched via the Customer form.

Relating the customers within the event it is a simple task. Event Members can always be seen under the event(s) they are assigned to. This allows a User to see who has purchased what items, the status of special orders and customer balances of any customer/member within the event. Almost any question can be answered within seconds just by accessing an event by it's name or primary contact in event (i.e. bride name).

To register a new event or to access an existing event simply click on Main Menu-> Sales-> Events within from the main menu.

The first step is to SEARCH for the event to insure it has not already been registered. Simply enter a portion of the event name or bride or groom (or primary contact) name, phone or email and by pressing SEARCH a list of matching events will appear. If the new event you are adding appears, great click the event name to display the event details. If not click the Create Event link to begin the fast process of registering a new event.

TIP: Remember to check the Show Past Events checkbox to SEARCH for events where the event date is in the past. By default all searching is performed on events with future event dates. Try not to duplicate events within the system by accidentally adding them twice making is confusing to users not knowing which to use.

Events types fall within four broad categories and one must be chosen when creating the event:

  • Wedding: There is a bride and groom with wedding party members such as bridesmaids, groomsmen etc. These members may be registered along with styles the bride or groom has selected for them to wear. This registration process keeps everyone on the same pages as to what styles/colors each are wearing and when it all should be completed. Who is lagging behind on ordering and other important details.
  • Prom: There is a primary contact and then members attending. Normally the members are not known ahead of time as in a wedding. So Prom members may be added when they come in to rent or purchase. This aids in tracking school sales/rental performance and the registering of dress styles sold to prom attendees to control/avoid duplicate styles being sold.
  • Social: There is a primary contact and then members attending. Normally the members are not known ahead of time as in a wedding. So event members may be added when they come in to rent or purchase.
  • Quinceañera: A popular Latin America celebration of a girl's 15th birthday. There is a primary contact and sometimes members attending. Normally the members are not known ahead of time as in a prom. So event members may be added when they come in to rent or purchase.

Events must be given a name. When naming an event, make it simple for anyone within the shop to locate the event by name when searching. In addition to Event name searching to locate an event, an event may be searched by the name of any member within the event such as Bride's name or Groom's name, email or phone number.

For Wedding events the name can be the bride's last name (ex. Smith) , some stores may insert the bride's and groom's last name separated by a slash (ex. Smith/Jones)

For Proms or Socials, the name should contain the year, (ex: West High 2022). Similar approach for Socials, (ex. Poinsettia Debutante Ball 2023) This makes it easier for User to distinguish events that happen each year.

All events should be assigned an event date. Event dates are very important for many reports and management functions nd knowing when the event is taking place to insure all tasks/sales for the event are completed by that date.

TIP: As an aid, the system provides a date lookup function. By clicking calendar icon on the date field, a calendar for current month appears. Clicking the date bar above the calendar will display years & months to quickly view a date. Click the date within calendar and it will be returned to the app.

For Weddings a bride and/or groom should be entered then other members if/when known. Bride or groom or members may be existing customers. Simply click the Magnifier icon by the name field to search customers to select & insert as a bride, groom, primary contact or as a member when adding new event members.

Proms and Social type events will have a primary contact date entry form instead of bride & groom data entry forms. This could the school principal, or key Prom contact for the year. For socials the primary contact could be the President, Chairman or lead for the event. Primary contact details are optional.

When adding Members to an event, an existing customers may be selected by clicking the magnifying icon on the first name field & selecting an existing customer profile. Or instead a new customer member will be added just by entering their name and contact information.

To add existing customers as event members to to the events , simply click the Magnifier icon by the first name field to search existing customers when adding. Members added not selected from existing customers will create new customer accounts/profile for those members.

TIP: Once Customers are assigned/linked to the event they may be ex-changed for a different customer in the case of an error where the incorrect person was selected or added to the event. Simply use the Magnifier icon to select a different customer instead. Once a different customer is selected remember to assign any of their tickets to the event when needed. See the Reassign FAQ topic for more information.

