Run several venues as one collective

Run several venues as one collective

A collective puts two or more linked venues on one public booking page, so your clients see one business. One venue is the host. The host decides which services are on the page and sets their prices, deposits, options, add-ons and forms for every venue. Each venue keeps its own calendars, working hours, clients, bookings and payments.

The one big idea: the host runs the menu, and every venue runs its own diary. A client books a service from the host's menu with a person at one of the venues, and that booking, its payment and the client record belong to that venue.

A collective sits on top of your account links. It does not change them, and leaving or ending a collective leaves every link exactly as it is. If you have not linked yet, start with Link with another venue.

Before you start

• You need admin access, and every venue needs an active link with every other venue that shares full booking detail and Create, edit and cancel bookings both ways, with no calendar limits.
• Every venue has to use the same timezone and the same currency, and has to offer appointments. A collective page shows appointments only: classes, events and bookable rooms stay on each venue's own page.
• A venue can be part of one collective at a time.

Step 1: Create the collective (host)

1. Open Settings, then Linked Accounts, and scroll to Venue collectives.
2. Click Create venue collective. Create a collective opens in four steps.
3. Read What a collective is, type a Collective name, and choose the address after /book/c/. ResNeo tells you whether it is free.
4. Tick the venues to invite. Venues that cannot join are listed too, with the reason, such as Already part of another collective, a different timezone or currency, or a venue that does not offer appointments.
5. Read What changes when your collective starts, tick the box to confirm, and click Create and send invitations.

The page is not live yet. It goes live once an invited venue accepts and at least one calendar offers a service.

Step 2: Join a collective (member)

1. The invited venue's admins get an email and a bell notice. Open Settings, then Linked Accounts, and click Accept invitation on the collective's row.
2. Join walks you through what joining means, your services, and any forms you already use:
   • If you already have a service with the same name as one of the host's, choose Use my service (it keeps its calendars and bookings, and takes the host's settings) or Add the host's as a new service.
   • Your other services are parked while you are part of the collective. Nobody can book a parked service, your team included, but bookings already made for it are not changed.
3. Tick the box to agree and click Join.

An invitation nobody answers closes after 30 days, with a reminder on day 7. The host can cancel an invitation from the Venues tab with Cancel invitation.

Step 3: Put services on the page (host)

Open Services. Your services show a Collective badge when they are on the page.

• To put a service on the page, switch on On the collective page on its card, or tick Show on the collective page when you add a new one. ResNeo sets it up at every venue with your settings.
• When you save a service that is on the page, the change reaches every venue. The message after saving says whether every venue is up to date. If you change your mind within a minute, click Put it back.
• A service that is not on the page is parked while the collective is live.
• To add a service only another venue has, click Add from another venue. It is copied into your services and put on the page, and that venue is asked whether to use its own service for it.

Then choose who offers each service. Under Calendars that offer this service, tick calendars at any venue in the collective. Edit values sets a price, length, buffer, deposit, colour or name for one calendar, where the service allows it.

Tip: Manage Collective in the sidebar has a grid of every service against every venue, a What needs you list, a Venues tab and a History of every change. Use See what each venue will show before saving a batch of changes.

Step 4: What members see and do

Members see the host's services under From the host's name. They can open each one with View and choose which of their own calendars offer it. Everything else about those services is the host's to change.

• A parked service of your own can be suggested to the host with Suggest to the host.
• Each venue still sets its own working hours, closures, calendar hours and clients.
• Before the appointment on a service lets each venue add its own note for its own guests, such as where to park.

Staff bookings only

A service marked Staff bookings only can be booked by the team at every venue from the diary, but guests do not see it on the collective page.

Step 5: The booking page

Open Settings, then Booking Page. It opens on the collective page, and a switch at the top moves you between that and your own page.

• The host designs the collective page. Its header shows the host's address, phone and opening hours, which are for information only. Each calendar is still only offered when its own venue says it is free.
• While the page is live and at least one of your calendars is on it, guests who visit your own booking page are sent to the collective page, keeping the service, person, date and time they chose. The Booking Page tab says whether this is happening, and why not when it is not.
• If your venue also runs classes, events or bookable rooms, your own page keeps those. Its appointments tab links to the collective page instead.
• The host can ask to use a member's own page address for the collective page. Nothing changes until that member's admin clicks Agree on their Booking Page tab, and the member gets the address back if it leaves.

On the collective page, each person shows the venue they work at, and guests see You are booking with that venue before they pay. Their payment goes to that venue, and their confirmation says which collective they booked through.

Working in the diary

Staff at every venue book for the collective from the diary, and every column opens the collective booking form.

• Moving a booking to another venue: drag it onto a calendar at another venue. ResNeo asks Move this booking to that venue, then moves it in one step. The other venue gets its own booking at the same price, the booking leaves the first venue's diary, and the client gets one message with the new details.
• A booking with a deposit, card hold or payment, completed forms, or that is part of a visit or group, stays with the venue that took it. ResNeo says why, and you can still move it within that venue.
• If the same person has a calendar at two venues and is already booked at one, whoever books second sees a warning.
• One visit is always with one person, so a multi-service visit is at one venue. A group booking is seen at one venue too.

Clients and reports

• Each venue keeps its own client records. A client who books at two venues in the collective has a record at each, with its own visits, notes and tags. The two records cannot be merged, because each belongs to the venue that took the booking. This is expected.
• What you can see of other venues comes from your account links, not from the collective. When you join, you agree that the venues can see each other's clients, bookings and takings through those links. Leaving or ending the collective does not change the links.
• Reports name every venue. Booked revenue lists each venue's figure in its own row, with a column for the part booked through the collective page, and the export carries the same breakdown.
• On the Bookings list, a Booked through filter shows the bookings made on the collective page, and each booking's details say Booked through and the collective's name.

Leaving, removing and ending

• A member leaves with Leave on the collective's row under Linked Accounts. It keeps every service, calendar and booking. The host's services become its own to edit, its parked services are bookable again, and its own booking page comes back. A short review afterwards points out anything to check, such as prices, Stripe and online meeting links.
• The host removes a venue from the Venues tab with Remove. The venue keeps everything, as if it had left.
• The host ends the collective from the foot of the Venues tab with End and the collective's name, typing the name to confirm. Every venue keeps its services, calendars, clients and bookings. For 90 days the old address shows a page listing the venues, so clients can still find them.
• The host can hand over with Ask to host on a member's row. The move happens 14 days after that venue accepts, and every venue is told.

A collective needs at least two venues, so it ends when the last member leaves.

Common problems & fixes

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Create venue collective is greyed out	No link is fully open both ways	Open Edit permissions on the link and set both directions to full detail and Create, edit and cancel bookings, with no calendar limits
A venue shows Cannot join yet	It is in another collective, uses a different timezone or currency, does not offer appointments, or its plan does not include collectives	Read the reason under its name
A member's calendars are missing from the page	The venue has not connected Stripe for paid services, has forms switched off, is still being set up, or its subscription lapsed	The What needs you list in Manage Collective says which
A client cannot book one of my services	It is parked because it is not on the collective page	Put it on the page, or as a member, suggest it to the host
A booking will not move to another venue	It has a payment, forms, or is part of a visit or group	Move it within its own venue instead
My own booking page still shows	The page is not live, none of your calendars offer a service on it, or your services are still being set up	The Booking Page tab says which
I cannot change my timezone or switch appointments off	Every venue in a collective shares these	Leave the collective first

Next steps

• Link with another venue
• Services
• Your public booking page and embed