The pipeline
Next year's booking is usually lost the week after this year's event. Nobody writes down that the client books every December, and by August another planner has called. This board keeps that date on the card.
| Stage | Move a card here when | Needed to enter | Stale after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | Someone asks about an event | 1 day | |
| Call or site visit | You've talked it through or seen the venue | Event date, Guests | 5 days |
| Proposal sent | They have the concept, the budget and the run of show in writing | Deal value, Next activity | 5 days |
| Closed | The deposit is in | Amount paid | |
| Completed | The event has happened | Rebook pitch | |
| Lost | They said no, or the event was cancelled |
Palby CRM counts Closed and Completed as won. Completed asks for a Rebook pitch date, so no yearly event leaves the board without one.
The fields
| Field | Type | Options or rule | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Text | Most yearly events are company ones | |
| Event type | Select | Dinner and dance, Product launch, Conference, Family day, Birthday party, Other | What kind of event it is |
| Event date | Date | Remind me: Once, on the date | An email a week before the event |
| Guests | Number | Needed to enter Call or site visit | How many people are coming |
| Venue | Text | Where it is, or "to confirm" | |
| Budget | Currency | S$ | What they said they'd spend |
| Happens every year | Checkbox | Marks the events worth pitching again | |
| Rebook pitch | Date | Remind me: Once, on the date | Set it about four months before next year's date |
| Lost reason | Select | Budget cut, Went with another planner, Did it in-house, Event cancelled, No reply | Moving a card to Lost asks for it |
| Amount paid | Currency | S$ | What they've paid so far, deposit included |
| Date paid | Date | The date of the latest payment |
The follow-up rules
- Reply the same day. Enquiry goes stale after one quiet day, because event enquiries go to whoever answers first.
- Chase the proposal in five days. Next activity is needed to enter Proposal sent.
- Thank them the week after. When a card moves to Completed, set its follow-up to Next week. Send the photos and ask how it went.
- Pitch next year four months out. Completed asks for a Rebook pitch date, so a company dinner on 3 December leaves with a pitch date in early August. The email comes a week before it.
- Plan around the holidays. Company dinners pile up in November, December and the weeks before Chinese New Year. Our 2027 public holidays page has the dates.
Set it up in Palby CRM
- Pick Services and agencies when you set up your business.
- Rename Discovery call to Call or site visit, and Won to Closed, then add Completed after it. Negotiating can go if your proposals rarely come back for changes.
- Add the eleven fields, with Event date and Rebook pitch set to Remind me: Once, on the date.
- In each stage's settings, pick its Needed to enter fields and its Stale after days.
- Save two views: Upcoming events, on the calendar by Event date, and Rebook pitches, on the calendar by Rebook pitch.
A company that books two events a year, a dinner and a family day, stays as one customer with two deals, each with its own value and expected date.
An example board on Monday 2 November, with made-up names
| Customer | Stage | Event type | Event date | Guests | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchid Freight | Closed | Dinner and dance | 4 Dec | 180 | Confirm the menu with the hotel by 20 Nov |
| Vantage Shipping | Proposal sent | Dinner and dance | 11 Dec | 120 | Chase on Wed 4 Nov |
| Kestrel Labs | Completed | Conference | 15 Oct | 80 | Rebook pitch set for 15 Jun |
| Mrs Wong | Enquiry | Birthday party | 23 Jan | 40 | Reply today |
Mrs Wong's enquiry came in yesterday. One quiet day and it's stale, which is the point: a birthday party gets booked with whoever replies first.
Use it as a spreadsheet
Copy these columns into Google Sheets or Excel, one row per event:
Client | Company | Contact | Phone | Stage | Event type | Event date | Guests | Venue | Budget (S$) | Every year? | Rebook pitch | Next step | Next step date
Sort by Event date every week, and by Rebook pitch on the first of each month.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.
Book a walkthroughKeep reading
- Calendar in Palby CRM
- Singapore public holidays 2027
Questions about the event planner CRM template
Each client's stage, event type, date, guests, venue and budget, the next step with its date, and for yearly events, when to pitch next year's.
Enquiry, call or site visit, proposal sent, closed, completed and lost.
Pitch next year's event before they start looking. This template puts a Rebook pitch date on each yearly event, about four months ahead of it, with an email a week before.
Yes. In Palby CRM a customer can carry several deals, each with its own value and expected date.
Yes, the template is free to copy into a spreadsheet or set up in Palby CRM.