You’ve spent the time and money to create an exciting atmosphere full of incredible attractions that will entice visitors and encourage them to make meaningful and lasting memories.
To make sure your guests get the most out of their experience, it’s important that you make them feel welcome and engaged throughout their entire experience, from their ticket purchase through their on-site adventure and after they’re back home again.
Read on to learn how to ensure guests feel welcome at your venue.
1. Start at the point of purchase
Believe it or not, your guests’ first impression of your venue is shaped by their first interaction with your presence online. With intuitive, easy-to-use, and beautiful ticketing software like ROLLER, your guests will arrive onsite with a positive impression and excitement about the experience that awaits them.
ROLLER’s online checkout ensures a positive first impression by simplifying ticket purchases. In just a few clicks, guests can select their experience, customize their visit with contextual add-ons, and pay with ROLLER’s integrated payment processing functionality. Even large group bookings are a breeze – with ROLLER’s party packages, guests can check out 30% quicker, as ROLLER dynamically calculates the party inclusions, like drinks, food, and merchandise, based on the number of guests in the party. This removes the friction from the party booking experience and means your guest doesn’t need to spend time on the phone with you trying to understand what’s included in their package.
By delighting your guests with a streamlined digital experience, you’re sending a clear message that their experience comes first. This creates an exceptional guest experience, alleviates pressure on your staff, and increases your online revenue.
Read this next: ROLLER’s online checkout workshop
2. A great day starts with a warm welcome
Once the big day comes, ensure your guests immediately feel the warmth and excitement from your on-property staff. Of course, your staff should be courteous and knowledgeable to answer any questions visitors may have, but ensuring they also offer warm, enthusiastic greetings at the venue entrance and throughout your property will make sure your guests feel welcome and well-served throughout their experience.
3. Make it personal
With an all-in-one venue management software solution, you can capture personal details about your visitors and track when they intend to arrive onsite.
Plus, with the ability to simply manage loyalty and membership programs, you’ll gain valuable insights into repeat customers’ habits and preferences. Treat your guests like the VIPs they are with personalized greetings and thanks for their repeat business.
Read this next: How Elevate Generated $2 Million in Membership Revenue in 12 Months
4. Warm waiting areas
You’ve tried to create an exciting, beautiful, and welcoming atmosphere throughout your venue. Don’t neglect your entrance and waiting areas with the same level of attention to detail.
Your guests will be excited to get through the gates. Still, they’ll notice the level of care you take on things like informative information available, amenities and space available to wait in if necessary, and how you transport them to a new and exciting attraction the moment they arrive.
5. Streamlined check-in process
Of course, as much as guests appreciate a warm and inviting welcome area, they’re most excited about getting into your venue and enjoying all you have to offer as soon as possible.
No one enjoys waiting in line, so employing a digital, streamlined check-in process will allow your guests to get through the gates smoothly while streamlining your staff operations.
ROLLER’s digital waiver software allows guests to sign their waiver as part of the online booking flow rather than needing to complete one when they arrive. Guests won’t need to wait in a queue when they arrive, cutting down check-in time.
One of the constant pain points in the past was long queues at check-in, but now that we are on ROLLER, we have literally everything on the one page - you can check if the customer has paid and if the waiver is done. That improves customer satisfaction.
David Lim
Franchise Owner, Bounce Inc
6. Keep things clean
Put simply, no one enjoys a mess. Friendly staff and exciting amenities can quickly lose their luster if there is noticeable trash, grime, or general sloppiness throughout your venue. Make sure you deploy proper, frequent sanitation efforts so your guests can spend more time making memories to last a lifetime without worrying about the cleanliness of your offerings.
7. Open your ears
Some of your guests will seek you out to provide feedback no matter what, but others may be more reticent or simply not think to offer any thoughts on their experience at your venue.
Ensure you provide a clear channel for feedback and reviews, like utilizing ROLLER’s Guest Experience Score, so your guests feel heard. Providing a voice to your visitors is a strong way to build a connection, and acting on their feedback can breed loyalty.
The Guest Experience Score gives you clear, actionable feedback grouped by themes like service, cleanliness, and value for money so that you can easily identify where you need to improve. Plus, you can compare how your venue is performing against industry benchmarks to understand where you have the competitive edge over other venues in your region and where you need to focus.
Not only will you gain valuable insights into your business, but with a digital solution that allows you to collect online reviews and ratings, you can use your existing customers’ positive feedback to drive new conversions and attract new visitors to your venue. The Guest Experience Score automatically encourages customers who have a positive experience with your venue to leave reviews on public review sites. This is a great way to drive organic traffic to your website, decreasing your marketing costs.
Now that we've got so many reviews on Google, our ad spend is decreasing, and our clicks are increasing.
Daniel Watkins
Owner & Operator, GC Wake and Aqua Park
As important as setting up a feedback channel, it’s just as important to follow up with your guests proactively. Show them that you really value what they have to say. Use an online review platform as an easy way to collect feedback and respond directly to any comments—both positive and negative. Better yet, take advantage of the contact information you received from your online ticketing software to reach out to guests after visiting your property to show appreciation and directly elicit any feedback they offer.
There you have it. Investing in digital solutions that optimize your operations and remembering a few important ways to make your guests feel welcome will ensure their money is well-spent and their experience at your venue delights, creates brand advocates, and promotes repeat business. Now, go out there and be the most welcoming host you can be. Your guests will thank you for it later.
Contact us today to see how ROLLER can help you.
