You’ve got your first two steps ready. You are chasing victory for the next year. You know for your operation to thrive it needs to be reliable and accessible. Those pieces are essential, but what happens when the unknown strikes again? 2020 gave us a first-hand crash course in uncertainty.
How can you be ready for something you don’t even know exists yet? Unless you have a crystal ball, there is really only one course of action: you must be adaptable.
“You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.” Charles De Gaulle
Adaptability is critical. In 2020, we have heard the “adapt or die” mantra over and over. While morbid, there is some truth to that mindset. Luckily, this is is something you can develop. Combined with reliability and accessibility and no one can stop you.
As a technology provider, Flash is committed to giving you the right resources at the right time. That’s why we’ve put together some agility training for you try out. From strategy exercises to hands-on activities, there’s so much you can do be more agile so that you can own your destiny, not react to it.
So what does agility look like in practice? We have put together an “Agility 101” course for you so that you can learn the concrete steps you can take to make your operation more agile.
Service
Stay on top of checking live equipment monitors and doing any routine maintenance or repairs so that you can achieve uninterrupted uptime when occupancy spikes. Activities like wiping down equipment with optical scanners (barcode readers) and replacing printer paper take just minutes to do and can cause entry lanes to back up if they’re neglected.
To prevent future downtime and avoid revenue loss, put together plans for repairing or replacing components with your on-site staff. Getting comfortable with equipment can help you remove that step of calling in for repairs and waiting for a local servicer – a hassle that can cost hundreds in lost revenue.
Learn more about how Flash uses real-time equipment monitoring, a nationwide network of servicers that always have your back (just in case), and 99.9% system uptime to keep locations operational 24/7.
Security
The past nine months have put safety at the front of everyone’s mind. So, security is a place to focus your attention right now. Do you know how current your system is when it comes to PCI DSS standards or even in terms of physical security?
The days when cars aren’t constantly going in and out of gates and using kiosk is the best time to check those physical equipment pieces. As a Level 1 service provider, Flash assumes 99% of the responsibility for maintaining your PCI compliance. That 1% simply requires you – or your staff – to go around and tug on card readers each month, making sure no skimmers have been placed on top of them.
On the back end, we’re busy running security updates and pushing them to your system within minutes. This part is so seamless you probably don’t even know it’s happening. With other service providers, performing these basic (and mandatory) software updates can cost tens of thousands of dollars and days of on-site work.
Another great exercise to get your staff on board with is routinely circling garages, especially when they sit empty. Making sure doors are closed and locked, equipment is securely fastened to the ground, and that gates are in good condition. This is a simple task with fewer moving parts, like in cloud-based systems that rely on software over hardware.
Scale
With a wealth of information at our fingertips every second of every, demand has never been more dynamic. The 24-hour news cycle is also more powerful than ever and can reflect in your occupancy numbers almost immediately. That’s why being able to scale in real-time is so essential.
Pricing dynamically to keep pace with evolving demand, leveraging real-time software updates to accommodate new consumer expectations, and even introducing new physical features for solutions like touchless access — these are all ways to scale with world around you.
Right now, when things are slow, it’s the best time to develop dynamic pricing strategies to keep up with changing demand.
You can also take the time to look more closely at your market: who is parking right now and who will be parking in the next few months. Will touchless features attract more users and keep your current customers safe? Investing in contactless payments and touchless access right now could be the huge differentiator that pays off in the next few months.
As we look towards the new year, there’s one thing we know for sure: agility training is what will keep us quick on our feet for whatever life throws at us next. Training yourself and your team in the off season is what pays off when it’s finally game time.
Ready to earn victory in 2021?
Keys to Victory: Accessibility