For weddings, The event provides pages/forms for the bride and groom, where their contact information may be entered.

The Bride, Groom, Primary Contact, Rental & Member pages allow sales & ticket/receipt creation. The event member and event rental pages also allow for sales and new ticket creation. Click the Total sales number link and the ticket selector appears where an existing ticket/receipt may be selected or a NEW ticket/Receipt may be created. Once an existing or New ticket/receipt is displayed, transactions may be created or edited, i.e. sales & payments.

ONCE AN EVENT IS CREATED THERE WILL BE A SET OF TABS, PAGES AND FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE TO MANAGE THE EVENT. THESE ARE:

Tabs

Tabs for an Wedding Event. Tab Names may change slightly for other event types.

Event Detail Tab

Displays the core details of the event, like name and event date for review or editing. Also displays the store staff member whom created the event.

The Detail screen form will present the Event Status grid which is a detailed recap of all event member's event Sales, Balances, Purchase Special Orders of event members, Pickup/Layaway inventory for every event member and lastly the Rental activity of the event's rental members. It is a efficient tool to answer any question in a matter of seconds concerning transactions within the event.

Responsible SA

The Detail tab is where the Responsible SA and Rental SA Users are located. The Responsible SA value defaults to the User whom created the event and usually is the person who should receive credit for data entry and sales made to members of the event.

In some stores tuxedo or other rental types, are sold in a different department. So EB also offers a space for Rental SA.

Each event member also may have a Responsible SA assigned. Any non-rental members Responsible SA will default to the event's Responsible SA . Any Rental Members added will default to the event's Rental SA.

The concept behind Responsible SA is that they are responsible for the details and customer follow-up of the event. Also they would be receiving sales credit for sales / rentals to members of the event.

Note: Sales credit for specific sales transactions may be given to any store User imply by changing the Responsible SA on any sale. Edits to SA are automatically logged in the audit trail of the ticket/receipt.

TIP: For some events, the customers do not wish to be referred to has bride and groom. Every event has a Primary Role Name and a Secondary Role Name and for weddings, these default to Bride and Groom. However, you can change the primary and secondary role name by going to the bottom of the Detail tab for an event. Change the role names here and the new role names will be shown on screen and on printed documents.

Bride Tab

Wedding events displays bride's demographic information for review or editing. Allows for selected dress style & colors to be optionally entered for reference prior to ringing up on ticket/receipt.

Groom Tab

Wedding displays groom's demographic information for review or editing. Allows for selected dress style & colors to be optionally entered for reference prior to ringing up on ticket/receipt.

Primary Contact Tab

Prom/Socials displays the contact's demographic information for review or editing. Allows for selected dress style & colors to be optionally entered for reference prior to ringing up on receipt/ledger. Most Primary Contacts do not have sales for the event sent they are in charge and not an event participant.

There are two classifications of event members.

1) Non-Rental (usually bridesmaids of an wedding event whom purchase items) 2) Rental (usually the groomsmen of an wedding event whom rent items)

Tip: Please do not be confused. Any member may purchase items from the store or rent rental merchandise irregardless of their member classification.

Event Classifications exists for 2 reasons. 1) To make it simpler for store staff to establish purchase / rental templates for the party. 2) Easier to track when all members of their classification have been fitted and made their purchases/rentals.

Non-Rental Member tab

Members Tab ... Initially displays a grid with a list of current non-rental members within a Grid and their event role. The Grid will display a list of all "Non-Rental" members recapping in summary the information entered for them. Highlighting a member within the grid will display the member's details under the grid which then can be reviewed and edited.

Tip: To help speed data entry, clicking an previously entered member row will allow the User to also click the arrow head to the left of the member's name to display style information selected for the member on the member's event profile page. This could be considered a template.
Members - Non-Rental

The style information for the highlighted member may be added/edited within the grid by clicking the arrow pointer to the left of the member's name.

