As 2012 comes to a close, our development team is rapidly putting the finishing touches on the new Spectra 2013 Volume I upgrade.  Over the next couple weeks, I want to share with you many of the new and exciting benefits that will be included in the 2013 upgrade.

Today, I want to focus on the Dashboard. When it was introduced to Spectra (StudioPlus at the time) in 2009, we felt confident that the Dashboard was the most powerful studio management reporting tool available. Its features provided a way for our customers to build customized charts, graphs, reports, and budgets (or targets).  The original Dashboard could report on 11 of the most important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that you needed to be aware of in order to run the most successful photography business possible.

In Spectra 2013, we have taken this powerful tool and made it even better!  First of all, we’ve added 28 new data types (or KPIs) that you can use to easily build your reports. Here’s a small sampling:

• Conversion Ratio of Leads to Bookings
• Conversion Ratio of Bookings to Completed Sessions
• Clients with No Booked Session
• Sessions with No Order
• Sessions with a Zero Dollar Order
• Sessions Cancelled
• Sessions Rescheduled
• Session No Shows
• Production Orders Completed
• Production Orders Open
• Production Orders Past Due
• Tasks Completed
• Tasks Open
• Tasks Past Due

In addition to new data types, we have also added seven new ways to group your reports. Because of the flexible nature of the Dashboard reporting tool, almost any report can be broken down into sub-categories or “Group Bys.”  So, in addition to all the existing group by options, here are the new ones you’ll find in Spectra 2013:

• Client Status
• Session Status
• Assigned to User
• Assigned To Department
• Assistant
• Appointment User
• Studio (for our customers with multiple locations)

So how will these new data types and group by options help you grow your business? Here are a few examples.

• Track how effectively your studio is converting new leads into actual bookings.  When your staff has a prospect on the phone, how effective are they in convincing the client to book a session.  Try grouping this report by Lead Source or Marketing Plans to find out which marketing efforts have resulted in the highest conversions.  Compare how effective your studio is this year to last year to see if you’re improving, or set targets for your team and track how well they are meeting those targets.
• As we all know, a booking means nothing unless the client actually shows up for their session! Now you can track how effective your team is in getting clients to
  actually show up for their session using the “Conversion Ratio of Bookings to Completed Sessions” data type.  If your studio has a problem with No Shows, Reschedules, or Cancellations, this report will let you know.  Try grouping this report by the Session Booker (the one who booked the session over the phone).  Do some bookers have higher “show up” rates than others?  Find out what the better team members are doing differently to convince clients to show up for their session. Use staff with better conversions to train those with lower conversions.
• If your studio is having an issue with No Shows, Cancellations, or Reschedules, you can use these new data types to identify the problem, attempt to fix it, set targets for improvement, and finally monitor your results.
• Use the “Sessions with No Orders” data type to build a report to find those clients that have completed their session but haven’t come back in to place their order.  Target these clients with some phone calls and quickly improve your cash flow with little effort.
• Use the “Sessions with Zero Dollar Order” data type to report on those sessions that resulted in a no sale, and then use this as a training opportunity for both photographers and sales people.
• Use the many new Production and Task data types to identify bottlenecks or trouble areas in your workflow.  Ensure that nothing is falling through the cracks and everything is operating as smoothly as possible.

Finally, a much anticipated new feature has been added to Spectra 2013 that includes the ability for Dashboard Reports to automatically remember any customizations you’ve made – such as customizing the grid columns, grid group bys, and grid totaling.  Simply opening an existing report will automatically restore the report back to the way you left it!

Because the Dashboard is so crucial to keeping any studio running as profitably as possible, we will be devoting an entire seminar at our upcoming StudioPlus user conference to it.  Click here to learn more about the StudioPlus Connections 2013 User Conference.

Next article – Price List Enhancements