Optimizing Salesforce for Improved Venue Operations

INTRODUCTION

A nonprofit organization in the arts and culture sector operates multiple performance venues and is dedicated to fostering community engagement through music and art. They have been managing two venues with the capacity of 80 and 300. They concentrate on creating an artist-forward approach with an inclusive environment experience. 

In addition, the client has been using Patron Management, which is a Salesforce-managed package. This is used for donor engagement, ticketing and memberships etc however, despite this system being robust, many inefficiencies within the workflows hindered their daily operations. They came in contact with our team looking to optimize their Salesforce platform. 

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INITIAL CHALLENGES FACED WITHIN PATRON MANAGEMENT

The client had a reliance on Google Sheets, which they were having trouble to manage manually. They were unable to utilize Patron Management to its fullest extent and potential, which led them to shift to Google Sheets, this made the process manual and required human intervention. The process soon became time consuming and there were inefficiencies within the workflows. 

The client needed three of their reports to be optimized and improved which are as follows:

1. Custom Settlements and Performance Report with Breakdowns: The main issue within these reports was that the existing Patron Management system lacked the details that were to be required by the client and because of the process being manual, there were delays while manual calculations were being carried out. The combination of these reports caused issues, as the data became difficult to manage and keep up with. 
2. Reconciliation Report: The issue within this report was that the client had to review the reports for three different venues. The process they were using made them export the report line by line which had to be distinguished based on the description of the venue that it applied to. 
3. Ticket Count Report: This report was expected to have an automatic daily report that would identify the sellable capacity of the event. The client was mainly getting the information needed by the sales overview report, that too in pieces. The main issue within this process was again the human intervention and manual extensive work which made the process of ticket sales more time consuming and lengthy for the client to keep up with. 

The structure in place was full of inefficiencies and caused the client to turn to human intervention which caused delays and a path for errors to occur. This is where we stepped in and helped our client to identify the issues and optimize their management system for future success and growth in revenue. 

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IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGES 

It was evident that Patron Management needed to be fully automated. It was originally decided that the data will be automated in Salesforce Patron Management without the involvement of the Google Sheets, however, that too was time consuming and was causing delays. After the initial approach was dismissed, our team decided to go with an alternative approach, that was to leverage the team’s expertise with Google sheets and automate the process by pulling the data from the already existing reports within Salesforce. 

In addition, there were many technical issues that were faced by the team due to the lack of clarity regarding the data structure and the objects that were involved for fetching data. This lack of clarity and certainty made integration and manipulation of data difficult. Moreover, the limited understanding of the exact data flows and interconnections made the process of mapping and discovery difficult for the team. We worked at the backend to explore several sessions to check the data and its integrity to fully optimize the platform. 

In the process of identification of the technical issues within the system we identified, the fact Patron Manager is a managed package, the components within will be locked down which meant we could not modify or customize several parts of the management system. This could lead to issues if we wanted to add or customize any part of the system, it will have limitations.

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OUR SOLUTION AND APPROACH: #PIXELIMPACT 

Having an iterative approach towards the challenges within the Patron Management System, our team of experts proposed solutions which not only enhanced the operational efficiency, but also provided the client with real-time insights and data accuracy. Our team worked tirelessly to identify the internal and external complexities of the managed package within Salesforce to reduce the manual intervention that not only minimized the risk of errors, but also made sure the client got their hands on data accuracy and seamless workflows. 

The following were the solutions proposed for the challenges the clients were facing regarding their reports. The solutions proposed were as follows: 

• Performance Reports and Custom Settlement Breakdowns: 

Identification of the inefficiencies within the workflows were carried out which created the need to manage two separate reports for the tracking of performance. In order to address this PixelConsulting leveraged the following solutions: 

1. Automation and Data Consolidation: By combining these two reports into a single report we integrated all the necessary metrics and data points that were needed for a seamless automation. 
2. Workflow Efficiency: One of the most important factors to resolve were delays, we eliminated the need of manual calculations that were being done, resulting in taking up significant time of the client’s team. Ensured they spend this time on the tasks that actually mattered  and enhanced workflow efficiency. 
3. Effective Error Reduction: By reducing the manual intervention within the workflow, we ensured that there were no human errors and the client can have accurate data for effective decision making. 

• Reconciliation Process and Automated Payouts: 

As the client was facing significant challenges in the management of payouts and reconciliation of the data manually. We implemented the following streamlined solution. 

