In Parking, No Reviews is Good News
Published: 24 February, 2023
Imagine that one of your VIP monthly parkers has just left work and is rushing to the airport for a last-minute business trip. The customer is running late and stressed due to a work meeting that ran overtime. Your VIP customer arrives at the exit gate with a carry-on suitcase on the front seat. After that, nothing happens. In an attempt to get the exit gate arm to lift, they inch the car ahead a little. There is still no response.
In his rearview mirror, the VIP customer sees another car quickly swing into the same exit lane. That driver is also clearly in a hurry to leave. After idling for a minute, your VIP customer unclips their seat belt and rolls down the window to reach the help button. Nothing happens for several seconds. The VIP customer impatiently presses the button again. Finally, as the car behind is inching closer in a show of impatience, a crackled voice announces flatly, “I’ll be there in a moment.”
Three months and several one-star Google reviews later, your VIP customer’s employer informs your company that it will not be renewing its parking contract. They are moving their team members’ cars to a parking garage down the block.
In parking, the best user experience is a forgettable one.
In parking, often the best customer experience is so forgettable that your parking customer has no reason to write a review. Your garage customers want their parking experience to be so uneventful that they feel free to refrain from posting negative reviews or telling their employer, your ultimate customer perhaps, about their negative experiences.
If you get your parking management right, no one thinks about their experience. If you get it wrong, it can ruin your customer’s day and cost your business its reputation and revenue.
Remote parking management technology drives UX.
Today’s parking customers are looking to interact with technology instead of employees. They also want convenience in their parking experience, especially speed and ease of entry and exit.
You only have to look at the popularity of rideshare companies and working from home as a means to avoid dealing with parking lots to understand the level of convenience consumers demand. Rideshare companies and home offices are, in fact, your parking garage’s competition!
How can parking garage owners provide a smooth and convenient customer experience that creates customer loyalty? In this age of convenient contactless service, remote parking management is more critical to customer satisfaction than ever.
Remote parking management technologies solve parking problems, minimizing the impact on your customers–so much so that they’ll forget the tech is even there.
Five customer-focused technologies in remote parking management offer the touchless, agent-free experience that customers prefer while delivering personalized service and troubleshooting when needed.
- Two-way Intercom Communication
Clear two-way intercoms and efficient call routing technology ensure that your customer service agents are right there for your customers 24/7/365 if things go wrong. Intercom communication allows remote agents to personalize customer conversations and provide a user-friendly experience. Agents can troubleshoot and engage customers in real time, in-lane, facilitating more consistent, stress-free interactions and problem resolutions.
- Remote Gate Vending
When customers enter and exit your parking lot, they want a clear path forward to where they need to go. That means no long lines of cars waiting to get in and no crowding at the entrance or exit. With the ability to remotely vend gates, customer service agents can avoid backlogs and troubleshoot malfunctioning equipment, bypassing technical issues.
With remote gate vending, agents can allow customers to more easily enter and exit based on the circumstances. If a car breaks down or there is a malfunctioning machine, it doesn’t have to mean a negative customer experience if an agent can remotely control the gate to alleviate bottlenecks.
- In-lane Camera Monitoring and Recording
In-lane cameras allow customer service agents to engage in proactive service and problem avoidance based on what is happening on the ground. They can see and react to the customer experience in real time. If five cars are waiting and horns are honking, the agent may choose a different path to minimize disruption than if a single unhurried customer needs help swiping a card.
With in-lane transaction recording, you can also review and analyze every interaction with your parkers to improve customer service and create a more smoothly operating garage. For instance, video monitoring and recording allow agents to check equipment in real time as part of ongoing maintenance.
- Intelligent Garage Visibility
Safety and security are significant drivers of customer comfort and experience. Cameras are a vital component of providing safety for parkers and their cars. Real time remote camera vision across your garage can help mitigate security risks and facilitate investigations by allowing every vehicle in your facility to be accurately identified. Cameras also offer a more effective means to identify cars with subscription permits, allowing loyal repeat parkers quick access into and out of the garage.
- Data and Analytics
Cloud-based data collection and management technology allows you to collect, aggregate, and analyze real-time information across your parking facility. For instance, with customer service call analytics, agents can improve lane and level occupation by managing traffic flows during peak times and ensuring that your call center is adequately staffed.
Parking data analytics also provide operational reporting that you can use to optimize decisions about parking services offered and overall management workflows, ensuring that you give value to your customers. Finally, analytics provides the ability to identify and troubleshoot problems before customers are impacted, further ensuring a smooth experience.
Remote parking management connects everything to the customer experience.
Today’s customer parking experience is about implementing connectivity that delivers convenience. Remote parking management technology provides the connectivity that allows your customer service agents to control and connect critical aspects of the customer parking experience 24/7/365.
Parking problems happen. The sooner your agents rectify them, the sooner your garage customers forget them. And a forgettable parking experience is precisely what you want your customer’s experience to be. No more customers waiting in the lane impatiently. No more ruining a customer’s day. And best of all, no more negative reviews.