A lot of our recent work has been behind-the-scenes changes, small bug fixes, or part of a larger project that’s still in progress. But we wanted to touch base on a few of the things we’ve launched in the last month.
In this update:
- New calendar feature
- Improved mobile navigation
- Quote read notifications
- More client payment options (coming soon)
- A few fun facts
Add weekly events to your calendar
We’ve introduced a calendar feature that makes it easier to add events to multiple dates at once. Say you have a regular Friday night gig or a book club on Wednesdays, you can now add repeating weekly events or unavailability to your calendar.
Keeping your calendar up-to-date allows us to block leads (if you choose) for dates you are unavailable or show you potential calendar conflicts within your lead details.
📅 Get to know your calendar. We’ve updated our Help Center to include a whole section dedicated to calendar features. Take some time to peruse the articles and make sure you are using every tool at your disposal.
Navigating your control panel on mobile
With over half of our members regularly visiting their control panel on a phone or tablet, the mobile experience is extremely important. Last month we made a few changes to the menu layout to make navigation easier.
Previously, sub-pages (like the “Unread” filter in the Inbox) weren’t visible within the menu until you visited their parent page. Now all pages and sub-pages are always listed in the navigation menu at the top of the control panel on mobile.
Know when your quote has been read
Our most recent launch is a new email notification that will tell you when a client has read your quote. The most opportune time to follow up with a quote is right after the client has viewed it, so this email notification will help with that timing.
This has been a highly-requested feature, so we hope everyone finds it useful! If not, you can opt out of the notification at anytime from the email itself or within the notification settings in your account.
Preparing for more payment options
One of the behind-the-scenes changes we’ve made in the last month has to do with how we process client payments. While nothing visibly changed on the user’s side, we made the shift in order to prepare for bigger changes in the near future.
Coming soon, we’re going to be testing a new payment option that will allow event planners to essentially finance their booking. The hypothesis is that giving clients the option to book upfront but pay later will increase bookings, especially for higher-dollar gigs. We’ll have more information on this once the test gets underway!
Home is where GigSalad is
We like to end these product updates with something fun that helps you get to know our team a little better. This month, we thought it’d be neat to share some facts about where we live and work. ?
The GigSalad team is spread across the country, but most of us reside in one of our two primary locations: Springfield, MO and Wilmington, NC.
Did you know?
🛣️ Springfield, MO is considered the birthplace of Route 66.
⭐ Brad Pitt and Bob Barker both grew up in little-old Springfield, MO and many other celebrities have passed through or gone to one of the several colleges in town.
🥡 Locals are quite proud of the Springfield-style cashew chicken that was first created in Springfield, MO. Be sure to try it if you visit!
🎬 Wilmington, NC (or Wilmywood, if you will) has a large 10-stage film studio that has produced hundreds of movies and TV shows, including: One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, Iron Man 3, The Conjuring, and more.
🏀 Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, NC and honed his early basketball skills playing at local Laney High School, before going to college at the University of North Carolina.
🚢 The WWII battleship U.S.S. North Carolina is permanently docked on the Cape Fear River (just across the river from the GigSalad office!) and offers daily tours to the public. A must-see when you visit!
Heather is the Content Manager and a GigSalad veteran of 15+ years. She loves helping event planners create unforgettable celebrations and talent make a living doing what they love. When not at work, she enjoys reading romance and fantasy books, bingeing TV shows, playing board games, and spending time with friends.
My same old rant. No quality leads. I play jazz accordion. I do not play stereotype accordion, I do not play ethnic music. What leads do I get? Play for Italian birthday. Play for French themed party. Ad nauseum. I spend most of my time turning gigs down.
I have teamed with a lady vocalist, but after contacting you, was told I could not alter or add another “free” listing. I don’t want to have to pay to turn down non quality leads.
Dave
Hi Dave, we’re sorry that you aren’t getting the types of leads you want with our platform. Most people that use GigSalad are booking for small, private events and yes, birthday parties and themed events are very common with our users. You’re welcome to add your media and information that includes your singer to your existing profile if you’d like! But no, we cannot allow multiple free listings.
How about giving us the ability to give three quotes for a gig? A very common selling technique that holds me back from getting gigs. Because gigsalad doesn’t make the client put in a spending amount, how am I suppose to know where to start???
Hi Gene, you’re welcome to send 3 quotes if you’d like – you’ll just need to send it as a message rather than an official quote. Then when your client chooses one, you can send the official quote so they can book. Thanks!
Hope all is well for you folks.
Thanks for the funeral referral of late.
I left you a nice review and got one as well.
Thanks,
Jim Price, Violinist
Hi Jim, thank you for the kind words and the review! We’re hanging in there, riding the waves with the rest of the entertainment industry. :)
Thanks for the new changes. Thanks, also, for extending our membership free of charge these last few months!
Hi David and Elizabeth, thank you for being a valued member! We’re happy we can help.