UK’s Leading Wakeboard Centre Selects Sports Booker System
Surrey, UK - Quayside - one of Europe’s finest wakeboard and waterski centres, has embraced the new innovative Sports Booker online booking system for its Mytchett site.
As an early adopter of the Sports Booker system, Quayside’s founder, Stewart Mackie – says that his centre has experienced a step change in the way that it manages client bookings and instructors’ diaries. Stewart, British Team Captain; Coach and Masters National Champion, explained: “We had been using an old database centred on Microsoft Access which clearly wasn’t up to the job. We realised that times change and that we would have to find a solution to the shortcomings of our home-spun system.”
“We looked at the booking systems available in the market place and frankly, they all seemed confusing to use and had a lack of customer service support. Just as we were about to give up, a friend recommended the Sports Booker system to us and after a quick demonstration, we signed up.”
He went on to add that the system’s intuitive interface was easily tailored to meet the exact requirements of his business. “It really was a ‘no brainer’ for us. There was a small, one-off fee to cover the configuration of the system and train our team – with no hefty licence fees. We simply pay a fixed, low-cost, monthly fee which gives us free hosting, free software updates and on-going support when we need it.”
The Sports Booker system allows Quayside’s customers to make online bookings for the boats, cable hire and all lessons – including full integration of credit and debit card payments.
Stewart enthused: “Not only can our customers make bookings around the clock, we get our payments up front and save on administration. It’s revolutionised the way in which we manage our business. It produces an automated daily plan that shows how busy we are – so we can resource accordingly. If we have any spare time slots available we can fill them as little as 30 minutes ahead.”
“I operate another business in Florida, USA and the means that I’m out of the country on a regular basis. Sports Booker enables me to keep an eye on how the centre is running in the UK remotely – as the system seamlessly synchronises with my iPad and smart phone.”
The financial case for using Sports Booker at Quayside has also proven to be very strong as it has helped the centre cut administration costs and focus on delivering excellent customer experiences.
“I no longer have employees needing to sit by the telephone waiting for bookings to come in, engaged phone lines and answerphone messages to check – we’ve reduced our staff costs and created a positive cash flow – which is important in this current economic climate.” continued Stewart.
“Our experience has been incredibly positive – it represents great value and considering what it gives your business – it’s paid for itself almost immediately.”
The Centre has enjoyed more than 20 years at the forefront of the UK scene. Using boats and an innovative cable-pull system, the centre’s customers benefit from the sheltered site’s perfect conditions and the expert tuition of its instructors.
Further Press Information
Please contact Tim Ward of Parker Ward Limited.
T: 44 (0)1743 344 197
M: 44 (0)7966 022 532 (out of hours)
E: tim@parker-ward.com
Sports Booker
Sports Booker is dedicated to providing customers with reliable, low cost, easy to use booking and customer management systems for the Leisure and Sports sector. Customers include surf schools, health clubs, gyms, water ski, wakeboard, squash, tennis, 5-a-side and sailing - as well as hotels and leisure centres in both the private and public sectors. The current product portfolio includes systems for handling bookings, membership administration, payment and access control.
Sports Booker is a cloud-based system that has been developed at the West Midlands Water Ski Centre in 2001. It was so successful that it has subsequently been developed for a range of new markets. Sports Booker software is now used on 3 continents by over 200,000 customers.
For further information please contact Richard Drinkwater at Sports Booker:
Email: richard@sports-booker.com
Mobile: 07717 415 720
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