An inefficient booking process
Arrow Stage Lines (ASL) provides safe, reliable charter bus transportation to clients across multiple states. Customer service is at the forefront of their business, impacting their processes and approach to sales. In fact, even their payment process was a reflection of their commitment to quality customer service.
At the time, sales representatives took all bookings over the phone. They manually entered trip details into their booking platform/CRM, Coach Manager and keyed in payment information. There was no connection to the website from Coach Manager, and no way to pay for bookings online. However, demand was increasing for an online payment option. ASL wanted to increase efficiency and accuracy and meet their customers where they were - online.
New payment options for customers
Working closely with ASL, we determined a Stripe integration on the booking confirmation page would help them meet their goals. We also connected Coach Manager to their website, building a custom WordPress plugin that pulls invoice totals (based on charter ID numbers) from that platform behind the scenes. This allows ASL to continue managing charters through their existing system, but take payments through WordPress and Stripe. Together, these changes allow customers to pay their specific booking amount online when confirming their booking.
While providing an online payment tool offered a number of benefits, ASL wanted to stay true to their mission and values. In keeping with their high quality service, they gave customers payment options. Clients can either confirm their booking online and pay by phone, or they can confirm their booking online and pay online. In other words, we gave them the best of both worlds.
“In the past, we didn’t offer an online payment option, which aligned with our focus on customer service. However, we became concerned that we weren’t serving our clients in the way they wanted and might be losing sales, as a result. Not only did Full Windsor help us improve customer service, they helped improve operational efficiency." Jeff Howes, Chief Operations Officer at ASL
A better buying experience
With these improvements, ASL has put their customers in the driver’s seat, giving them new ways to book their trips. The integration provides customers with a new, convenient payment option and frees ASL staff to focus on other company tasks without reducing customer service.
