Used to, we'd use "keywords" in our content to drive Search Engine Optimized results to our Web sites. (ie Buy Advanced Parking Solutions!) Now we put hash marks in front of our keywords and remove the spaces (#buyadvancedparkingsolutions!) as we tweet our content to our followers.
Last year,
one study stated that your friends on Facebook drove more internet traffic than Search Engine results. Google must have found this study credible, as they
just announced their version of the Facebook "Like" button. They're calling this "+1".
How are you driving business to your parking payment system? Are you using Twitter for promotions? If you don't, it's at least a great way to see what other parking operations are doing. Here are some folks you can follow:
Do you know what your folks are saying about your parking operation on Facebook? Or are you avoiding it? Google may have just made it a little harder to ignore what they are saying about you.
Did you know the iPhone 5, expected to be released at some point this year, is rumored to have Near Field Communications Technology (NFC) on it? This has the potential to change your customer's mobile phone into an access control device and a payment method within your Parking Access and Revenue Control system.
How would this change the dynamics of your operation? I drive up to your garage for the first time, wave my phone in front of the reader and the gate vends beginning my parking transaction. Maybe the entry station asks me if I want join your customer loyalty program to entice me into repeat visits. Or upgrade me by purchasing a permit privilege linked to my phone. Parking Permit Management straight from the entry lane.
How would this change how you market your garage parking to your customer base? How would this change the equipment you buy when shopping for garage parking solutions?
I love March Madness. It is the one sporting event that statistically won't let you down. My co-worker Mike Nicholson would debate me at length on this topic, however; he is a shady person who thinks the "bowl system" is awesome. So his credibility is shot anyway.
When I think March Madness, I think events. When I talk to parking professionals about event parking, I hear "alternate reality". The day of a game, conference or expo that somehow parking got "stuck" supporting. In many cases the solution is, "Hold your breath and hope everything balances." Or worse: "Hope the imbalance doesn't affect my employment."
By the way, for those of you who watch the TV show "Lost"; if Gordon Haywood from Butler hits that half-court shot does a parallel universe get created where we exist in both places concurrently? It really makes you wonder... I'd ask Tim Maginn, but he has better things to do (you know, than to watch "Lost").
But anyway, event parking. How does it fit in with the rest of your parking operation? Is it the part you always "throw together" and hope everything works? Is it your alternate reality because it isn't as big of a revenue generator as parking permit sales or parking citations? How does it fit in to your business plan? Does the amount of time spent planning for events match the amount of event revenue you bring in?
Last weekend was the beginning of the NFL playoff season. This weekend we're heading into another exciting round of football action. One thing about the NFL, it is a copy cat league. When one team shuts down a high-powered offense with a particular defensive scheme, the rest of the league applies that defense to that high-powered offense. I wonder if the same thing applies to Garage Parking Solutions across the nation and how they implement their parking garages.
Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to visit City & Campus Parking Solutions implemented all across the nation & here's what I've observed:
- Parking Garages east of the Mississippi River typically have the Cashier in the exit lane
- Parking Garages in the SouthWest United States typically have the Cashier centrally located in the garage
- Parking Garages on the West Coast of the United States have the Cashier located as the parker is entering campus
As a result, it would seem that parkers in the SouthWest have adopted to Automated Pay on Foot machines better than those on the East Coast.
Am I all wet here or are all you parking professionals just a bunch of copy cats?
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