How Watersport Companies Using WaveRez Benefit from Partnership with TripShock!

WaveRez. While we are two separate companies, we share a close history which you can learn more about in this release from 2019. Despite the similar origin story and pay to play models, the two companies serve the tour and activity space in very different ways. One key difference between an online travel agency (OTA) like TripShock and most reservation systems, including WaveRez, is that OTA’s actively invest in marketing your tours on their website (not yours), and then handle the transaction and the customers.

Reservation systems, on the other hand, are a tool by which your customers can book online when they visit your website and they also help you manage your customers (whether online, walk up or via third parties), your equipment, your accounting, and much more. WaveRez was designed as a reservation solution specifically for watersports activities. While most reservation systems do not actively market your activities, they do play a critical role in facilitating your ability to straight up crush it.

TripShock is constantly working to establish connections with the reservation systems used by its suppliers, so setting up a strong connection between WaveRez and TripShock was a no-brainer. What does it mean to have a connection with a reservation system? Basically it just means that our two systems can talk to each other and keep each other up to date. Even though the companies offer different value propositions to operators, their ability to work together supports the operator’s ability to serve its customers and stay organized, which results in time and money saved.  Let’s dive in a little deeper to understand more of the benefits that a watersports and boating operator can enjoy if they partner with WaveRez and TripShock.

Table of Contents

• Time, Money, and Resources Saved
• More Sales with Real Time Booking and Availability
• Free Featured Placement on TripShock
• Top Questions Partners Ask About the WaveRez/TripShock Connection
  • Can TripsShock access my WaveRez manifest? 
  • Can TripShock see the notes I place in an order?
  • If I update my prices on WaveRez, will my prices on TripShock change? What about the tax %?
  • What happens if a customer wants to alter their plans?
  • What about no-shows?
  • If I update my activity description or title on WaveRez, will it update on TripShock?
  • Does the WaveRez booking fee apply to orders made on TripsShock?
• Take Advantage of the WaveRez/TripShock Connection

Time, Money, and Resources Saved

If a TripShock supplier doesn’t use a reservation system we can connect with, like FareHarbor or WaveRez (more connections coming soon so stay posted!!), then each time a customer books we have to confirm the order with the operator’s team. When a trip is overbooked, customers have to be refunded or moved. We all know how much customers hate that. With real time availability, overbooking can be avoided and so can bad reviews.

Our connection with WaveRez ensures that any WaveRez partners who list their activity on TripShock will have an up-to-date calendar on their TripShock listing, because we are able to pull real time availability directly from your WaveRez calendar. When an order takes place on your website, TripShock’s calendar will update. The opposite is also true, your calendar will update when a purchase occurs on TripShock.

More Sales with Real Time Booking and Availability

In our last blog, FareHarbor Connection Makes Selling with TripShock Easy, we discussed the benefits of real time availability. The short story is, the closer to departure customers can book, the more sales the partner will see on TripShock. The WaveRez/TripShock connection allows us to book up until the moment you sell out or stop selling direct. Since 75% of sales on TripShock occur within 48 hours of departure, this greatly increases your chances of filling up empty seats and renting unutilized equipment.

Free Featured Placement on TripShock

TripShock and WaveRez have a promotion in place! Anyone who signs up for WaveRez, gets one year of featured placement from TripShock. As they discussed in their recent blog, How WaveRez Integration with TripShock Helps Watersport Boat Tour & Jet Ski Rental Operators Manage Booking Flows & Sell More Empty Seats, they explained that this placement can be worth upwards of $4,500 a year depending on your location and category. Curious what featured placement is? Featured Placement is a pay-to-play option within TripShock that allows partners to drive more traffic to their listings. You can learn more about it by visiting our Partner Solutions page.

Top Questions Partners Ask About the WaveRez/TripShock Connection

Now that you have a better idea of how the connection could benefit your tour and activity business, let’s dive into some of the questions our existing partners ask about the connection.

Can TripShock access my WaveRez manifest?

TripShock can access a read only version of your manifest. This makes things easier for both teams because if, for example, you utilize the text feature on your WaveRez account to notify a customer of a cancellation, the TripShock reservation team will be able to see that the text was sent and won’t have to call your team to confirm whether or not the customer was notified. The same is true for revisions to an order. Less calls between our team and yours means less time wasted and more time to focus on customers.

Can TripShock see the notes I place in an order?

Yes, and vice versa.

If I update my prices on WaveRez, will my prices on TripShock change? What about the tax %?

No, your prices will not update unless you are using the WaveRez dynamic pricing feature.  If you are not using the dynamic pricing feature, then you must notify TripShock if you want us to update the prices on your TripShock listing.

What happens if a customer wants to alter their plans?

A WaveRez partner can move the customer to a new date and time, or from one boat to another, so long as the ticket type remains the same. For example, you could move a customer who rented a pontoon at 7 am for 4 hours, to a 4 pm reservation for a 4 hour rental, and switch the boat to which they were originally assigned without having to contact TripShock. However, you cannot change the 4 hour rental to a 6 hour rental. In that instance, you would have to call and let us know that the ticket needs to be changed and the customer charged a different amount.

What about no-shows?

If you mark a customer as a no-show on the order, our team will be able to see it and we can apply your no-show policy. For example, if a customer calls requesting a refund, but the no-show box is checked and your policy is no refunds for no-shows, then they will not be refunded.  Because we can see your manifest, we won’t have to call you to find out if the customer was a no show, we will be able to see it.

If I update my activity description or title on WaveRez, will it update on TripShock?

No, you will need to notify TripShock that the description or title has changed and request that an update be made to your listing. You can do this by emailing [email protected].

Does the WaveRez booking fee apply to orders made on TripsShock?

No, the WaveRez fee does not apply.

Take Advantage of the WaveRez/TripShock Connection

Have questions about how the WaveRez/TripShock connection can benefit your watersports or boating business? Reach out to [email protected] to learn more or drop us a line. If you are a current partner that works with both WaveRez and TripShock and you have questions about how the connection works, simply reach out to [email protected].   

Be sure to stay tuned for more exciting announcements as TripShock rolls out more and more integrations this fall!