Reasons Your Activity Centre Needs an Online Booking System
January 12, 2021
Activity centres big and small can benefit from an online booking system. Having many of your processes automated is a game changer and can help you grow your activity centre, increasing market share and revenue.
Here, we’ll discuss why your activity centre will benefit from an online booking system.
- Save time and focus on your customers
- Reduced no-shows and cancellations
- Convenience for your customers
- Instant online payments
- Efficient reception
- Comprehensive marketing solution
- Dedicated support
- Increased website traffic
- Remote access
- Provide great customer service
- Sync staff calendars
- Reduced errors
1. Save time and focus on your customers
A booking system allows customers to book their activities online and receive an automated booking confirmation. You can customise this automated booking confirmation to include information about any items customers will need to bring to their activity and any dress code requirements, for example. Including these details improves the booking software journey for your customers and makes things much easier on the day of the activity.
Customers can use the booking system to amend or cancel their booking too, saving you the admin time. For activity centres, a customer profile will be created so it’s easy to sign them in on their arrival. Speeding up these processes means that customers can get started on their activity sooner and enjoy the services that you have to offer. By freeing up staff’s time, they can spend it on engaging with customers and improving their experience.
2. Reduced no-shows and booking cancellations
BookingLive’s online reservations software provides automated SMS and email reminders before the activity date, which gives your customers plenty of warning. Giving them a gentle reminder reduces no-shows or in the case they might not be able to come, they can also reschedule. It allows customers to make cancellations earlier in the process, which means someone else could book in their place. This allows you to fully utilise your capacity.
The tone, information and design of your confirmation email can help reduce no-shows too. For example, make sure the text is easy to read, important details are in bold, and that the email design is compatible with both mobile and desktop.
3. Convenience for your customers
Every business needs to focus on customer experience, especially activity centres whose job it is to create a memorable, fun time for its audience. These days, customers expect convenience in everything they do, and a sleek booking journey is needed to stay on top of the competition. BookingLive’s research shows that if you don’t have an online booking system, 59% of customers will go to a competitor that does instead, so cutting corners with your booking process will leave you behind in today’s digital landscape.
With an online booking system, your customers can make activity bookings wherever they are, whatever they are doing and whenever is convenient for them. They no longer have to wait for the reception desk to open; BookingLive’s reservation system is available 24/7.
Not only is booking online convenient, but the process is also quick and easy. Customers can view when activities are free using different calendar displays, which will encourage them to wait even if activities aren’t available for a while.
4. Instant online payments
BookingLive combines online booking software with payment gateways for multiple payment providers. This fantastic integration allows your customers to pay in advance or even purchase activities as gifts for friends and family. If your activity has limited spaces or is more expensive, you can also request partial or full deposit payments.
Sorting out the payment before customers arrive saves time and allows them to focus on the fun and enjoyment of the activity rather than payments and admin.
5. Efficient reception
BookingLive’s efficient internet booking system provides an all-encompassing customer experience from start to finish. Customers no longer have to phone or email to book an activity; reducing admin and reception time means you can invest in other areas of the reception experience.
Provide welcome touch screens, booking and enquiry forms, automated feedback and communications via email and SMS. As customers are highly informed before they’ve even set foot in your activity centre, the signing-in process will be effortless.
If you offer experiences that aren’t bookable, you can utilise BookingLive’s waiting list feature. This helps you manage a rush in traffic and keeps customers happy as they won’t need to wait in a physical queue. They can enjoy the other activities and facilities you have to offer whilst they wait.
6. Comprehensive marketing solution
Effective marketing is key to any successful business, but especially for activity centres that are often seasonal. To keep business rolling in during the quieter months, targeted marketing campaigns are required.
An online booking system has many features to assist your marketing strategy, as well as integrations to give your brand awareness a boost. BookingLive generates detailed reports so you can see which activities are popular, and which type of customer they’re popular with. Understanding your customer’s likes and dislikes helps you create personalised marketing messages that are likely to resonate and lead to a sale.
For example, our integration with Mailchimp allows you to design and automate custom emails featuring promotions that reward customers for their loyalty. If you’re launching a new activity, you could send existing customers a discount code, or recommend another activity that you think they’ll like (based on the data).
Potential customers may find your business on social media but can’t find a clear, convenient way to book, so click off. BookingLive’s integration with social media platforms means you can embed a booking link in your posts and profile. This way, customers are more likely to book an activity with you.
7. Dedicated support
Most of BookingLive’s customers are small businesses and we recognise that small businesses have minimal time to invest. We take the pressure off with our powerful website booking system, allowing you to focus on running the business, growing and developing it.
8. Increased website traffic
Using BookingLive can increase traffic to your website, as our system improves website rankings – SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Increasing traffic to your website is a great way to raise awareness of your business and ultimately increase bookings.
Learn more about how SEO can boost online booking sales here.
9. Remote access
Your business may currently have a paper-based booking system, so seeing what activities are booked in and when requires a phone call or a physical check. BookingLive allows you to check your bookings from anywhere in the world, saving you time and resources. You can check the status of your bookings at any time – through the web or any mobile device.
10. Provide great customer service
Having access to all of your existing and past customer details allows you to provide the very best customer service. You can keep track of their order history, booking experience and customer feedback they have left you. All this information is securely stored in our online booking system.
In Econsultancy and IBM’s Consumer Conversation Report, consumers ranked what company factors were most important to them. Out of the 7 factors, “very trustworthy with my data/information” was judged to be most important whilst “products that are customised for me” was rated as least important. This report highlights how fundamental a positive customer experience is – it’s even more important than the product’s features!
11. Sync staff calendars
As well as managing your customers’ bookings through BookingLive, you can manage staff availability and capacity using our Enterprise system. With calendar syncing, you can see who is available to run the activity and ensure it’s aligned with appointment availability. This avoids double bookings and keeps everyone organised.
12. Reduced errors
An activity booking system uses automation which reduces the likelihood of human error and data input error. BookingLive’s system is updated in real-time so you can rely on the data and the insights drawn from it.
When you take bookings over the phone, it can be easy to mishear customers and take down the wrong details. In addition, customers may not remember the time slot of their activity or forget to bring an essential item. With an online booking system, customers will receive an email confirmation, SMS and email reminders to ensure that they arrive on time with the right equipment.
Grow your activity centre with BookingLive
BookingLive is a leading online booking system designed to save businesses time and money whilst improving the customer’s booking journey. The system is ideal for businesses big and small working in a variety of industries.
If you’re looking to grow your activity centre and improve your business processes, contact us today. To see our booking software in action, book a free demo today or sign up for a free account.
If you have any questions, please contact our team of experts at sales@bookinglive.com or call 0800 1310 342.