In the metro Atlanta area, the town of Marietta allows for a break from traffic jams and urban sprawl. The historic town square with its offering of bakeries, restaurants, antique shops, museums, and cultural events has bucked the falling trend in brick and mortar retail by offering character.

However, there is one massive problem: parking. In a county that has experienced some of the fastest growth in the country, parking is limited in a town center designed for horses and buggies, with the closest large parking areas taken up by county and city offices. The city has become a victim of its success, threatening the small businesses that are competing with the surrounding area chain restaurants and malls with ample parking, thus limiting the growth it can achieve.

Recognizing this problem, Georgia Valet made a case to the town to offer its services. Using SMS Valet, they are currently in a 90-day trial period. However, with the simple SMS survey feature, their case for a long-term contract has gotten much easier. The service has been welcomed, illustrated by largely positive responses to the survey. Without prompting by an attendant, 28% of users have responded, all of them rating their experience as excellent (4 out of 4).

In the hospitality industry, surveys, although useful, usually suffer from low response rates of 2 to 3%. This lack of response typically hinders proving a case to a skeptical audience of city officials or property managers. However, SMS non-prompted response rates of 20-30% and prompted rates of 60-70% is powerful evidence of how a guest feels about the experience created by our system and our clients using it. Further solidifying the case for this service, 90% of respondents rated the service as an “excellent experience”.

The SMS survey feature is simple and flexible. A client need only respond to one question to rate the service, but can follow a link to offer more detail. For the valet service, valuable information is often gathered. For example, many clients have complimented specific members of staff, allowing the valet company to internally reward good performance and advance their reputation.

Additionally, SMS provides information on the guest, allowing for comparative data analysis and follow-up emails or phone calls. As each virtual ticket is linked directly to a guest, simply accessing their phone number reveals their habits while allowing the valet service to quickly follow up if any negative feedback has been given.

The ability to create customer profiles allows the property to analyze what businesses or events are drawing crowds along with the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Using the TEZ SuperClient module, a reward feature for loyal customers, as well as the ability to launch campaigns such as “park three times, get one free,” will also be available.

Today, many large retailers struggle to compete with online shopping. For example, Gap Inc., the owner of Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic, reported seven straight quarters of declining sales. In comparison, Amazon has seen its value rise by 3.49%. For cities and towns such as Marietta, the ability to offer character and an oasis from vast parking lots and traffic is the very thing that hinders growth. Their strength is thus their weakness.

This offers an opportunity for valet services such as Georgia Valet. SMS helps these services by giving reassurance to property managers and officials while further allowing them to gather valuable consumer insight. This insight not only promotes the valet service, but also the property or municipality by allowing them to gauge their effectiveness and overcome the parking barrier.

To see SMS in action visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB1n2EebLw0 and learn how SMS can boost foot traffic. Ticketless is the future of valet, don’t let parking stand in the way.