We’re always happy to partner with local businesses on their technology needs. Greensboro-based Hamilton Lakes Swim & Tennis Club needed an app for its club members. They are a local swim and tennis club that has a small cafe serving lunch, dinner, and ice cream.
Traditionally, members would check in to the pool by telling the front desk receptionist their first and last name. They would also provide the number of members and guests in their party. The receptionist would have to manually search their name in an excel spreadsheet. From there, they'd have to log their name in the spreadsheet tab for that specific date. It was fairly onerous for the receptionist. And it didn’t provide easily accessible data about the number of members and guests at the club on any given day.
In terms of cafe orders, previously the only way to order food/drinks was to wait in line at the cafe. The cafe would see long lines during “rest period”, which is a mandatory 10-minue rest period for children that occurs every hour. The cafe would become inundated with orders during this time and would have difficulty processing orders in a timely manner.
In both cases, club members also experienced friction in both transaction types. They experienced a delay in entering the pool and receiving food quickly. As such, the club was interested in creating an app that streamlined the workflow for both club employees and the customer experience.
Xtern was able to create an intuitive and user-friendly app that includes club member check-in as well as cafe ordering capability. It also has the opportunity for future app enhancements. Member check in is now accomplished by opening the app, selecting “Check In” and scanning the daily-generated QR code. From there, the member is prompted to select the number of members and guests in their party. Cafe orders can now be placed from the app. The full menu is available for members to peruse from their mobile devices poolside. They can place orders without having to stand in line and the order queue is much more predictable, rather than a rush at rest periods.
The club is currently looking at expanding the functionality of the app and we are excited to collaborate with them on future iterations!