Number of Attendants ... This is a reference to the number of attendants that are planned for the event. Most often used for wedding events it helps determine when the bridesmaid dresses can be ordered if all planned members have placed deposits with measurements. The Issue Special Order function will utilize this field to help determine when the number of unique members ordering equals this User entered number. When the number of member's that have placed order is equal of greater than this entered number, the Issue Special Orders grid event line event line will turn GREEN in color.

In grid editing is an allowed feature for "Non-Rental" event members that is available when building a template for a wedding party where the Bride has selected the attired and bridesmaids may be wearing the same style or different styles in the same color or other other style/color combinations. The style and color information may be entered for each member with the bride, so when the attendant enters the store to order the attire detail is documented making it a faster and painless ordering process of the attendant.

Total event Sales and Balance columns with grids are hyperlinks that when clicked are a shortcut to access the tickets for the Member customer.

Non Rental Member Button functions:

Create ... Creates a new Non-Rental member

Create & Copy ... By highlighting an existing member and clicking the function will create a new member and copy the styles,colors, offer price and role from the highlighted member. Great time saver when setting up wedding templates where most members will wear the same item(s).

Rental ... Mark the highlighted member as a rental member. Once done the member will appear on the Rental tab of the event and is removed from the Non-Rental Member grid.

Remove from Event ... Removes the member from the event (does not delete the member from the system) which in turn removes the member from the grid.

Print ... Prints a event member recap and has option to print Terms (those marked as RECEIPT in Administration -> Terms). This is often utilized as a Registration agreement whereby the leader of the event such as a Bride or Groom can double check the information within the computer and sign off on the shop's sale terms.

Role: This is the role of the member within the event. It is required to be set for each member. Member roles descriptions are system defined and cannot be changed. Many are offered. Contact BBL if your required any to be added.

When selecting a member's role, the user may use the lookup magnifier icon to select the role or begin typing the Role name whereby the system will search and display the role matching the characters entered.

Non-Rental Member Style Entry

Retail Style and colors ... Only Retail styles may be entered onto the member's form which are checked/ validated against styles and colors within the Retail Inventory. Styles must exist within the Retail Inventory and the colors must be valid for the entered Style (colors are set in color charts which may be optionally assigned to the style).

Offer Price ... When a PROMOTION is offered, a User may enter a OFFER price, which is the price the style entered will sell for. The system will automatically create a sales ticket for a non-rental member when they have no existing event linked tickets. When creating the ticket/receipt, the system will automatically add a Sales transaction of the style & colors on the member form and the price will be automatically set to the offer price. If no offer price is present, the price on the Sales Transaction will the Style's Retail Price 1.

Rental Members tab

See the How to Rent help topic for more information on rental order workflow.

Rental members for the event are manually added to this grid. However, the the event's bride or groom or primary contact has a rental order linked to the event then their names will automatically appear within this event rental member grid and on rental reports.

Displays a grid with a list of current rental members of the event within a Grid. The Grid will display their First name, Last name, Role, and other important data concerning each rental member. Highlighting a member within the grid will display the all the member's details beneath the grid.

Rental Members Grid

The Rental member grid functionality makes the review process faster since each rental member does not need to be highlighted to review important details, such as, Rental Order status (blank status means three is no order entered for the member), role, Take and Return dates, total event spending as well as current balance.

Within the grid, the Member Status is a hyperlink to the member's rental order's details in a popup display, the First name hyperlink will display the Customer profile for that member, Event spending or balance hyperlinks will display the sales ticket(s) of the Member. Clicking the member's Role column will allow their event role to be quickly changed (roles are required by the system).

Rental Members Button functions:

Create ... Creates a new Rental member

Create & Copy ... By highlighting an existing member and clicking the function will create a new member and copy the rental styles and role from the highlighted member. Great time saver when registering a weddings where most members will wear the same item(s). Once copied, the User may make any necessary edits.

