Duncan McLaurin is the Director of IT at Snow King Mountain in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were honored to have him as our guest speaker in our monthly customer user group for January. You can watch the January 2017 user group here.
Snow King Mountain is a ski resort that offers so much more beyond skiing. In the winter, Snow King Mountain offers tubing, skiing, snowboarding, ski school, and their Cowboy Coaster. In the summer, they offer alpine slides, bouldering, mini golf, bungee trampoline, Cowboy Coaster, paragliding, and a Treetop Adventure.
Snow King Mountain has been using Gatemaster for nearly two years. We spoke with Duncan about his best practices, what his challenges are, and how Gatemaster has helped support his business.
Q: What influenced you to consider Gatemaster over other point-of-sales?
A: It’s easy to do I.D. cards, create season passes, schedule events, or rent a room. Doing rentals is a big one for us like skis, boots, bikes, and paddleboards. I think the cost is right as well so it worked out.
Q: Did you have a previous solution that would no longer meet your needs and how did your needs change?
A: No, we had a solution that was a golf course management software. As our company changed ownership and expanded we could invest in a better solution.
Q: Why did you chose Gatemaster over any other solution?
A: I was not here when the decision to go with Gatemaster was made. We had another employee who had some experience with it who made the decision. The biggest factor has been cost. Your competitors are more expensive.
Q: What challenges have you encountered with implementing our solution and how have you overcome those challenges?
A: I would say a solid main structure and organizational structure that can outline the best practices. There is a lot of turnover in the seasonal industry. When you have people coming in or leaving for the season being consistent with our main practices and structure means everyone can get an understanding of the functionality of the system and what the best practices even are. Everyone in management needs to be on the same page and everything works from there.
Q: What benefits have you experienced working with us?
A: You guys are awesome in your support department. I love that I can call somebody at anytime. I basically know everybody and what their strengths are. The support portal has been good. Honestly, I don’t know everything, so it’s nice to have the support on hand.
Q: What results have you seen from implementing Gatemaster?
A: We definitely have a better customer experience with people being able to buy tickets online, holding tickets in will-call, and reserving items in advance. E-Commerce has helped a lot and overall, we have seen a sales boost with that alone.
Q: What do you like most about Gatemaster?
A: The new user interface.
Q: What business process has Gatemaster enhanced, and has Gatemaster saved you time or money?
A: It helps us and saves us time. It has made training employees easier. Looking at reports and getting an idea of the business that we’ve done is much faster and more simple. Also, creating revenue reports is easier.
“You guys are awesome in your support department. I love that I can call somebody at anytime.”
– Duncan McLaurin, Director of IT at Snow King Mountain
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