Top Trail cycle hire & tours
To start - Streamline, digitise and get systems in place
Top Trail Cycle Hire and Tours was purchased by Mike and Lynn Simm in October 2020. Blah Blah Marketing were taken on board at the very start of the handover process almost before the money had been banked to ensure a smooth handover from one business owner to another.
Top Trail was the first cycle hire and shuttle company to utilise the Pou Herenga Tai Twin Coast Cycle trail and was owned and operated by Ray who was hands on and lived 5 minutes from base in Kaikohe. Top Trail had an excellent reputation and was well known in the industry.
The challenge for Mike and Lynn was to move from a man operation to a team working together to provide a top-of-the-range bike hire and shuttle experience. Our role was to make this a seamless process and implement the correct procedures and systems.
The end result is a robust online system that all the staff, drivers, and management can utilise. The digital booking system is customised specifically to Top Trail. Automation was put in place, with direct bookings from the website, inventory and the driver manifest updating in real-time. The accounting and payment systems were streamlined. Staff training was undertaken to ensure everyone was competent using the new systems.
SALES AND MARKETING
- Sales – Jacqui is dedicated to the Top Trail phone and answers all email enquiries giving our clients a full solution for their business.
- Created a marketing strategy for Top Trail (always evolving).
- Created and implemented the marketing plan, and updating regularly.
- We manage the Top trail listings with OTA’s.
- Social Media – Facebook and Instagram pages.
- Website content and SEO.
- Jumping on marketing opportunities that come whether it be hard copy collateral advertising, famils with journalists and agents, competitions, and electronic advertising.
AUTOMATING DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS
- Updated the Top Trail website, working alongside our website developers who whizz through the technical side. We created an easy to use, customer-friendly informative website that had the ability to book online, in real-time.
- We provided a full review and update and optimization on the Rezdy booking system.
- Top Trail is now as automated as it can be with real-time bookings, manifests, invoicing and so much more.
- The drivers now are able to check their shifts through an app on their phones and all the information they need for a seamless day’s work, which in turn creates a seamless product for Top Trails Clients.
- We worked through a Qualmark evaluation – involving updating all systems, processes, and extra information needed to gain a Silver Qualmark evaluation.