Your booking software should accommodate your business, not the other way around. Yet, that’s where many entrepreneurs end up: stuck with a so-called “solution” that forces them to change how they operate. Instead of supporting their current business model, the booking system forced them to change their strategy. As a result, they have wasted more time and money adjusting their operations to fit within the confines of the platform than they would have with proper resources to guide them from the start.
Many of AllBooked’s prospects are owners of golf simulator facilities and when they come to our sales team looking for a golf simulator booking software, they express that they haven’t had any luck with any of the technologies they’ve tried yet. They often comment, “the other platform didn’t have the functionality to offer peak and off-peak pricing for bays” or “their user-interface was too clunky for my clients.”
Sometimes it truly is due to a lack of transparency from the software company, yet much of the time, prospects admit that “they had no idea where to even start when choosing a booking and payment system.”
We get it. Choosing any software, especially a reservation booking system where clients will be able to self-book, is daunting—even more so when there is a lack of resources available for how to properly make a decision. After all, the success of an entrepreneurs’ business is solely in their hands. It’s for this reason exactly that we are providing you with a guide on how to properly evaluate your options for a golf simulator booking software.
Important things to consider before starting
To build a strong foundation for success, it’s helpful to take a look at the challenges others in the industry have expressed, and how they’ve come to solve them with certain functionalities as their businesses have grown. This will help provide context as you evaluate your options, and eventually make a decision on which golf simulator booking software is best for your business.
Our customers typically value systems that:
- Accommodate for pricing rules, so that they can specify on or off-peak times, allowing them to attract the right customers at the right times
- Offer an intuitive user interface so that their customers can easily self-book
- Integrate with a payment software so that they can automate the whole process from start to finish
Of course, every business is unique, and it all boils down to which reservation booking system fits your needs and is within your budget, so let’s go ahead and dive into the guide.
Quick guide
The first three steps are by far the most important of the entire process. Before anyone can confidently recommend the right platform for you, you need to understand your own needs and limitations—it’s critical that you qualify yourself first. After that, the rest will become much easier to sort through.
- Set your budget. How much can you actually afford to spend based on your current financials?
- Identify the necessary functionalities. What job are you hiring the booking software to do, how can it make your life easier, and what functionalities are necessary for your business?
- Do your research. Why is one platform better than another for your business?
- Look through support centers.
- Read online reviews
- Tutorials
- Book demos
- Start a trial. Give it a test-run to see if it will work for your venue.
- Perform cost-benefit analyses. Determine the true value of each software to your business.
- Purchase the best fit. You’ve confidently evaluated all other options, and now it’s time to lock down the next best move for your business.
How to choose the right golf simulator booking software
Set your budget
It will be a challenge to narrow down which software will actually work for your business if you don’t have your current financials mapped out. To begin setting a budget, we recommend that you ask and answer the following question: how will the reservation booking system pay for itself?
To get started, take stock of your current expenses, your average number of bookings per day, week, month and year, and the pricing structure for each of those bookings. From there, consider how your business is expected to grow and change over time.
Based on this information, you’ll be able to determine the following:
- How much extra money you actually have to put toward a booking and payment system
- Where you might be able to cut costs so that you’re able to afford the platform you need
Identify the necessary functionalities
When choosing a booking software for your gold simulator business, you’ll need to start by understanding exactly where the gaps are in your current workflow. We suggest tackling this step holistically.
- Take a step back and evaluate your operations with a critical eye. Ask your team where they’re experiencing roadblocks—or, if you are on your own, carve out 10 minutes for an honest look at what’s holding your business back.
- Prioritize the goals you’d like a booking and payment system to help you tackle first based on your newly identified pain points. Is your top priority cutting down on administrative overhead, or is it more important to streamline the booking experience for your golfers?
- Break down how each objective can be accomplished through a reservation booking system. If you’d like to reduce the administrative costs associated with manual work, perhaps you need a system that has payment tracking and reporting and a direct integration with a payment processor. If the priority is customer experience, look for a system that has self-service booking, automated confirmations, and check-in times.
Once completed, you will be able to answer the following: what job are you hiring the platform to do for your business?
Do your research
Researching booking software is daunting, but it pales in comparison to the challenges of using the wrong platform. While the task may seem like a big undertaking, it is manageable with the right approach. To simplify things, start by organizing your notes in a spreadsheet and explore these four resources.
- Help centers. Many booking software platforms offer a support website that guides you through the ins-and-outs of the product. It can be quite granular, but it usually covers everything you need to know about the platform, from features and FAQs, to images of the user-interface. Tip: Use Ctrl + F (on a Windows, Linux, ChromeOS) or Command + F (on a Mac) to find feature-specific keywords on a landing page.
- Tutorials. Watch videos featuring product demos, case studies, and webinars that address common questions prospective customers have when evaluating a booking and payment system. Tip: Industry-specific videos are very popular pieces of content, so keep an eye out for golf-related content when considering a golf simulator booking software.
- Online reviews. Browse through reviews on sites like Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp for general opinions on the product.
- Demos. Book demo calls with sales teams of the reservation booking systems you’re considering, but be sure to come prepared with any outstanding questions, an outline of your feature needs, and your budget. This will help the sales representative understand your business and assess whether their platform is a good fit.
Start a trial
Here’s where you can really put your research into practice—give some platforms a try. Besides getting an overall feel for the user interface and flow, this is your opportunity to see how well each system aligns with your business in real-world scenarios. You’ll be able to decipher which features actually suit your needs, test the quality of their customer support if you have questions, and see how well the booking and payment system works with your current software.
Perform cost-benefit analyses
With all the research behind you, it’s time to make a decision. You’ve narrowed it down to a few reservation booking systems and all that’s left is choosing the one that offers you the most value for your business—in other words, the one that gives you the most bang for your buck. One of the best ways to do this is through a quick cost-benefit analysis. After repeating this calculation for each booking and payment system you are considering, you’ll have a clear picture for which one offers the most return on your investment.
Here’s How
- Identify the costs for adopting the software. Costs include anything that could negatively impact your business, financially or operationally. The two types of costs to consider are tangible and intangible. Think of tangible costs as anything you can put a dollar amount on—which, in your case, includes the golf simulator booking software itself. Intangible costs, on the other hand, are harder to quantify, like the learning curve for your staff, or any customer confusion that might be experienced during the transition. Tip: Also make sure to consider “opportunity costs,” defined by Forbes as the value of the next best alternative forgone when a decision is made.
- Identify the benefits the software offers to your business. Just like with costs, benefits can be either tangible or intangible. Tangible benefits might include things like increased bookings or lower administrative costs, while intangible benefits could include improved customer satisfaction or a better overall brand perception.
- Assign a monetary value to each cost and benefit. For intangibles, use benchmarking techniques or online resources to help with estimation.
- Calculate your net cost-benefit. Add up all the costs, and then add up all the benefits.
- Compare the total cost with the total benefits. If the total benefits outweigh the total costs, then it is likely a good option.
- Repeat this process for all booking and payment systems you are considering to help guide your decision.
Purchase the best fit
At this point, you should feel confident that you are making the best, most informed decision for your business. With your research completed and your options weighed, you’ve landed on a solution that is going to help strengthen and drive your venue forward. Now, it’s time to put the procurement work behind you, dive into your reservation booking system, and start creating an experience your golfers will love to use.
