Top 8 of 2008
A new year has arrived and The Spotlight is now back in full swing. I wanted to start off right, with a round-up of the most popular posts of 2008. Go ahead and make a 2009 resolution to implement one of these ideas or features.
PEO Donation Round-Up, v2
This was a feature I built that allows you to have a 1-click donation button on your basket screen. It will round up to the next dollar, five dollars, whatever dollar amount you need without having to leave the basket screen.
Six tweaks to improve performance
So you've loaded the latest SQL patches and Windows service packs, updated Patron Edge and PEO to the latest version and trimmed down transaction times, but your database just can't keep up with you. Before going out and buying a brand new, top-of-the-line server for your database, try some of these tweaks to get a bump in performance.
Create maps of your patrons using free online tools
This is a guest post I wrote for The User's Edge. I explain how to use the RE Export module and a free service called Map a List to create a Google Maps mashup. These tools are not RE-specific though; you can run Marketing Mailing queries and generate a spreadsheet of address info, enabling you to get a visual of where your season ticket holders or major sponsors live.
Choose Your Own Order Details
Patron Edge contains a pretty nice feature that allows you to enter additional order information based on the price type chosen. While you will need to write your own reports for the captured data, you have a lot of flexibility with what it can do.
Five ways to cut transaction time
On a busy day, every second counts when making a sale. Long lines make patrons impatient and a bad enough waiting experience can even be enough to prevent someone from coming back to visit you. Lines at theme parks are so bad nowadays, my wife and I don't even bother anymore. With that in mind, here are five tips that can help you cut mouse clicks and seconds from every transaction.
Using Google Analytics to get more out of PEO
Google has a powerful, free tool available, called Google Analytics, that will allow you to collect all kinds of aggregate data about your site's visitors.
Send an SMS blast to patrons using free online tools
Have you considered the possibility of using the system to send out an SMS blast to the mobile phones of your subscribers?
How Do You Welcome New Clients?
When patrons become associated with your organization, either by purchasing tickets or signing up to receive information, do they receive any kind of introductory materials? How do you go about getting lists of new people who have expressed this interest? One great, fully-automated way is to use the Welcome Letter feature within Patron Edge.
If you missed any of these posts the first time, check them out and leave your comments. If there are certain topics you want to hear about in 2009, just send me an email and I will do my best to crank out something useful.