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2016 May June Marina World

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The magazine for the marina industry

Increase your business

Increase your business intelligence with PacsoftNG marina management software World Class Design, Manufacture & Installation Services The PacsoftNG marina & boatyard system adds significant value to a business operation by improving efficiency, providing flexible charging features and strong management reporting to assist decisionmaking and business performance KPI’s. Maricer (CPES Ltd) Vale Industrial Estate, Spilsby, Lincolnshire PE23 5HE United Kingdom www.maricer.com sales@maricer.com +44 (0) 1790 753164 Marina World Average Net Circulation 6,854 Audit Period 1st July 2014 to 30th June 2015 Our comprehensive full-featured integrated software solution features the following: › Visual Marina & Boatyard › Mobile Device Enabled › Marina and Drystack Booking and Management › Business Process Wizards › Haulout and Yard Management › Smart Invoicing & Account Processing › Land, Tenancy and Other Sites/Items Rental Management › Pacsoft Smart Notes › Multiple Marina Rental Operations: Accounting, Management and Reporting › Comprehensive Customer, Vessel, Transaction and History Database › Quick Query User Reporting and Analysis › Integrations with 3rd Party Systems Contact one of our regional agents to learn how PacsoftNG can transform your revenue management and growth. www.pacsoftmms.com YOUR NEXT AD COULD DIE FROM POOR CIRCULATION. The truth hurts. An advertisement that doesn’t reach its market hurts your budget. As an advertiser, we believe you need accurate, up to date and independently verified circulation figures for the publications in which you choose to advertise. That’s precisely what an ABC Certificate of Circulation provides. Visit: www.abc.org.uk J0022xx_Pacsoft_Marina World Half April 2016.indd 1 21/04/16 3:06 pm

MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE John Camp Mobile technology – reshaping businesses around the globe by John Camp Over the past few years, mobile technology, the Internet and customer service have converged to the point where marinas and their customers can now communicate in ways that were inconceivable just a decade ago. The focal point of this new world is of course the Internet, which since the beginning of this century moved into the mainstream of business with a speed that surprised even the most visionary of people. For marinas, this new mobile age will be helpful for the most part; it will make many mundane tasks easier and faster, as well as create time for the key customer-facing activities that improve service levels and drive business forward. Like most businesses, marinas and boatyards spend a lot of time communicating – with employees, boat owners, other customers, contractors and suppliers. It stands to reason, therefore, that improving the efficiency of how a marina communicates will have an impact on its competitive advantage. Along with communication, the marina sector just like most other business sectors, wants to do more with less. The pressures to improve the way marinas work are relentless and everywhere. For example, across the world, the average age of boat owners, we are told, is getting older. This means at some point soon, if not already, marinas will have to work harder to win more business and generate new revenue streams. Faced with situations like this and the threat posed by potential customers choosing other recreational activities, successful marinas must continuously work smarter and find ways to drive out inefficiency and at the same time offer new services. Customer expectations Customers of today are increasingly demanding partners, not as remote as they once were. Technology, especially through mobile devices, has given them immediate access to unprecedented choice, with a tremendous amount of information available. We cannot afford to ignore these changing customer expectations, which impact our customers, the marinas. The marinas need systems, which apart from freeing up time, help them understand and anticipate what their customers want, focusing on customer retention, loyalty and service excellence. At HavenStar, we’ve learnt that the only way to evolve marina management systems is with customer involvement. For example, one of the challenges we face is that nearly all marinas require a degree of customisation. In other words, it doesn’t make business sense to design and offer a one-size-fits-all marina management software system. Most marinas that are big enough to need a management system, want one that mirrors the way they work and exchanges data with their customers and own business applications, many of which are unique. At the simplest level that means exporting data into applications that enable marinas to easily create text alerts, emails, letters and documents for customers, as well as powerfully analyse data. At a more complex level, the exchange of data can involve a real time interface with fuel dock management, access control systems and membership schemes. Another essential collaboration for HavenStar is with metering solution providers such as Rolec and Meter-MACS. Much of the current development allows marina customers to enter their bank details once, agree to an automatic top-up and then do nothing more in order to use the service. This is a good example of doing more with less and at the same time giving boat owners and other customers better service. In The New York Times last year I read there are now more mobile phones in use in the world than toothbrushes, with over 4.8 billion people owning a mobile phone compared with 4.2 billion owning a toothbrush! Whether that statistic is true or false, what is true is that mobile Internet use is at an all-time high and will continue to rise, with current surveys saying that over 60% of cell phone users worldwide go online using their phones. While desktop PCs www.marinaworld.com - May/June 2016 35

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