90% of VIP Enquiries Go Unanswered. Here's What To Do About It.

Ever wondered what it’s like to make a VIP enquiry at your venue?  We’d encourage you to do some ghost shopping. You'll probably notice something strange:  Most venues never reply.

Call a number listed on Instagram? No answer.

Text the “VIP line”? Left on read.

DM the page? Maybe, maybe, someone responds 24–48 hours later (the window has already passed).

We’ve experimented with thousands of phone calls to venues, operators and promoters globally and this is the outcome from 90% of those calls.

Most nightlife businesses are leaving VIP money sitting on the table every single night.

Why 90% of VIP Enquiries Go Unanswered

1. Your team is already drowning

• Your busiest hours are exactly when enquiries spike, but that’s also when:
• Hosts are running the door
• VIP managers are dealing with changing tables
• Promoters are escorting guests in
• The floor is packed
• The radio is nonstop chatter

Staff are trying to save existing bookings, not chase new ones.  No one has time to respond to every text, let alone  type out a thoughtful response.

Enquiries pile up. Money evaporates.

2. “Text to book” works until you get 30 texts in 20 minutes

Most venues rely on:

• A public phone number
• A “VIP text line”
• A personal phone belonging to a host or promoter

But these channels explode as the night ramps up. And the same two problems show up every time:

Messages get buried under new messages. No one has time to triage, follow up, or confirm details.

If you’re relying on a phone number to capture revenue, you’re letting plenty slip through.

3. Enquiries hit the wrong person

Often, the person who receives the enquiry is not the person responsible for closing it.

• One host gets the message.
• Another host is running the door.
• A promoter has the table info.
• The VIP manager has the final say.

But none of them see the same information, so enquiries fall through the cracks.

4. No one is tracking follow-ups

Operators know this pain:

“Did anyone reply to that booking?”

“Was that table confirmed?”

“Who was handling that group?”

“Did they pay their deposit?”

The default answer?

“I’m not sure, let me check.”

And by the time someone checks, another enquiry has come in and been lost.

Venues Lack Systems To Capture Intent.

When someone messages you for VIP:

• They already decided to go out
• They already chose your venue
• They already chose bottle service
• They already want to spend money

They’re hot leads yet most venues still handle them manually. A system built on calls and texts will always leak revenue.

Why?  Because it depends on human bandwidth during the busiest, least predictable hours of the week.

So what should venues do about it?

Here’s what the top-performing venues have in common:

1. They don't rely on phone numbers as their primary intake channel

People can still call, but it shouldn’t be the main path.  If your revenue depends on someone picking up a phone at midnight on a Friday or while the are at their day job, you’ve already lost.

2. Centralise all enquiries into a single funnel

Instagram DMs, promoter requests, call-ins, website forms, guestlist, ticketing.  Everything should land in one place where:

• Nothing gets buried
• Everyone sees the same info
• Follow-ups are tracked
• Accountability is clear

3. Bias towards completed bookings

Give your guests the information they need to be able to confidetly book and show commitment.

• Share booking parameters, options, process.
• Capture details (phone number of the booker and their guests).
• Collect a deposit.

Your staff step in only when needed, never for the basics. Booking enquiries never get missed or left on read.

5. Use one unified flow for guest-list AND bottle service

Right now, most venues run two separate channels for enquiries:

• Guest-list (website form, ticketing provider or promoter)
• Bottle service (text, DM or /promoters)

These funnels share no little overlap, so VIP and GA tend to be run as two separate businesses.  It’s easy to miss previous VIPs and upsell opportunities this way.

Modern venues unify them into one single place. You'll centralise accountability and see a more complete guest-centric view of your customers.

The Bottom Line

If your VIP program depends on texts, calls, and scattered DMs:

You will continue to lose 90% of your enquiries.

Not because the team isn’t good.  

Not because the demand isn’t there.

But because the system was never built for nightclubs.

DQ is purpose built for nightclubs.