t's easy to say that BookingCentral is the best booking platform on the market for boat rentals, but let’s prove it! Our platform caters to features that all boat and watersport operators are looking for.
In this article, we’ll dig deeper into the features that prove why we are the best! These are features that set us apart from the rest. We’ve taken our years of experience in the industry to provide a solution that goes above and beyond.
Here’s 7 features that every rental operator needs in their booking platform.
Simple Pricing Setup. The keyword here is SIMPLE. BookingCentral offers the most intuitive and easy setup. Your pricing can be set up within minutes. No complicated pricing structure, simply add your length, rate, and time rules. Copy pricing lists across rental types. Create seasonal, weekday, weekend, and holiday price categories. Include variable lengths (half day, full day, multi-day) for each rental type. Add tax rate, additional charges, and damage deposit as well as decide what your deposit will be at the time of booking - choose a fixed amount, percentage, or credit card hold. The flexibility and options are all there for you.
Documents, Waivers, Insurance and more! We know that renting a boat, jet ski or other rental types means that you are entrusting your expensive equipment to others. This is a liability for you, and it’s important to have your rules, terms and important documents reviewed, signed and agreed upon prior to your customers taking the rental. We’ve built in a robust pre check-in feature that allows you to get all the required paperwork on file prior to the start date. This includes:
- Document Upload - Driver’s Licenses, insurance documents, safety certificates
- Waivers/Agreements - Customers can review and sign your important waivers with your terms and conditions for the rental. Waivers are connected to each booking for easy access.
- Participant Information - gather details on all participants in the group
- Emergency Contact - request an emergency contact to be on file with the rental in case of emergencies while the rental is out
- Insurance purchase - Offer renter’s insurance to your customers as an option
Check In/Check Out. On a busy day, you may have 10, 20, 50 rental bookings coming through your shop. You need to be prepared for each one, have a quick and efficient process for all check-ins, and keep track of each booking. Having a well organized way to check in your customers is crucial for the success of your business operations. Not to mention, employee and customer satisfaction.
BookingCentral’s Check In / Check Out (CICO) provides operators with all the tools and customization to create a smooth check in (and check out) for your customers. You decide what sections that go into the process. Options include:
- Custom agreements
- Checklists
- Pre-Ride Instructions and Attestation Form (SB 606 requirement for Florida boat rental operators)
- Add-ons and Additional Charges
- Damage Authorization
- Before and After Photos of the rental
- Fleet Usage and Damage Reporting
- Gratuity
Additional options include:
- Multi step check-ins - Create a check in for the office and another one at the dock
- CICO per Location - if you operate at multiple locations, create a custom check in for each location.
- Immediate email/text of Agreement/Waivers - Completing the check in will prompt you to send a copy of the signed agreement directly to the customer via email and/or text message. They will have a copy to keep for their records, and you will have a copy on file with the booking.
- History - the CICO screens include a History page to access the agreements, images, and see which users/employees completed each check in and check out steps.
Fleet Management. Whether you have 5 or 200 units in your inventory, you will need a way to manage your inventory and keep track of the following items:
- Usage
- Services
- Damage/Issues
BookingCentral’s Fleet Management feature is fully integrated with the booking platform, so you can track usage and issues/damage that may have occurred while the rental was out. Record issues and usage on the order, during CICO or from the fleet dashboard. You can also keep track of services such as oil changes or annual services of your rentals to make sure that your equipment is in tip top shape. This feature is a game changer for the rental operators.
The Integrations. The booking platform includes several integrations designed for the boat operator that will make your daily operations easier.
- Customized Booking Widget. BookingCentral’s online booking page can be customized to meet your needs. Add to your website by linking to a Book button and choose different views such a list, grid, or search. The customer experience is top notch.‍
- Waivers. We’ve partnered with Smartwaiver to get your waivers and agreements signed and attached to the booking for easy access.‍
- GPS Tracking. For the boat rental operator, BoatFix can be integrated directly into your BookingCentral toolbar so you can easily keep track of your vessels while out on the water.‍
- Renter’s Insurance. Offer renter’s insurance to your customers that will give them peace of mind that they are covered if there is an accident or damage to the vessel while out on the water. BookingCentral works with the two leading carriers of renter's insurance in the nation.
Options Galore for Booking Management. We provide numerous ways to view and manage your bookings on the platform. Your preferred method is surely an option in BookingCentral.
Use the Dashboard with tags to organize your orders to see which booking have a balance, are quotes, new, or custom tags for delivery and VIP customers. Quick viewing to see what’s happening each day.
Utilize the Calendar to quickly see availability of your fleet, make bookings, block off days, filter by rental type or locations. Choose your view that works best - daily, weekly, monthly or list views available. Calendar features also include color coded by rental type, drag and drop functionality to move bookings between resources, edit start/end times, and click to book or block.
See a list of all upcoming bookings through the Bookings screen. Search for bookings quickly, filter by location, view add-ons, balances, resources, delivery addresses using this view. Hop over to the Reports screens to download/view bookings by date/date range, view a manifest to see what bookings are checking in or checking out on any given day or day range. Print the report to share with your delivery drivers and employees that work to prepare customers for their arrival.
Take advantage of the Toolbar menu to quickly create a new booking or quote. View the message center to see received text messages or create a broadcast message to all bookings arriving today with important last minute details.
The navigation of the BookingCentral platform is so simple, with every action, settings, and screens to include instruction and help, and options that walk you through each step. Designed for you to learn the system quickly, and easy to train new employees. You'll appreciate the way the system is laid out logically for easy viewing and management.
Automated and Personalized Communications. The importance of clear and prompt communications to your rental customers is immeasurable. Customers want to feel confident that they are making the right decision by choosing to spend their time and money on your rentals, and proper communication can build that trust. BookingCentral offers a large selection of email and text notifications including:
- Booking Confirmations
- Booking Reminders
- Business Notifications
- Thank you / Review Text
- Booking Quotes
- Booking Cancellations
- Booking Receipts
- Personalized Customer Messages
- Broadcast Text Messages
You can choose to add custom messaging or use our default templates for both email and text messages.
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As you can see, BookingCentral offers the most feature-rich platform for boat and watersport rental operators. If you’re not convinced already, give us a call or sign up for a demo, and we’ll show you the platform in action.
