Nowadays, most anglers are familiar with using technology as a part of their day to day lives and in their angling.
From buying tackle online, uploading catch pictures on social media to castable fish finders, anglers have become accustomed to it and are expectant of the benefits it brings.
We often hear from anglers that they’d like all of their local venues to be bookable online in advance, instead of having to queue at the gate – or worse – arriving at a lake that’s already full and having to turn around and go elsewhere. With many of us no longer carrying cash, being able to pay by card is important too.
It’s not just anglers that benefit. For fishery owners & club committees, not knowing how many people will turn up on any given day, working through a queue of impatient anglers first thing in the morning, handling phone calls for bookings at all hours then taking, manually reconciling and banking payments – it’s stressful and time-consuming.
So how can you bring day ticket sales back under your control? Here’s how to manage them online.
Sell tickets online as well as on the bank.
You can easily run online bookings alongside on-the-bank cash ticket sales, you don’t have to choose one or the other. That means you can continue to service those that prefer to pay in cash on the bank. Then, record cash and cheque payments in Clubmate to keep all of your financial records in one place and use the reporting tools to monitor your clubs’ performance.
Allowing advance bookings online means anglers can simply select a date, book and pay by card, 24/7. No more phone calls at unsociable hours and anglers not turning up on the day. Payments are automatically reconciled against the angler’s profile, so you don’t have to do a thing.
It helps generate additional revenue.
The ability to book tickets online will help expand your customer base, reassuring anglers travelling from further afield that it won’t be a wasted journey because they’re able to book their space in advance. You can use the bolt-on feature to sell bait or tackle essentials along with day tickets when anglers make a booking. If you have an on-site tackle shop or bait business, it’s the perfect way to generate some additional revenue from your day ticket sales. Anglers can collect on arrival or even arrange a drop off at their swim!
Stay in Control.
One of the biggest concerns for most fisheries is losing control of how many day tickets are sold and becoming oversubscribed. Clubmate allows you to set a limit on how many anglers can book per day.
You’ll also have control over how short notice a booking can be so that you can focus on selling the remaining tickets on the bank for that day without worrying about double-bookings. If you want to restrict an individual’s booking abilities, you can restrict ticket sales so multiple tickets can’t be bought by the same person. There’s also the option to apply booking bans to stop individuals from booking, if required, along with the ability to block off dates to prevent bookings (while bankside work is underway, for example) All of these features mean greater control than you would get selling tickets on the bank.
For fisheries that would like to get more advanced when it comes to controlling access to the venue, you can connect Clubmate with your access gates. With access control, only authorised anglers will be able to access your waters. If they haven’t paid, they’re not getting in! Your gate will need power and a good internet signal but you’ll be able to wave goodbye to gate pin changes and faulty padlocks.
More effective communication.
You’ll have the ability to group and individually message all anglers booked to fish on any date, making communication simple. If there’s an important announcement or you need to cancel a date due to flooding or spawning fish, for example, you can notify the relevant anglers in advance without having to turn people away in person on the day.
Clubmate also offers a waiting list function so if space to fish on a fully booked day becomes available, an email is automatically sent to those who might have missed out on a space letting them know a space has come available, saving you lost revenue.
Automated emails go beyond waiting lists. You can use them to share access codes to gates, venue maps and parking instructions once an angler has purchased a ticket. Fishery managers and committee members can choose to receive an email notification every time a member/customer makes a booking, allowing them to keep their finger on the pulse at all times.
Get ahead of the competition.
With more and more fisheries adopting online bookings, make sure you’re ahead of the competition and not losing anglers to other venues through improved convenience.
Clubmate allows you to facilitate online bookings as well as your member management, giving you the tools you need to provide a seamless member experience. Many fisheries only offer online bookings, so it’s a great opportunity to become an early adopter in the angling community.
Managing member bookings & day ticket sales in one place.
Season ticket holders benefit too – they can book in advance so that you can factor their attendance into your day ticket sales.
Clubmate allows you to manage availability for both season ticket and day ticket holders in the same diary, ensuring season ticket holders can book for free and day ticket holders are prompted to pay.
It’s rare that a booking system will offer this feature because most platforms haven’t been created with the angling community in mind; making it difficult to manage space and again, leaving you at risk of becoming oversubscribed if season ticket holders turn up wanting to fish and the venue is full.
Managing everything in one place means that you’re saving your anglers from potential disappointment – or worse, arguments on the bank.
Instead of bouncing back and forth between spreadsheets for your members and a separate booking system for day tickets, just manage it all in one place!
Clubmate has all of the tools you need to manage ticket sales effectively online. Greater control and improved communication mean that you can invite anglers to your waters safe in the knowledge that you’ll have no additional admin tasks and confidence that you can offer visitors an experience driven by convenience and simplicity.
If you’d like to learn more about Clubmate and how it could benefit your fishing club, please get in touch (we don’t bite!):
E: hello@clubmate.co.uk
Tel: 0333 987 4677
