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A practical buying guide

Multi-venue bookings: enquiries, diary and run sheets

How should a venue group hand enquiries over to each location's team?

VCMP Encore handles guest enquiries, bookings, a diary and team run sheets. For a venue group, evaluate how the central booking team and each location share an agreed view of the event. Bring both a combined review requirement and a per-venue service requirement to the demonstration, and confirm the supported configuration.

Buying guide updated · VCMP product team, StartMadeSimple Ltd

A practical example

Two locations have similar event names on the same evening. One enquiry changes venue, and another adds guests shortly before service. The floor manager needs a location-specific handover containing the latest agreed details, while the central team needs to see who owns each change and follow-up.

What matters most in this setup

  • Make venue ownership clear at every stage.
  • Agree how late changes reach the floor team.
  • Rehearse a full day with overlapping events.

Worked planning example · fictional data

Keep venue totals distinct from the group view

Illustrative event plan: Venue A confirms 30 guests and Venue B confirms 20. Five guests move from A to B without changing the group total.

Venue A after the move
25
Venue B after the move
25
Combined guests
50
Run sheets needing revision
Both venues

30 − 5 = 25 and 20 + 5 = 25. The combined total stays 50, while both teams' operating details change.

Check each venue's capacity and customer agreement, then confirm that staff receive the correct venue-specific version rather than relying only on a group total.

Replace the example inputs with your own figures. These are planning exercises, not customer results or quoted product prices.

A useful demonstration, step by step

  1. Map the enquiry stages, responsible people and decision points. Specify when a provisional enquiry becomes a confirmed booking and who checks the selected venue and area.
  2. Build sample bookings for two locations on the same day. Request the combined and individual views you need, then verify that staff can identify the correct venue without ambiguity.
  3. Change the guest count, timing and venue in representative website and phone bookings. Check arrival, visit end and separate turnaround, and agree how the service team learns about late changes.
  4. Review a sample run sheet with the floor manager. Agree the useful fields: venue and area, organiser email and phone, occasion, access requirements, table preferences and the verified deposit state the proposed payment workflow supports.
  5. Identify any separate till or screen tasks. Test the required handover to SOLO POS or My Venue explicitly, and decide who completes manual steps where no connection has been demonstrated.

Check before you commit

  • Venue and area assignment
  • Combined versus individual location views
  • Enquiry status and booking ownership
  • Visit end, turnaround and late-change handover
  • Contact details, occasion and access requirements
  • Deposit request versus verified payment evidence
  • Permissions, payments and separate-system handover

Encore's general booking capabilities do not establish every multi-venue permission model, automatic cross-system handover or deposit configuration. Confirm those requirements with representative events and the team responsible for the rollout.

Buyer questions, answered

What should a venue group test across head office and local teams?

Use one enquiry handled centrally and delivered at a named venue. Change a guest count or date, then ask both teams to find the current booking and run sheet. Encore covers the enquiry, diary and handover workflow. Confirm combined views, per-venue access and the supported configuration rather than assuming every location shares all information.

How should we compare a multi-venue software quote?

Use the same number of venues, users and contract period in each proposal. Include onboarding, booking migration, training, hardware, payment charges and ongoing support when required. Keep Encore bookings, My Venue screen content and Solo POS counter sales as explicit line items. Use written terms and a representative branch demonstration before committing to a group rollout.

How should a venue group prevent confusion between similarly named events?

Use a stable booking reference together with the venue, date and area in the handover. Create two fictional events with the same name at different locations and ask staff to find the right one. The location-specific context should remain clear in the diary, run sheet and any export the team relies on.

What should happen when an event moves to another venue?

Review the new space, availability, operational owner and customer agreement before treating the move as complete. Check both locations’ run sheets so the original team does not continue preparing the event. Confirm the supported Encore workflow and assign any manual handover needed for payments, screens or external suppliers.

How do central and local booking teams agree ownership of late changes?

Define the point at which the local manager must acknowledge a change and how that acknowledgment is recorded. Rehearse a fictional guest-count or timing change shortly before service. A central record update is useful only if the receiving team can identify the latest agreed instruction and knows who will resolve conflicting details.

Which permissions should a multi-venue booking pilot examine?

Prepare the roles of a central coordinator, a local manager and a staff member who only needs service information. Test the actual views and actions offered in the proposed configuration. Record gaps explicitly rather than assuming every organisation has the same cross-venue visibility or that each location can edit all bookings.

What should a venue group include in its first cross-site booking scenario?

Use a centrally handled enquiry delivered at a named venue. Include a changed detail and ask both teams to find the current booking and run sheet.

How should a venue group evaluate access boundaries?

Give representative central and local users defined tasks. Confirm the supported visibility and permissions in the proposed configuration rather than assuming every site shares all records.

What should a multi-venue diary trial do with a date change?

Move a fictional event and have the responsible teams review the affected venue and time. Verify the current operational details through the demonstrated workflow.

How should group-wide booking reports be checked?

Compare a combined view with the underlying venue records for the same period. Confirm which statuses and locations the proposed report includes.

What should a venue group reconcile before migrating upcoming events?

Review site, date, customer, guest count and operational details with each source diary. Name the local approver for the opening booking position.

Can a central-office enquiry automatically be treated as a confirmed local event?

No. Agree the confirmation decision and handover responsibility. Demonstrate the supported states and local acceptance process before rollout.

How should deposit requirements be scoped across several venues?

Specify the intended provider, verification and local responsibilities. Encore's booking purpose does not establish every multi-venue deposit configuration.

What should a venue-group quote say about screen content and till sales?

List Encore bookings, My Venue content and Solo POS requirements explicitly. Confirm any intended handoffs and avoid assuming one product automatically includes the others.

How should a group choose the next venue after a successful pilot?

Select a site that tests a different operational requirement and confirm its configuration. Use pilot evidence and remaining exceptions rather than expanding solely because the demo looked convincing.

What should the central and venue teams measure during rollout?

Review missing enquiry details, handover corrections and time to prepare the current run sheet. Compare similar events and keep the source records behind the results.

Continue your evaluation

Plan this for your market

Prepare your country, language and handover requirements with a relevant regional checklist. Each section is also available in Arabic.

Relevant products and official sources

VCMP Encore

VCMP Encore connects restaurant and venue enquiries, a booking diary, table allocations, arrivals and team run sheets. Explore a fictional venue demo before planning your setup.

Explore VCMP Encore

VCMP My Venue

VCMP My Venue helps hospitality businesses turn menus, offers and events into content for venue screens, with playlists and screen publishing.

Explore VCMP My Venue

SOLO POS

SOLO POS is VCMP's point-of-sale product for orders, products, stock and daily sales, with profit-and-loss reporting in focus.

Explore SOLO POS
Multi-venue Booking & Run Sheet Handover Guide | Encore