A successful business is driven by two key factors: 1) The quality of services delivered to customers—so that they keep coming back—and 2) profitability. Forbes explains this further in Unlocking profit potential: Strategies for Business Growth explaining that, “By focusing on efficient operations, optimizing pricing strategies, enhancing customer retention, and reducing overhead costs, you can create a more profitable business.” That said, it’s critical that the court booking software you choose accommodates for all these factors.
So, what are the features you need to look for in a booking management system? Specifically, what features will support your business strategy?
- Space sharing rules for optimized space usage and maximized profitability
- Booking window rules that give priority users early-access to booking
- Check-in rules that free up unused reservations and increase availability
- Online payments for a seamless transaction experience
- Pricing rules for dynamic pricing models
- Access control integrations that allow your facility to run outside of operating hours
Space sharing rules
For optimized space usage and maximized profitability
It’s common to use half courts for practice, but how can you be sure that someone doesn’t book the full court when a half court is being used? More importantly, how can you maximize the usage of your space by making two half courts available for booking when one half court is booked?
Consider a court scheduling software that offers space-sharing dependencies to help you boost revenue and streamline operations. What does this actually look like in practice? To give an example, you could set up a dependency that automatically blocks both half courts when the full court is booked. Alternatively, you could configure it so that when one half court is reserved, the full court becomes unavailable, while the other half court remains open for booking.
Setting up dependencies like the above in a booking management system could potentially double your earning potential for a single space, allowing two different users to book and use each half simultaneously. More spaces means more opportunities to book, ultimately increasing your facility’s profitability.
Booking window rules
That give priority users early-access to booking
Want to give some users a head start on booking? Perhaps you offer a membership model where those who pay more have earlier access to booking than those who pay a lower fee. Whatever the case may be, consider looking for a court scheduling software that allows you to customize who gets access to book which spaces and when.
A feature like this can offer two critical benefits to your business:
- Serves as an incentive for non-priority members to purchase higher-tier memberships for early-access
- Allows you to ensure that premium members get access to courts before others, improving their overall customer experience
Check-in rules
That free up unused reservations and increase availability
Have frequent no-shows? Check-in rules are a powerful way to ensure that your facilities are being used to their fullest potential by freeing up spaces for those who fail to check in.
Consider choosing a court scheduling software that not only requires booking holders to confirm their attendance, but also lets you specify which users need to check in for specific spaces and times. This added level of control helps keep your customers accountable for their bookings, as users are more likely to show up when they know their spot is being monitored by your venue.
Online payments
For a seamless transaction experience
Did you know that the average entrepreneur spends more than 1/3 of their work week on small administrative tasks? Forbes stresses that all this manual work, like payment processing, transaction reconciliation, and data entry, could be impacting your bottom line, as it’s taking away from time that could be spent helping your business grow.
Avoid this roadblock and streamline your workflow by opting for a court booking software that offers a comprehensive online payment solution. Look for features such as buy-now-pay-later options, reporting capabilities, and direct integrations with secure payment processors. Robust solutions like this not only save time and resources on the backend—they also elevate the overall customer experience. Consider platforms that support flexible payment options like Apple Pay and Google Pay to provide a frictionless checkout experience, which in turn helps you get paid faster and more reliably.
Pricing rules
For dynamic pricing models
Your pricing strategy is the foundation of your business, and your booking system should be a key driver of its success. For this reason, you should consider a booking management system that allows you to customize pricing by space, user type, time of day, day of week, and duration.
Functionalities like this are particularly handy for facilities using dynamic pricing models, where prices shift based on demand, membership type, or market conditions. Flexibility to edit rules as you see fit is essential to maintain a competitive edge, whether adjusting for peak and off-peak hours, applying discounts, or offering special rates for specific user groups.
Access control integrations
That allow your facility to run outside of operating hours
As your business grows and you acquire more customers, your resources become limited, both in terms of space and staffing. The obvious solution might be to add more courts or extend your hours of operation to accommodate for demand. Yet, both options are costly and unnecessary when access control technologies can help solve for the growing usage of your facility.
To maximize your space and resources, look for court booking software that integrates with access control systems, like Kisi. Integrations like these give you the option to send digital access links to customers, schedule timeframes for when spaces should be unlocked, or automatically open courts at the start of a booking—allowing your business to run beyond traditional hours of operation, and without any staff present.
To learn more about how AllBooked can make booking easier for both you and your customers, reach out to us at info@allbooked.com.
