One of the two core concepts of Safari Manager is the dashboard (the other is a ticket)
A dashboard is a user’s main work page – it lists all the tickets – safaris/bookings/payments – that they are responsible for, grouped by status and/or dates and other fields, and shows in real time what work needs doing.
The dashboard has several aims:
- Show the user what tickets they need to act on
- Prevent anything being missed
- Reduce human errors
- Increace sales
- Allow a user to keep track of all their tickets from one view
Dashboards consist of sections, and each section contains a list of tickets. Some sections require action, and others just show tickets in a certain state.
As an example, for an enquiry/sales/safari dashboard, we have the following sections.
Enquiries needing a reply now
Safaris/tickets listed here have had something done to them by someone other than the consultant – and therefore they need immediate attention – usually these tickets have been replied to by a client. This section makes sure no reply is missed and is dealt with as soon as possible – crucial to increasing sales
Bookings needing approval
In this section, bookings/supplier tickets appear when they have got to the status “invoiced” – the booking is made, and invoice has been sent, and now someone has to check it, and sign off on it, so that it can proceed to the payments stage and can be paid with confidence. This is a safety net for bookings staff to have their bookings double checked by the consultant who’s trip it is. The consultant checks these bookings and invoices and marks the field “checked” as “everything correct”.
Check Bookings
Once a safari has had all bookings made, it should be double checked before advancing to status “pending” – i.e. everything is ready to go.
New/Unowned Enquiries
When a new enquiry arrives, it appears here. If this is a new client, their safari/ticket will not be allocated to a consultant and therefore be unowned. Unowned safaris are visible to all consultants and they will “take” it and work on it. All subsequent enquiries from that client will automatically be allocated to the same consultant. new enquiries from the consultant’s clients will also appear in this section, but not be visible to any other consultant. These should be dealt with immediately.
Safaris Starting Soon
As the start date for a safari approaches, the safari/ticket appears here to remind the consultant that their trip is coming up soon and they might want to check it is all ready.
Quiet Enquiries
Once we’ve replied to a client for a new safari enquiry (not yet sold), we’re done with that ticket until the client replies. This section contains a list of tickets/enquiries that haven’t seen a client reply for some time, to remind the consultant to send a reminder, or follow up on the last email – we hope that this will increase sales by reminding potential clients that we are still there, in case they’ve forgotten about us or missed our mail.
All My Enquiries
This is just a list of all active safari tickets owned by the consultant.
Bookings Being Made
Safaris that have provisional or live bookings being made are listed here, so the consultant can check on their progress
Confirmed Safaris
A list of all safaris that have been verbally confirmed and waiting for some payment
Deposit
A list of all safaris who’ve had a deposit paid
All Paid
A list of all safaris that are full paid up
Safaris Happening Now
A list of all safaris that are happening.