1. Implementation of Apex triggers: Our Salesforce experts developed Apex triggers that were used to fetch and update the data automatically that were based on specified conditions, ensuring data accuracy and providing valuable insights to the client. 
2. Custom Object Creation: In order to store the payout related data, we created a tailored custom object with fields that were specially designed for management within Patron Management. 
3. Consolidated Reporting: To enhance the reliability of the solution, a custom report was designed in order to pull data from the new objects that presented a clear and accurate view of the reconciliations and detailed view of payouts. This process enhanced the workflow efficiency and minimized the delays. 

• Automated Daily Ticket Count Reports

For the management of the events it was important to develop an automated reporting system for the ticket counts. To improve on tracking and management of these daily tickets we leveraged the following solutions: 

1. Dynamic Report Creation: In order to create a more granular tracking, we built a dynamic report which had filters to view ticket counts for the past, current and future events. 
2. Delivery Automation: For the team to receive the reports daily for consistent updates without having to manually intervene, the report generation process was fully automated for them to receive these updates via email on a daily basis. 

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OUR APPROACH:

After the process of identifying the challenges in depth, our team of experts developed custom solutions for the client where the workflows, the internal systems and their dependency on the manual structure could be minimized and optimized for the growth of the business and generation of revenue in the future. 

• Discovery and Mapping

Exploratory sessions were conducted with the client making sure we understood the issues and challenges with the data they have been facing. These sessions specifically focused on identifying the data sources within the Patron Management, outlining and mapping how these sources could be interconnected. We took our time uncovering the relationships between data flows and the client’s dependency on manual structure which could impact the automation process. In conclusion, we documented the insights from the session and created a blueprint for the designing of custom solutions. 

• Workarounds on Constraints 

These were no ordinary constraints as they were limiting direct customization of the PatronManager as it was a managed package. In order to address these challenges we had to utilize the advanced tools of Salesforce which included the following: 

1. LWC (Lightning Web Components):  which was integrated in order to create dynamic and user-friendly interfaces for the client’s unique business requirements.
2. Apex triggers: While in the process of automating the business process and logic Apex was integrated for a smooth automation process behind the scenes. 
3. Custom Objects: In order to support and manage the additional functionality and data that might not be natively supported by the existing group or was not within the system setup were integrated to tackle the challenges.

These components helped us create the custom solution that could be seamlessly integrated with the existing Patron Management system environment that the client has been using, this made sure that the client and their team leverage the Salesforce ecosystem to its fullest potential and ensure enhanced user experience. 

• Iterative Testing and Authentication

After enforcing components that would help in seamless optimization, it was important to create reliability of the custom solutions. By adopting an iterative approach towards testing and validation we took the following steps: 

1. In order to evaluate the functionality of the workflows and custom reports, we used dummy data to simulate real-world scenarios. 
2. To solve and identify potential problems within the system, multiple testing cycles were conducted. 
3. Each of these iterations were targeted and focused on to refine the solution that would align with the unique needs of the client and their business, minimizing the risk of any errors and manual intervention that could be needed. 

These steps within testing and authentication ensured that the final deployment of the solution would be effective and accurate for the data silos. 

• Effective Collaboration

Collaboration with the client is PixelConsulting’s priority as it is the key component for solution search and to gather insights for effective changes. Conducted weekly meetings that involved active discussions regarding the updates, gathering feedback and addressing the new challenges or any changes in the requirements. Active collaboration made sure our solution and team expertise aligned with the operational goals and objectives of the client, making sure we adjusted to any contingent situations and last minute changes. 

PixelConsulting, an organization passionate about giving their clients the best and optimized experience of  the Salesforce platform, combined a structured approach to innovative workarounds, data discovery, effective communication and detailed testing. This structured process proved to be successful for the navigation of complexities with the Patron Management system, providing a seamless automation solution to the client. 

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LAST WORD 

PixelConsulting delivered innovative and custom solutions tailored to the client’s unique needs, by transforming their Salesforce Platform into a tool that created impact and efficiency within the workflows. We automated the critical data, such as performance reporting, reconciliation process and daily ticket count reports which was successful in significantly reducing the manual effort required by the client to improve their data accuracy. 

These enhancements saved the clients valuable time, provided real-time insights and streamlined their operations. Our solutions empowered them to focus on their core mission – creating an exceptional experience for the artists and fostering positive community engagement. Our approach being collaborative in nature, ensured that seamless integration of our strategy and technology was enabled to create operational efficiency and impact within the organization.