Tripleseat

Pros

My favorite part of TripleSeat is that everything makes logical sense, and is able to be customized to your needs. When inputting the information, you don't have unnecessary steps in order to get your basic needs into the system. If I have a brand new manager who only gets a date, time, number of guests, and the host's contact info, they can (within minutes) get them a contract. At the very least they can send them an email with menus and instead of loosing a sticky note, have it tracked so I can follow up.
Truly this was made for the Sales person in mind, with how the data is tracked, and how much time it saves.

Cons

My only wish for the software, was that it would allow for you to track correspondence directly with a contact and not having it connected to an event. There doesn't seem to be a way to pull up someone who is in your data base, and just send them a prospecting email, or share with them updated menus or promotions. You have to export their contact information and email, or use a previous event.

Pros

I love how the event request links can be embedded into your website for client ease. They have a task function which is essentially a reminder for the Sales Manager to complete something.You can see if an email was received and if the client opened it.Also TS Direct is life-changing. Guests can book themselves a private room or catering order, select a menu, and submit payment.

Cons

TS Direct has evolved so much over the last year. The only wishes I have are the following:When you change menus on the main TS site, I would love to be able for those changes to mirror that.I would also like the toggle between locations features to stick so that each time you are making changes you don't need to re-select the location each time.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Tripleseat

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Tripleseat

Pros

Generally the contract feature was fine. We liked executing contracts on line even though the contract tool did not have all of the client info required

Cons

Regarding our disappointment with Gather I would point to the following – all of which I have reflected to your support people and none of which have been acted on:

Your IOS app seems to be able to send messages to clients and it does seem to be able to send templates but not free-form messages. Yet it often leads the user to believe a message has been sent when it has not
About 45 days ago new inquiries stopped showing up in your new messages list – your support people insisted this was not a change but it was. It seems logical that new leads would be the most important new messages
I asked you to make all the numbers and metrics on your Home page hyperlinked, but you have not. If I see I have two new leads I can click on that number and it takes me to the new leads. If I see I have one new contract signed, the numeral “1” is not hyperlinked and I have to search for the new signed contract.
It is difficult or impossible to add a second client contact name but in the wedding business it is pretty normal to have at least two client counterparties. Yes I know about the “onsite” contact but that is not a default email recipient. Look at the confusion that appears in some proposals.
Your proposals are not properly itemized and clients do not seem to notice that I have attached a “BEO” which is not a term I could define for you. Look at both “xxx” and “xxx” as examples of proposals where they thought we got the price wrong but they don’t see the security deposit because it is not itemized in the proposal.
It is completely ridiculous that the client could sign an e-contract without being forced to enter and validate their address, phone, full and correct name, etc. Our normal course is we get a contract signed and then we chase down the additional information required to actually have a contract with the Zenith Additional Information form. This is cumbersome and probably not legally defensible. I want the client to execute the contract having filled in and validated their complete contact info

Pros

Gather is the best software to use for private dining, the ease of use is like no other! You can use it on the app, computer, tablet etc... it is very easy to develop files to save on the software and send contracts to clients. Once you train your staff their are very little questions that follow because of the ease of use with this product. Clients also love it because it leaves less back and forth with contracts and they can do everything they need from the form you send them. The software also works with your email and you're notified on the home screen and via our work email. They're constantly upgrading and using new integrations as well.

Cons

This is not a con because I don't know if this is possible, but if Gather could find a way to integrate with Open Table so contracts update to that software it would be amazing. I am not a computer programmer so I have no idea if that's possible, but really their are no cons with Gather.

Pros

I'll start out by saying that I'm a one woman operation. I'm the only one in our restaurant that sells, details and facilitates all of our events, plus plans all of our in-house events, plus managing the actual restaurant side...so I have a lot to do! Tripleseat makes my job exponentially easier and more streamlined. One of my favorite things is that they listen to their users. Every month there is something updated that makes it that much butter, and their customer service is fantastic. They've also started hosting events so you can get hands on training, meet the team, etc. I love that!

Cons

There are a lot of features that I don't use being one person in one unit. It would be nice if there were different tiers of pricing based on the parts you use and those you don't (like a Tripleseat Lite vs. Tripleseat Multi-Unit). That's about it!

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Tripleseat