Remove from Rentals ... Mark the highlighted member as a non-rental member. This cannot be completed if the member has a Rental Order linked to an existing ticket that is linked to the event. . Once done, the member will appear on the Members tab of the event and is removed from the Rental member grid.

Tip: Delete an existing Rental order, if one exists, to remove the customer from the Rental member grid.

Remove from Event ... Removes the member from the event (does not delete the member from the system) and removes the member from the grid.

Print ... Prints a Rental Event member Registration report and has the option to include Terms (those marked as RECEIPT in Administration -> Terms). This is often utilized as a Registration agreement whereby the leader of the event such as a Bride or Groom can double check the information within the computer and sign off on the shop's sale terms.

Rental Member Detail form

Selecting or Adding a new member will display the member's detail form. This form contains key information concerning the selected member.

Role: This is the role of the member within the event. It is required to be set for each member. Member roles descriptions are system defined and cannot be changed. Many are offered. Contact BBL if your required any to be added.

When selecting a member's role, the user may use the lookup magnifier icon to select the role or begin typing the Role name whereby the system will search and display the role matching the characters entered.

Rental Styles (i.e. Coat, Pant, Shirt ... etc.) ... Only Rental styles may be entered onto the rental member's form which are checked/ validated against styles within the Rental inventory and only those found within the rental style file will be allowed. The rental style's Item Type assigned must match the style fields where they are to be placed. For example, only Coat rental styles may be entered within the Coat (Jacket) field of the Rental member.

Rental Prices for each style is set within the Rental Styles file. As styles are entered and ultimately SAVED, the NET PRICE is updated with the total price or all the styles entered and honors WITH COAT pricing when a Coat style is present.

Unit Markdown ... When a PROMOTION is offered, a User may enter a MARKDOWN within this field in the form of a percentage or whole dollar amount. 10% (10% discount on total retail price of items being rented) or 40.00 ($40 would be deducted from the total rental price of the rental styles listed) are examples of proper Unit Markdown entries.

Once the first ticket is created by the User creating a new sales ticket/receipt for the rental member, a rental order will also be created with the rental styles entered on the Rental member's profile. This automatic process will also create a sales transaction for the Rental charge which will be shown as the list price for the styles being rented. However, if a markdown promotion is present on the event rental member's profile then in addition a markdown will also be automatically added to the Customer's ticket so they may see the promotional discount they are receiving.

Non-Rental & Rental Contact Information

Member's demographic and contact information is entered here in this form area.

Non-Rental members sizes and measurements are entered on their member form.

Rental Member measurements/sizes are entered on the rental order when created.

Non-Rental & Rental - Customer Status

Total Sales/Total Balance links ... Displays the customer's sales receipt / ledger totals for ALL tickets/receipts owned by this member customer for review and to add additional transactions to.

A new Ticket/Receipt will be created for a "Non-Rental" member upon clicking this link for any female role event participant who has styles entered on their event detail form, but does not have an existing event ticket/receipt. The new receipt/ticket will be assigned to the event with a Sales Transaction started containing the dress style, color(s) and offer price. The process stops the creation process on the ticket's sale transaction edit form so the User may add size and other transaction details.

With both male/female automatic sales transaction creation, the user may change styles or other transaction information prior to saving. This provides the flexibility for the User to adjust the transaction as needed such as changing styles or prices. This process is designed as a time saver, and to reduce potential errors when creating new event member sales.

The user may click either link(Ticket button or ticket balance) to access existing tickets or kick off the automatic ticket creation..

The Ticket Selection Grid will appear when the member has a existing ticket/receipt assigned to the event. The ticket selection grid allows the user to select any existing ticket owned by the member or to create NEW ticket/receipts.

Customer Status Grid... Always displays when a customer/member is selected. It contains several tabs of great information. for the selected member.

Favorite Styles tab - Retail Styles, sizes & colors listed as the customer's favorites. The favorites are accessible when a customer is searched.

​ Edit Favorite Styles button ... Allows Styles to be added, removed or edited.

