May June 2020 Marina World

INTELLIGENT MARINA SYSTEMS
Software serves customers and companies
by Nick Gill
To be successful, marina management software must deliver for both the
marina and its customers. Marina professionals know what they need
to run operations - berth allocation and occupancy, reservations, asset
management, maintenance scheduling, invoicing and payment, plus
accessible reporting. Control over processes and access to information
that delivers smooth and stress-free site management.
What do customers want?
It is clear that while boat owners want
what they’ve always wanted - more
time afloat - they’re also demanding
transparency, flexibility and control.
They’re used to internet shopping and
managing their financial transactions
online and expect the same seamless
service from their marina.
This is good news.
Customer portals
and other selfservice
access points
give customers the
flexibility they desire
without an impact on
staffing. Mike Braidley,
director of Castle
Marinas says: “Having a portal means
those customers who don’t want to talk
to us don’t need to, freeing us to spend
more time with the customers who do.”
Reduce the churn
Research shows that over 80% of
customers expect a reply to an email
within an hour, and a third expect an
answer in 15 minutes. These are tall
asks for most busy marina offices,
so educating customers to self-serve
online has to be a sensible move,
indeed vital with current and future
COVID-19 restrictions on marina
operations and staffing.
A portal that gives customers direct
access to their account information,
such as financial transactions, contact
details, marketing choices and
reservations removes many of the dayto-day
phone calls and emails.
Faster payment, fewer debtors
Technology is not a barrier for most
customers. Marinas using Harbour
Assist transacted a third more online
payments in the first three months of
2020 compared to 2019. In April 2020
the value jumped by 14% compared to
the previous year.
A lot of customer contact revolves
around money – querying invoices and
chasing payment. Giving customers
online access to view and drill
down into transactions provides the
transparency they desire and gives
control (even if illusory) over how
and when to pay.
Cut barriers to action with a ‘pay
now’ button with a link through to
a secure payment gateway and
vaulted card facility. The experience
at South West Lakes
Trust bears this out:
“With the portal,
more customers are
naturally switching
to payment in full,”
comments director
James Platts. “This
means we get
income earlier in the year and fewer
contract drop-outs. It is easier to keep
on top of potential debtors.”
Quality communications
Reduce the churn of daily activity
with self-service, and marinas can
spend more time building quality
relationships with customers. Who
wants to chase debt when you can be
having conversations that build deeper
relationships with customers?
Integrated CRM enables managers
to send personalised emails, HTML
newsletters, letters or SMS to targeted
groups of customers. “During the
coronavirus shut down, it’s been vital to
communicate regularly with customers,”
says Alison Wakelin at Emsworth Yacht
Harbour. “Using smart lists to select
customers in the boatyard or marina
and to separate contracted and casual
customers for tailored messages is
invaluable.”
A Microsoft survey showed that
over three-quarters of people expect
all customer-facing staff to know their
service history, making complete
customer records a priority. Alongside
free-text notes fields and storing
outgoing correspondence, a quality
marina management system will track
email ‘opens’ and automatically file
email responses to provide a complete
picture of the customer relationship.
What is the future for marina
IT?
Recent events have changed marina
operations, whether for a limited period
of home working or an extended shutdown.
These experiences will influence
planning, investment and staffing
decisions.
Many operators are considering how
to reduce face-to-face interactions
with customers and suppliers, and
even between team members, how
to effectively administer the marina
remotely and to deploy staff from home.
Marinas are complex environments
and will always need hands-on
intervention to keep them safe and
enjoyable places to work and visit.
However, technology can play a more
active part, for example in remote
monitoring and control of electricity
and water supply. Meter readings
automatically fed into the marina
management system to automate
billing, or pre-pay systems controlled
by the boat owner. Smart guardinage
systems with onboard sensors sending
push notifications to the marina
office and boat owner if battery levels
drop, bilge pumps activate, or cabin
temperatures increase.
This is about allowing customers into
part of the marina management system.
To blur the line between the customer
and the marina by using the technology
to deliver the transparency, flexibility
and control that both parties need.
Nick Gill is the co-founder and
commercial director of marina software
company Harbour Assist.
www.harbourassist.com
www.marinaworld.com - May/June 2020 49