Real stories from businesses like yours
How a 30-Year NYC Event Venue Stopped Losing Inquiries
A two-phase CRM and sales operations project. The venue went from scattered inquiries and manual follow-up to a pipeline where every qualified lead is tracked, nurtured toward a tour and handed off clearly across the team.
Project snapshot
Led by: Paula Baez, before founding VisioNYC
Client: Event venue in New York, operating 30+ years
Timeline: Phase 1: 2023 (on-site) · Phase 2: 2024 (hybrid)
Systems: Solve360 → HoneyBook, Mailchimp, Zapier
Team: About six CRM users
Focus: CRM, lead management and sales operations
The starting point
Inquiries came from everywhere. The CRM only saw some of them.
The venue had used Solve360 since 2012, mostly with its original setup. Inquiries arrived through the website, phone calls, on-site visits, Yelp, Eventective and WeddingWire, but there were no shared rules for handling them. Adoption was limited, so most of the sales process depended on manual effort and memory.
- Follow-up was generic and didn’t match the type of event
- Phone and walk-in inquiries often never made it into the CRM
- Unqualified portal inquiries took up the team’s time
- There was no speed-to-lead process
- Missing automation meant constant manual workarounds
Phase 1 · 2023 · Solve360
Making the existing CRM actually work
Before changing tools, the first step was fixing how the team used the one they had: clear rules, clean qualification and one place for every inquiry.
CRM governance
Created CRM practices, lead-management rules and an operating handbook for about six users.
Qualification
Built prequalification criteria for portal inquiries, plus tags for event type, priority, readiness and sales potential.
Lead capture
Every qualified phone, walk-in, website and platform inquiry became a tracked CRM opportunity.
Pipeline architecture
Mapped the marketing funnel, sales stages, customer journey, ownership and follow-up actions.
Sales enablement
Created event-specific templates and resources for weddings, repasses, corporate events and more.
Lifecycle automation
Activated a tour-focused nurture sequence and post-booking communication.
Phase 2 · 2024 · HoneyBook
Rebuilding the system in a modern CRM
In 2024 the venue moved to HoneyBook, and Paula led the rebuild. The default pipeline didn’t match an event venue’s workflow: records were mixed, tags were inconsistent, calendars were cluttered and duplicate leads remained.
CRM reimplementation
Redesigned HoneyBook around the venue’s real sales stages and removed defaults that didn’t fit.
Data organization
Structured tags and rules by event type, timing, priority and opportunity status.
Pipeline governance
Defined qualification, stage movement, ownership, follow-up and team handoffs.
Sales automation
Multi-criteria workflows, speed-to-lead responses, tour reminders and team notifications.
Marketing integration
Connected Mailchimp and built segmented promotional campaigns and event-specific templates.
Sales resources and enablement
Portfolios, video tours, catalogs, albums, landing pages and planning materials, plus updated CRM guidelines for current and future users.
The workflow
Marketing and sales, connected
The customer acquisition system designed for the venue: every stage connected, from the first ad to the moment a client recommends the venue.
The full customer journey
How marketing and sales work together, from the first time someone hears about the venue to the moment they recommend it.
Inside the lead follow-up
The Meta Ads and CRM qualification workflow: what happens after someone fills out the form.
Results
What changed for the sales team
What the team gained
- More consistent lead qualification and follow-up
- Inquiries that had been inactive for about three months were re-engaged
- Fewer missing and duplicate opportunities
- Clearer pipeline visibility and coordination across the team
- Stronger speed-to-lead and customer-retention processes
- A repeatable onboarding reference for about six users
Estimated impact
30–40%
estimated improvement in tour-to-booking conversion
20–30%
estimated increase in tour bookings
These are internal operational estimates based on weekly sales discussions and direct observation. The underlying reports weren’t available, so read them as directional, not audited results.
From the founder
The cornerstone of VisioNYC
With this venue, I saaw what so many small business owners live with. They know how to run their business, but marketing feels full of technical language and disconnected tactics. They get sold posts, ads and packages, and still don’t know what’s working.
So I brought together 12 years of running my own agency and working in sales, business development, marketing and social media to build a complete customer acquisition system, in practice. And I explained it to the owner in plain language: what we needed, what we were doing, and why.
Most people don’t realize that marketing and sales have to work together. This kind of system connects both. It’s what I love doing: I can spend hours mapping a client’s journey, because the goal is a real solution, not selling a package.
We could be a regular agency. I’d rather build something meaningful, even if it takes a little longer. When a business already has a great product, a strong customer experience and the willingness to put its clients first, a connected system gives it real power, whatever its size. Everything works together, so clients have every reason to choose you.
Paula Baez
Founder, VisioNYC Marketing Studio
Does this sound like your venue?
If inquiries arrive from five places, follow-up depends on who picks up the phone, and tours don’t turn into bookings the way they should, the problem is usually the system, not the team. That’s what our CRM & follow-up work fixes.
Let's find where your business is losing customers
Free marketing diagnostic
Maya, our AI assistant, reviews your online presence and tells you what to fix first. About 3 minutes.
Book a consultation
Talk with Paula about your goals and where your business is losing customers.
Prefer to message? Write to us in English or Spanish.