Events tab - A list of all events the customer is a member of.

Sales Recap tab - A list of all sales to the customer including sizes and colors

PO Recap tab - A list of any special orders created for the customer.

Inventory Pickup tab - A list of items in the store waiting to be picked up by the customer.

Button Functions

Ticket button ... Displays a list of existing tickets for the Customer. User may select an existing ticket to view/edit or click ADD to create a new ticket.

The system will automatically create a ticket, linking it to the event AND add a sales transaction of the style on their event Non-Rental Member form when a User clicks the Ticket button. This is a nice time saver when having to create sales/tickets for a large event with many members.

eMail button ... Allows for an email to be created. User may use an eMail template to save creation time when sending redundant type of information. This function will eMail to customer's email address on file and log the correspondence to the Customer/Member.

SMS button ... Opens the SMS editor defaulting to Customer's primary phone number and allows a SMS to be sent to the customer by entering free form text or inserting a SMS template.

Appointment button ... Displays a list of past and future appointments with the Customer for review. A new appointment may be added.

Notes button ... Opens a comment editor where any detail/comment may be entered. The comments a date & time stamped whre only a manager or higher security level can edit past comments. Comments may be viewed or added.

To-Do button ... Show a list of past and future store staff To-Dos (reminders) linked to the Customer. New To-Dos may be added.

Fittings button ... Show a list of past and future Fittings linked to the Customer. New To-Dos may be added.

Image button ... Displays previously entered images linked to Customer. Customer Profile Images may be removed or new images added for upt to a total of 3.

Non-Rental Member Measurements

Measurement/Size fields. The fields that appear are determined by the gender of the Role selected for the member when the member is added to the event. For FEMALES the User will see bust, waist, hips, etc. For MALES the User will see Coat, Chest, Sleeve Length Neck, etc.

A NOT OUR Measurements check box exist whereby the user may check if the measurements were phoned or emailed in as a reference to staff in case the item does not fit properly.

Rental Member Measurements

Measurements for Rental members are entered onto the actual rental order entry form when it is created. The rental order is created automatically when one or more rental styles are present on for the rental member's detail form and the User clicks Ticket button, then Add. Otherwise the User may create a ticket, then choose Rental function from ticket and enter Rental order styles and other rental details. The measurements are male oriented no matter the Role assigned to the member.

Types

Customer Types ... The type of customer this member is. Utilized by selected reports to filter customers.

Source Types ... Where did this member/customer originate from.

The customer & source types may be modified by the store via the Administration menu options.

Created Date/Time ... The date & time the customer was created.

Responsible SA (Sales Associate/User) ... When creating a new event non Rental member the value of this field will default the the Responsible SA of the Event or for Rental Members the Rental SA both (found on Event Detail tab).

When tickets/sales/rentals are created for the event Member the Responsible SA entered on their event event form will automatically be inserted as the User/Sales Associate for the sales transactions created. Whereby for commission reporting and/or sales performance reporting the assigned SA receives the sales credit.

The Responsible SA for the member or sales transaction may be changed to any store USER and the changed is logged in the audit trail.

Social/Prom Event Registered Styles Tab

Registered Styles Tab (appears for Prom & Social event types)

Registered styles is a list of all sales across all members of the event that their inventory category has been set for registration. Sales that are shown are those assigned a registered Category, example Prom. Categories should be checked as tracked within the Category maintenance form. This is a great way to see gowns sold to High Schools for Prom or Socials in an effort not to duplicate styles and/or colors. The list will show a image of the style when available in inventory, the vendor, vendor style and color sold to other event members.

Please review the video (please insure YouTube captions (CC) are enabled)

The Print Label function will print a label or html document that recaps key data of the event. This information is nice to hand to the consultant or place on a prospect card to give the consultant a quick insight to the customer when meeting and working with them during an appointment when a computer or tablet is not convenient. The tag/document may be customized. The information to customize is in the Label Help topic.