Guest post from James Copeland, CEO of Swift Harbour, a proud partner of DockMaster.
This post was updated on May 22, 2020.
The new season is already getting into gear, and now is a great time to streamline your transient reservation process.
You can do this with SwiftMaster, the brilliant online reservations platform for DockMaster that’s powered by Swift Harbour. The system assigns slips from SwiftMaster and transfers customer data between both platforms. It’s easily the best sales, booking and hospitality platform if you accept transient reservations and is designed to make you more profitable, more efficient and provide better opportunities to delight your customers.
Check it out in this exclusive video:
Still working remotely? No problem!
If you’re still having to work remotely, the good news is that we’ve spent years finding the best tools to make our own team agile and effective. Here are some of the tools we use that may help your operations while working from home.
Use a VPN for security
As you work from home, you may end up working on more sensitive information than usual. A VPN will keep your web browsing and activities secure so if you are working remotely with information that is proprietary to your business, you can keep your data safer.
Our team uses 1.1.1.1 on phones (the only excellent and safe free VPN service I would recommend as it is created by Cloudflare, one of the best security companies in the business) and ExpressVPN (paid) on our computers. Both do a very good job and once turned on run pretty seamlessly in the background.
Pro tip – Don’t use free VPNs (apart from 1.1.1.1) as they likely will be operating under a business model of logging your data, defeating the security benefit.
Get a messaging and collaboration tool
Team productivity is improved by quick access to each other for questions, suggestions or collaboration. When working remotely, this can be a challenge.
Our team uses Slack, an excellent tool that allows teams to collaborate via message or call in a streamlined and simple way. Available as an app for all major platforms, Slack allows your team to stay in sync, share files, get alerts and more. It’s about as close to sitting next to each other in the office if used correctly.
Pro Tip – Utilize your status to let your team know when you don’t want to be interrupted. While Slack is a great tool, it can be distracting. Simply set your status to ‘away’ so your colleagues know you need some time to focus.
Alternatives
- Microsoft Teams is a good alternative. It’s a little more complex, but it’s included if you already have an Office 365 subscription.
- Google Hangouts is also a viable option. It’s a simple way to set up voice or video calls and hop on a group conversation.
Have “stand up” meetings via video chat
Stand up meetings, based on the Agile Methodology, are a great way to have quick team meetings and get work done. While working remotely, video chat is a great way to communicate clearly. It also keeps the personal connection intact, which is so important for productive collaboration.
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DockMaster Software is an industry leading management system for marinas, boatyards, and boat dealerships. DockMaster includes Unit Sales, Prospecting and F&I with fully integrated financial management and numerous integrations with CRM applications, dealer websites and text/messaging services. The Service module includes estimating, labor tracking, and complete parts management with ordering/receiving, subcontractor fulfillment and invoicing. DockMaster Mobile allows technicians to clock on/off jobs from any mobile device. Visual Marina™ management includes storage & billing, occupancy tracking, reservations and dry stack management, including integrations to leading consumer applications for boat rentals, online reservations, concierge/launch scheduling and our new Fuel Integration with FuelCloud. DockMaster also includes Point of Sale, Order Entry with eCommerce and a complete accounting system. Learn more at www.DockMaster.com and follow DockMaster on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Or email info@dockmaster.com
