Atlantis Wellness Group
In conversation with Werner Thomassen, Managing Director of the Atlantis Wellness Group
With three well-known private saunas - Atlantis, Pure and Nirvana - Atlantis Wellness Group is a successful company in the Boechout-Lier-Kontich region. Although managing director Werner Thomassen and his partner came into the wellness business rather by chance, they have since managed to build several thriving businesses with a rock-solid reputation. Their formula for success? Healthy entrepreneurship and a great passion for the business.
"With our wellness formulas, we offer our clients a nice setting in which they can completely escape from the performance-driven society. Rest, privacy and customer-friendliness ensure that our visitors can relax completely. Moreover, we regularly surprise them with something new, which is appreciated. This is how we want to make a difference in all our branches, every day," Werner Thomassen says.
Maintaining overview and control: a must
Werner Thomassen knows better than anyone that a streamlined organisation is the key to success. Getting a new business up and running requires a lot of effort, and efficiency is a must if you want to achieve good results. That is why Atlantis Wellness Group works with Resengo for the entire reservation, communication, checkout and invoicing flow.
"By working with one integrated guest management system, we easily maintain an overview, for all sites together and separately. Our employees on site always have access to the functionalities they need at that moment. Moreover, we have a good overview of our results and can follow up potential issues immediately. This all-in-one approach - from arrangements to gift voucher management or accounting - distinguishes Resengo from other booking systems. I therefore consider it crucial to make full use of that strength," Thomassen explains.
From bookings, arrangements and last minutes, to checkout and accounting. With Resengo, we manage all this for all our locations in one clear system.
– Werner Thomassen
More reservations and more sales thanks to online booking
“Klanten kunnen bij ons zowel telefonisch als online reserveren. De laatste tijd zien we dat online reserveren in de lift zit. Vooral sinds Resengo een nieuwe reserveringsflow en een reserveringswidget lanceerde, is het aantal online reserveringen enorm gestegen. Bij sauna Nirvana bijvoorbeeld noteren we vandaag maar liefst 75 à 80% online boekingen, terwijl de verhouding tegenover het aantal reserveringen via mail of per telefoon vroeger omgekeerd was. Het spreekt voor zich dat dit een enorme efficiëntiewinst betekent voor ons. Reserveringen worden automatisch ingepland en onze bezetting wordt vanzelf geoptimaliseerd, zonder dat wij hier zelf extra tijd in moeten steken”, verklapt Thomassen.
But there is more, because more online reservations does not only mean an increase in the number of bookings. The average value per reservation also goes up. "Today, through Resengo's flow, guests can not only see our availabilities or promotions. They can also very easily select extras when making their reservation. A bottle of champagne, a massage or an extra hour of sauna, they immediately see the options, after which they complete the booking according to their own preferences in one-two-three minutes."
Thanks to Resengo's attractive reservation widget on our website, we receive many more online reservations. Up to 80% of the total. Promotions or packages are also booked smoothly. That means less manual work and more revenue.
– Werner Thomassen
Good follow-up, good customer relations
Fortunately, the Atlantis Wellness Group branches rarely have to deal with no-shows. And if exceptionally people do not show up, the saunas do not suffer financially. "No-shows actually cost us nothing because we have the customer pay the full amount for the sauna visit in advance. Only extras we charge at the time of the visit." By the way, advance payments or credit card guarantees are not the only ways to protect your business against no-shows.
Communicating clear booking conditions is also important. "In case of late cancellations, for example, we work with vouchers instead of refunds. Either way, it is important to make good agreements with your customers and communicate clearly about this." Furthermore, Resengo includes a handy system to keep track of customer attendance. "Our employees indicate each time a customer arrives. As the manager, I can monitor this at all times, even when I'm not in the office. That way I always maintain control, even from abroad and without having to lug around paperwork," says Werner Thomassen.
No-shows cost me nothing, thanks to the advances that we let Resengo handle. We also easily monitor customers' arrivals and absences. Even remotely. This way, we always have 100% control over our business.
– Werner Thomassen
Keeping customers up to date with news? They do that at Atlantis Wellness Group by cleverly using the customer database they have built up via Resengo easily and in compliance with all privacy rules. "Customer mailings are part of our overall marketing approach. We do notice that people are less likely to subscribe to newsletters since the introduction of the GDPR. This is why we handle our mailings wisely by defining their content in a very targeted way. For instance, we don't blindly send all last minutes to our database all the time, as this has the effect of making people wait as long as possible to book. That is obviously not the effect we have in mind."
Finally, feedback is also part of good customer follow-up. Thomassen: "If you get positive feedback and if customers are satisfied, that's what you do it for and it gives a lot of satisfaction. But not only favourable reviews are valuable. Customer feedback can help us improve our service. Say, for instance, that a screw on a doorknob is a bit loose, it is very useful that people report this to us. That way, we can easily fix something like that, whereas without that comment from the customer, we might not know about it right away. Resengo offers the possibility to give that kind of feedback privately to the operator without publishing anything negative publicly. Moreover, it is not possible to give reviews when you have not booked in one of our establishments, which stops false feedback. So a win-win for everyone."