Details are everything when making a decision. Whether it’s buying a new car or subscribing to a streaming service, knowing what’s included and being able to compare it to other options may set your choice apart from the rest.
This is evident when booking facilities externally or internally. Ensuring locations are appropriately detailed during the booking process can help inform the end-user and factor crucially in their decision-making process.
Today we will examine the information you need to include in the perfect facility listing.
Location Size
Location size is one of the most important factors to have on a facility listing. Decision-makers usually have a good idea of how many people they plan on inviting and their expected turnout before scouting facility spaces; therefore the presence of capacity information can be make or break in terms of visitors registering interest in your venue.
With this in mind, clearly indicating venue capacity, whether in text or images, is one of the most important criteria listings need to meet for prospective users. Users should be able to easily navigate listings understanding what venue or location fits their requirements across a variety of layout configurations. Pairing this element of a listing with extensive search options and filters should help shortlist appropriate facilities for their query, improving service delivery for users and ensuring decision-makers find facilities tailored for their needs.
Static Equipment
When it comes to meetings and conferences, some locations may come better equipped than others. For those booking facilities, knowing if the room has a television, whiteboards or specialised equipment can be critical information to decision-makers; removing the additional hassle of searching for external suppliers.
Clearly communicating the availability of equipment will enable you to simplify the search process for users, allowing prospective decision-makers to evaluate venues based on their specified objectives; e.g. does the sports pitch have flood lights to host an evening tournament.
This can be achieved by a combination of symbols beside search listings and powerful equipment filters, allowing visitors to narrow down possible selections and improve the users overall experience.
Opening Times/Closing Times
Depending on the facility type, access may be unavailable at certain times and seasons. Examples of this include certain leisure facilities like sports pitches which may only be available during the day if there are no light sources available.
By accurately signposting opening and closing times, visitors will be able to make key decisions regarding booking times and viability for future use.
Cost
When applying costs to facilities there are a number of variables you can attribute price to. Costs can be applied per person, per allotted time and overall booking time to name a few pricing strategies. Choosing the most appropriate strategy can be variable on the booking; for example, short classes may have a per allotted time cost be more applicable to their booking.
When the type of facility you want to provide is clear, ensuring this information is available to decision-makers will enable them to attach value to the booking and help them confirm choices like duration of use, number of participants and time of use.
Accessibility
The accessibility of a location is regularly a very high priority with decision-makers looking to use a facility. Planners will be looking toward searching for facilities with clear indication that they are accessible for guests across a number of requirements and abilities.
For those listing rooms, ensuring that locations have details of their accessibility within descriptions can be a great help for those planning. Including visual symbols indicating disabled access and available equipment such as Induction Loops will allow planners to find venues that fit their criteria faster.
Extras
For some event planners, extras may be a welcome addition to the booking. Extra options during the booking process not only create additional revenue streams, but also allow decision-makers to customise their bookings and design a memorable experience for their guests.
For those planning fundraisers and birthday parties, catering may be an appealing service to meet or exceed guests expectations. While for more business orientated engagements, the opportunity to add additional laptops and equipment may be more appropriate to achieving their objectives. Offering add-ons with the location type and use in mind will help build a customer first approach to service delivery and deliver a memorable experience for all involved.
Stopford’s Solution
Stopford’s comprehensive Facility Booking system is local government’s first choice facility management solution. With functions to comfortably manage room, building, facility, library, public shared spaces and vehicle bookings, Facility Booking creates a central hub that reflects your location portfolio. Find out more about our Facility Booking system here.