Technology in RV Campgrounds

There are many ways to invest in technology with strategic value in mind. There are also plenty of ways to spend money on technology which never results in a monetary return. Let’s review a few areas that can make good use of technology.

Using the words technology and RV campground in the same sentence may seem to be an oxymoron to some. Reality is that the proper use of technology can be a huge asset to your business, as it is with most. In our daily lives, we’re often exposed to technology in a way that makes us believe that the only people making money with technology, are those selling it.

Campground Website

Most campgrounds have a website today, however, it may be a stretch to say that most campgrounds use their website effectively to market their property. Visit a few dozen campground websites and you’ll witness some that are very sparse on information about the campground. Most often, there is little or nothing about interesting things or events in the area. If your website hasn’t been updated in a while, there’s a good chance that it will rarely show up in a user’s search, even if they use words that are right on your front page.

One of the most important things that your website can do is mention upcoming events in the area.

Not only do people want to know where you are, as well as your hours of operation, but they’d like to know what’s nearby. How far are you from the exit of the main highway? What are your current rates? Make sure your address and phone number are prominently displayed, as they can automatically become links on mobile devices so they can easily create a map to you or call you to make a last-minute reservation.

One of the most important things that your website can do is mention upcoming events in the area. Anything within reasonable driving distance is fair game. Could some RV’rs be coming up for that toy train show at the local fairgrounds next month? It’s possible. The key is to have a website that allows you to update these things quickly, so they don’t become a time consuming chore. It also needs to be easy, so that you don’t find yourself relying on a website support company to do simple updates like this for you. A positive side effect of having these events on your site is that you’ll also have content that mentions towns and cities that are nearby. The events and city mentions will both help when folks are searching for an RV park in the area.

Campground Reservations Systems

There are many campgrounds that still track reservations on a ledger, or 3×5 cards. While this system works for its intended purpose, it’s limiting in the ability to help attract new customers outside of those that just happen to be driving by. If you have a website, just not an automated reservation system, then folks may be able to find you, but in order for a reservation to be made, a conversation must ensue.

Whether this is a drawback or not is a matter of perspective. If the quantity of calls you’re receiving during the day makes it difficult to get other responsibilities taken care of around the property, then there are a few options.

Forward the phones to your mobile and answer on the run

You may feel this works fine, but customers can tell that you’re driving in your car or walking around outside. While it may not stop most people from making a reservation, it doesn’t give off a professional vibe. You’re covertly telling your customer that you may be the only employee at the campground, which can raise red flags in some people’s minds.

Let the phone calls go to voicemail

Phone sales professionals will confirm that 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first.

From experience, we know this is a popular method of handling call overflow. Unless you’re a destination park, if a customer’s call is not returned in a relatively short period of time, they will usually find somewhere else to stay. Phone sales professionals will confirm that almost 50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. This translates into lost sales for your park. If these are customers on the road to another ultimate destination, then it’s income you’ve lost that you’ll never have a chance to recover.

Allow customers to book online

If a customer is planning their vacation, or just their next stop on a longer journey, they will happily book a site using an online booking website without ever calling. Our experience has shown that allowing customers to book online can reduce overall call volume by 40%. This is provided that you have a website that has enough content to make customers feel that they are making a good decision. The obvious advantages are that: 1) You never have to spend the time on the phone with the customer answering routine questions, 2) The time you recovered can now be used on other important projects, 3) If your call volume is so high that you’re considering hiring another employee, then you may be spared that expense.

Telephone System

The entire process of handling voice communications has improved over the last several decades, allowing some of the following benefits:

Phone system in the cloud

Having a phone system that is not even on promise may seem counter-intuitive but consider the following advantages.

1. If there is a power outage at your location, then customers can still leave voicemail
2. You can monitor voicemails remotely, so if you’re out in the back of the lot, or off site, you can still see when you receive voicemails and respond in a timely manner
3. If you’re away, you can have your system simultaneously ring two or more numbers
4. You can install an app on your phone and receive text messages from your main number
5. You can get very detailed reports on your inbound and outbound calls at any time

Cloud Answering System

I was checking in at a campground and there was only one person working in the office. The phone rang and the employee let it go to voicemail (as they should have). Then the voicemail message started playing in the back of the office at full volume. I had to try to concentrate on what the employee was telling my while the perspective customer was hemming and hawing about the dates they wanted to check at full volume on the answering system. Sure, the employee could just turn down the volume on the answering machine, but the reality is, why do they need to screen calls that way at all? In a cloud-based system, they would have received an email with the voicemail converted to text that could be scanned in seconds for pertinent data. No need to spend an extended amount of time listening to long winded voicemails from perspective guests.

If you don’t provide Wi-Fi, it’s a sure thing that it will be mentioned in online reviews and turn off many customers.

Wi-Fi

Providing Wi-Fi access is considered ubiquitous these days. If you don’t provide Wi-Fi, it’s a sure thing that it will be mentioned in online reviews and scare away many customers. In addition, I’ve been to campground that advertise “Free Wi-Fi”, to only find out that I would have to come into the office and sit on the couch to use it. Rest assured that this misleading advertising will make it into online reviews as well.

Internet access can be a large expense for a park; however, this is an often overlooked positive selling point.

1. Having access throughout the park will be a selling feature that not only will provide a good experience for guests but is a great selling point on your website. Not just mentioned as “Free Wi-Fi”, but featured as a top amenity.
2. You can “throttle” how much bandwidth every user can use, so that you don’t have a few families of “streamers” ruin the access for other guests
3. If your park is large enough, say 75+ sites, you could have a captive portal that charges for faster internet speeds. Think of the system in hotels that prompts you to pay a fee to get higher speed access than you may need to just check email, etc. This is not just a money grab, it’s a way to allow your guest to self-regulate their internet bandwidth usage. Talk to your Camby representative about this service.

Cable

Having access to cable TV channels used to be a necessity. It’s becoming less and less so with the advent of streaming apps such as Hulu and Netflix. There are many parks that are opting to forgo providing cable access and using the savings to boost their internet bandwidth so that guest can have more reliable access to shows and movies on their streaming devices.

Whether it is feasible for your park to do away with providing cable can be a complicated decision. Your Camby representative can provide some input into this decision after your initial assessment is complete. Determining whether your guest have a higher than usual need for cable television can sometimes be determined by the reasons many of your guests stay at your park. Are you near a speedway, horse track or other major sporting venue? Many of your guest may depend on cable television to keep up with the goings on in locations like these.

Satellite

In many locations, satellite providers were able to shave some cost off of the monthly fees charged by cable TV providers. Whether you continue to provide this service may be determined by many of the factors that you would use for decisions about cable TV above.

Summary

This covers many thoughts on the largest technological considerations in a campground. There are many others that I’ll discuss in a future posts, such as security systems, cameras, water, pump and electrical monitoring etc.