Nine Marina Rentals

Storable Rentals helped Nine Marina double their rental profit in the first season.

Nine Marina Doubled Boat Rental Profits with Storable Rentals

Nine Marina is a busy marina business on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma, featuring boat rentals, slip rentals, boat sales and services, a fueling station, a walk-up window restaurant, an ice cream shop, and a marina store. The bustling community hub was once run on a manual, pen-and-paper system, until they successfully transferred to Storable Rentals’ boat rental management software.

Let’s dive into how switching Storable Rentals led to significant improvements in efficiency, bookings, and customer service.

The Challenge

Prior to implementing Storable Rentals, Nine Marina faced several operational challenges due to its reliance on manual processes. Anne Slater, the Director of Operations, oversaw seven entities that she managed, with boat rentals being a major piece. “I just needed help,” she shared, “and an easier way to manage our business”.

“I just had a pen and paper, and a scheduler.”

Annie recounted a “nightmare” Memorial Day weekend where she had “88 people pulling me in all other directions. On top of that, my phone was blowing up because they put my cell phone number on Facebook for bookings.” This led to constant calls, and a lack of organization, as notes could be easily lost on “a sticky note” or in a misplaced binder.

The Outcome:

The implementation of Storable Rentals brought about significant positive changes for Nine Marina.

Increased Profits: Rental profit more than doubled from $100k → + 200k in the first season of using Storable Rentals
Time Savings: Annie noted that Storable Rentals not only saved her time, but also “save[d] the customer time.”
Remote Accessibility: The ability to access the platform from anywhere allows her to manage bookings “traveling out of town, or just at home.”
“Idiot Proof” System: Annie described Storable Rentals as “pretty easy. I mean, it’s kind of idiot proof” highlighting its user-friendliness.
Reliable for Future Bookings: The system allows for pre-booking for the next year, preventing issues that arose with manual methods, such as lost notes for repeat customers who wanted the same boat every year.

The Solution

Nine Marina sought a solution that could reliably schedule and handle money collection. Storable Rentals’s platform met those needs and was seamlessly integrated into the wider operation Anne remarked that it was “pretty easy” to teach to staff, including “kids that come in and out” seasonally.

Annie particularly valued the Storable Rentals support team who helped her with implementation and including building reports.

The system’s ability to send email notifications about bookings was also a key feature, and replaced the disruptive phone calls going straight to the staff’s cell phone at all hours of the night. As Annie stated, “I really just needed a scheduler, and [money] collection. Storable Rentals collects the money, it goes through them, and then they shoot it to our account. I don’t have to deal with any of it.”

Looking Ahead

With multi-day rentals, add-ons, varying types of boats, and special customer requests, rental management can be very difficult to manage manually. Nine Marina’s experience demonstrates the substantial benefits of adopting modern technology.

Storable Rentals’ platform provided a robust, user-friendly solution that streamlined operations, increased bookings, and improved the overall work-life balance for the Director of Operations.

In the future, Nine Marina plans to buy more properties. Annie stated, “If they already had rentals, I would probably just 86 their software, knowing that Storable Rentals is likely a way better program than what they’ve currently got.”

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