On this occasion I will try to contribute some ideas that today’s technology offers us and that can improve the work of our administration department. The administrative issue is the cornerstone of the business and automating processes here can mean a lot of time savings and possible human errors.
Allow invoicing at reception
You probably don’t allow the reception desk to issue invoices to your clients, but I recommend you to study it. Not only will you save administration time, but the customer experience will be much better.
Recurring card payments
Many returns when turning over receipts to your customers? Charge these charges against a customer’s credit card instead of their bank account and you will see these returns disappear completely. The secret is that returning a card payment is a much more complex process for the customer than a direct debit.
Digitize contracts
I have already mentioned this idea in previous articles, and it is that allowing the customer to digitally sign a contract as banks do, and save a digital copy in their profile that you can later send by email, can save a lot of time to the administration department. I’ve also seen cases where the club makes their customers sign tickets (when using a voucher, renting a buggy, etc.), and they can find savings opportunities by digitizing all those physical tickets.
Work in the cloud
Most fields have their administration department in the field itself but I also see others that have this service outsourced or in some central office, and no wonder there are more and more in the future. Now, with cloud-based golf software, these departments can extract the information without the need to be sent by club staff, saving time and errors.
No shows
How much time do you invest in charging a “no show” from an online booking? Luckily, we already have software that saves the customer’s card when booking so that you can charge a “no show” in just one click. I think that golf has to start charging in advance as in other sectors. If this were the case, there would be no need to manage these “no shows”.
Accounting and management all in one
Today I have not been able to see any golf software that covers both needs in one system, but I know that there will be and this will give a lot of agility to this department and a great competitive advantage to these softwares. If you are going to digitalize your club with a new software, ask about this issue.
Addresses
If you still use the bank’s program for direct debiting your bills, digitize your management. Today you can do it directly from your management software, taking advantage of the tools for billing, returns, debts, history, etc. all in the same tool.
Integration with accounting
Still posting invoices manually? Integrate your management software with your accounting program and start saving time and possible human errors. I’m very surprised when I see a club that still doesn’t take advantage of these integrations.
Files
Are you up to date with the new legislation? If so, are you tired of manually organizing the hiring of staff? Well, you already have at your disposal tools that digitize this task and, what is better, in your own golf software so you have everything in one.
Business Intelligence
Tired of exporting to Excel to get the data you need? Today there are Business Intelligence tools that import all that “big data” from your software and give you certain control panels. But the best thing is that we already have golf software in the market that offers you the integrated BI tool, creating the reports you need. Also, if the manager has access to these reports, management will not have to invest more time in sending these.
Everything in one receipt
As we have seen in the last 5 points, having software on the market with all the tools the department needs under one supplier will save you time in managing invoices, payments, and support. Today we see that our telephone company unifies our services, and that is already happening in the world of golf.
Automatic Billing
Have you noticed how some websites allow you to ask for an invoice when making a purchase? I recommend the same. It is now possible for your agencies and players to ask for an invoice while making their online reservations, saving a lot of administrative work.
Invoice automation
Whether you are a commercial or partner field, how many hours per month does your administration department spend on creating and sending invoices to customers? I would bet that no less than 10 hours a month. Especially in those commercial courses that have to detail in the Tour Operator’s invoices the detail of all green fees. Well, you can reduce all that time to just 3 clicks and that’s why it’s my suggestion number 1.
So much for my article today. As always, I hope I have contributed some ideas that will make you think as a manager about the degree of digitalization of your department. I await your comments!
If you want us to help you implement some of these ideas, as always in Golfmanager we are at your disposal.
Greetings.
