For many watersports operators “Location, Location, Location” is still the mantra they hold near and dear as where they’re located dictates a large percentage of their sales. While walk ups and concierge bookings are critical, we want to illustrate how adding additional booking options can not only help generate more business, but can also stabilize your operation and make sure it’s in the best position for growth going forward. We’ll navigate this topic from 3 different angles: customers, operations, and growth.
Customers
These days more and more customers are doing their research in-destination on their smartphone and making purchase decisions from that device. Having a solid digital presence and a strong mobile-first booking solution is not optional any longer, customers expect it. This is not to say that walk ups and concierge bookings are going away, on the contrary, they are critical sources of business for many companies. WaveRez was built to allow easy booking over the phone or in person which sync with your online reservations, so everything is in one place. In many cases a customer may see your operation or hear about it from a concierge and choose to book directly via their mobile device. Having that option can boost your sales and customer satisfaction considerably. We believe a breadth of sales channels is imperative to successful businesses and our platform is designed to handle them seamlessly.
Operations
Managing a watersports business is difficult, period. Organizing staff, preparing equipment, handling waivers, and managing customer expectations is hard enough as it is. Not having a strong idea of how many customers will present themselves at your location each day makes it harder. Incorporating an online booking system into your operations can smooth out your customer curve and increase productivity while reducing stress, costs, and downtime. Not to mention that WaveRez makes handling the in person and over the phone experience a breeze and everything is synced real time so you’ll never overbook again.
Growth
If a business is not growing it’s almost certainly dying, as market forces are ever evolving. So while we inherently believe that walk up and concierge business is still important and will be for years, we also believe that the online booking customer segment is growing and will continue to do so. With that being said, it’s imperative to have a plan and solution that caters to that segment of the market. If your customer breakdown is currently 80/20 concierge to phone, adding an online option could make it 70/20/10 this season and 60/20/20 next season and so forth. Additionally, if the concierge and walk up side start to slow down, the online side will help offset that decrease. Starting slow is understandable and even encouraged but we believe it’s important to start. Your online presence and reviews as well as building belief in your online system and training your team take time, so the earlier you begin the better!
Wrap Up
If you’re interested in learning more about how WaveRez can bring your business online, smooth your operations, and help grow your business please feel free to reach out and schedule a free, no hassle demo. We’d love to learn about your business and see if we’d be a good fit. Looking forward to hearing from you!
About the Author
Greg Fisher
