Three Ways Dockwa Helps You Reduce Paperwork

Since 2014, there has been one consistent theme throughout the thousands of conversations we've had with marina industry professionals - the desire to reduce time spent on paperwork. 

That's why we built tools, specifically for those in the marina industry, to ease this pain. Here, we share with you three ways Dockwa can help you spend less time on paperwork, and more time doing engaging with guests, and enjoying time by the water.

1. Auto-collect and digitally store boater insurance and registration.

If you require insurance and registration documentation from boaters, chances are that you spend a significant amount of time collecting and filing these documents.

When using Dockwa at your marina, you can instantly get boater insurance and registration information on file by:

• Requiring an upload of registration and insurance info when you send and collect digital boater contracts.
• Asking boaters to add their registration and insurance info to their Dockwa account.

Not only will you save time collecting, you'll also be able to ditch the filing cabinet, shoebox, whatever you use to store these customer docs.

That's because...

2. Send digital boater invoices and auto-collect payment.

How do you currently invoice/bill your customers? If it's by any method other than auto-billing, there is time to be saved and paperwork to be Van-Morrison-kicked to the curb!

When you use Dockwa to manage customer payments, you:

• Automatically notify customers about upcoming payments
• Automatically charge customer paying by credit card on your desired payment schedule (ex. the first of every month)

Besides being a time-suck and paperwork-burden, reminding customers to pay on time can be both uncomfortable and stressful - let Dockwa take the heat here in helping make your boaters pay on time, every time.

3. Send and receive digital boater contracts.

We don't have to tell you that sending and collecting paper contracts can consume much your time - you've experienced it firsthand.

What you may be interested to know is that as younger generations (read: Millennials) start buying and looking for places to store their boats, the percentage of your boaters willing to sign a dockage agreement via snail mail will decline.

A 2018 study, conducted by the USPS, found that just 41% of Millennials check their mail daily, compared to 57% of Gen X and 72% of Boomers. Further, only 22% of Millennials typically pay bills through the mail, compared to 29% of Gen X and 40% of Boomers.

Using Dockwa to send and collect digital dockage agreements helps you save time (at least 20 minutes per boater) and ditch paperwork, that's for sure. What it more importantly helps you accomplish is:

1. Reaching your customers. You can't easily get a wet signature if your boaters aren't checking their mail; you can easily get a digital signature when your customers are spending 6.5 hours a day checking their email.
2. Catering to your customers' preferences. In a recent survey of Dockwa boaters, more than 60% of respondents had kept their boat at the same marina for over 5 years. New boaters you impress today will be both long-term customers and your best sales people tomorrow.

To start reducing paperwork at your marina, get in touch with us by completing the form at the link here or emailing us at katharine.kirk@dockwa.com.