DALLAS
Lanyon, a meetings and travel software company, released a new version of its Smart Events Cloud platform that features a number of significant enhancements, a simplified user interface and improved scalability.
The company announced the updated software at the annual convention of the Global Business Travel Association, held July 16-20 in Denver. A key product feature of the Smart Events Cloud is seamless integration with the Salesforce CRM and marketing software system for easy data reporting on potential clients.
“You can track all of the people from Salesforce, and track them without having to manage two systems,” said John Pulling, chief technology officer for Dallas-based Lanyon, referring to improvements over the previous version of Smart Events Cloud. “If you’re the event host, it tracks all of your attendees all the way through. Now you’ll be able to track it right into your Salesforce system in real-time, as they go into breakouts [and other events], so you can run campaigns and follow up on leads right away. From everything from planning a meeting and budgeting and tracking—all the way through—meeting planners now have full access."
According to Anthony Miller, chief marketing officer for Lanyon, the new version also provides improved mobile functionality and the ability to allow attendees to handle a larger part of the registration and booking process.
“There’s tight integration with our Passkey tool to book hotel reservations, so your attendees can register, book a hotel and get their confirmation all in one flow, and minimize booking around the room block.” Miller said. “The final piece is the business intelligence. All of your analytics are in one place. There’s one set across the board."
Miller said that beyond streamlining the pre-conference planning process, mobile functionality and budget-saving possibilities, the new version of Smart Events Cloud will help strengthen the position of meeting planners as a strategic resource in their organizations and allow for easier post-event follow-up.
“That’s great that we automated logistics and [helped with planners] saving money, but we’ve got to get to sales results,” he said. “We can complete the picture around event ROI for planners, so they know what they’ve spent, that they’ve delivered the event, and know they can also see the leads, the pipeline and revenue growth as a result of holding that event. That gives the meeting planner that strategic role in the business."
According to Lanyon, the new release features the following highlights:
Flexible Tools to Power all your Events
Planners can now use any combination of modules from Lanyon Meetings and Events to run any type of event. Lanyon brings together the best of its advanced attendee management, spend management and marketing tools to create a comprehensive solution. Organizations everywhere will save time and money, create a more seamless customer experience and leverage superior data capture to increase revenue.
Salesforce Integration for Enhanced Intelligence and Lead Tracking
New Salesforce integration seamlessly syncs all invitee and attendee data between Salesforce and Lanyon Meetings and Events, enabling the planner to track the status of their most important customers and prospects. It also includes exhibitor Salesforce integration, so that every lead the exhibitors capture is available, in real time in their CRM, for faster follow up and nurture.
Seamless Mobile Experience
Advanced mobile functionality with Lanyon Mobile provides a smooth mobile experience for attendees with a single sign-on and syncing of meetings and sessions between the mobile app and Lanyon Meetings and Events. Attendees can now schedule sessions and meetings and see them on any device.
Book Hotels During Registration
Integration with Lanyon Passkey—the global leader in hotel room block management—means attendees no longer need to book hotel rooms manually. Registrants can now view hotel photos, rates and room availability, as well as reserve hotel rooms right from the registration page.
Consolidated Data and Insights for Smarter Analysis
The new release makes data reporting easier, with access to all the meeting and event data from a single reporting engine: registrations, hotel bookings, budget leads and more. This increased visibility will help planners and companies better understand the business impact of their meetings and events programs.
