Debbie from Engage Safety, operates in Queenstown, New Zealand and has been a health and safety business for over ten years. She branched out into hiring disability equipment about 5 years ago when she realized there was an emerging demand among travelers and locals.
Her business now serves wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walking frames and hygiene products to tourists and residents of Queenstown, Wanaka and all around Central Otago. Most of her customers are travelers wanting to vacation with elderly relatives or locals who require temporary mobility solutions.
However, as her client list grew it was difficult for her staff to manage and track bookings through emails, phone calls and spreadsheets so she began searching for an equipment rental website capable of processing bookings and managing availability all in one place. Debbie selected Booqable to process pre-orders and payments and allow online booking confirmation of equipment availability.
Taking mobility rentals online with Booqable’s website integration
Before Booqable, Debbie and her team spent a large amount of time answering questions, and confirming if items are in stock and not already booked. Customers would have to wait a while for answers to their requests, and the team would have to cross check with several spreadsheets to make sure an item wasn’t booked twice. This initially worked, but due to the expanding business the business could no longer cope with this workflow.
How this works: Booqable offers a straight forward way to link your rental catalogue to your website. Debbie was able to set up her entire inventory, using a drag and drop setup, as well as add a snippet of code to her website, enabling customers to browse her entire catalogue, check stock and make bookings for her items without contacting the office.
This has enabled Engage Safety to:
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Display stock in real-time so customers can see exactly what’s available.
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Allow customers to book equipment at any time without having to wait for an answer.
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Eliminate tedious tasks, and the catalogue automatically updates stock when an item is booked.
This has really helped Debbie and her team’s work flow as they no longer need to constantly check their inbox, customers can book everything for themselves and staff now only need to be checking up on deliveries and customer care. This directly relates back to solving the slow reply and “is this in stock” problem that she faced.
Secure online payments with Booqable and Stripe
One of the major headaches for Debbie was managing the payments themselves. In the past payment arrangements had to be made separately and manually after confirming an order was in the books, making it complicated and leading to unnecessary delays for international customers needing instant confirmations.
The system allows direct integration with Stripe for online payments, which means customers can pay for their rentals at the time they are booking and directly through the website, instantly confirming reservations and eliminating the need to chase payments at a later date. Debbie said that the instant booking confirmation emails generated automatically after payment was made really helped with their business management.
This is great for Engage Safety:
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Payment can be taken up front, preventing incomplete and unpaid bookings
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Customers get immediate confirmation and added security/piece of mind
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The finances and booking details are integrated.
These changes means communication with customers was cut down dramatically for the company. No more phone calls and emails to arrange payment. Debbie reported that this really boosted confidence both for themselves and their customers, as one less issue had to be worried about for every rental.
Building for future growth with the right tools
Looking ahead, Debbie plans to continue growing the rental side of Engage Safety while also expanding into retailing similar products. Having a system in place that supports both bookings and inventory will be key to that growth.
Booqable has already helped her team save time and improve accuracy across their daily work. While the customer experience has remained consistent, the internal improvements have made it easier to manage increasing demand.
As Debbie puts it, “It’s made everything more efficient and easier to manage.”
For Engage Safety, choosing the right equipment equipment rental software has meant less time spent on admin and more time focusing on helping people stay mobile and independent during their visit.
