Escape Rooms, medical practitioners, solicitors and estate agents are businesses that value the kind of customer service and confidentiality delivered by Paperclip.
This article is based on our experiences of working in the Escape Rooms sector, and the customer service lessons that owners and operators can take from them as the Covid19 lockdown eases.
Escape Rooms – a product of the new millennium
Whilst their popularity in the UK may owe a debt to Sherlock Holmes (first published in 1892), Dr Who (first broadcast in 1963), Dungeons and Dragons (released in 1974) and the Crystal Maze (1990), Escape Rooms are very much a product of the new millennium.
History, growth, lockdown…market saturation?
Depending on your definition of an Escape Room and your sources, they first appeared in either Japan or Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2010. In 2012, the first British Escape Room opened in London and since then Escape Rooms have appeared in towns and cities across the UK; there are now estimated to be over 1500 games in almost 500 venues. In London alone there were around 140 games in 50 different venues at the end of 2019.
Before lockdown, it appeared that the market for Escape Room games was maturing and potentially trending towards saturation and a possible ‘shake down’. There is little doubt that lockdown has had a huge impact on all Escape Room operators, including Paperclip clients.
As lockdown eases, we believe the ‘winners’ will be those Escape Rooms that combine a great physical, emotional and intellectual experience with outstanding customer service. This combination generates word of mouth marketing and referrals.
As far as Escape Rooms are concerned, what constitutes outstanding customer service?
Paperclip provides third-party telephone booking services and Live Chat support for Escape Rooms. The following are our experiences of working in the Escape Rooms sector, and the customer service lessons which owners and operators can learn from them.
1 – A large proportion of bookings are ‘impulse purchases’ made on the day of consumption
Stag and hen parties and corporates may plan and book well in advance, but a large proportion of the calls taken by Paperclip are for same-day bookings or same-week bookings i.e. within the next seven days.
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, prior to lockdown most large towns and cities had more than one Escape Room venue to choose from. Fail to answer the ‘impulse’ call and you may well lose the sale.
2 – Many bookings are altered; often more than once!
For impulse in the title above you could just as well insert ‘under-planned’. Once booked, ‘organisers’ often find that numbers in their party increase as the ‘enthusiasts’ break the ice for the ‘sceptics’. This means bookings are often changed one or more times. It may be that the group becomes too large for the capacity of the original game and needs to switch to an alternative.
Paperclip takes payments and enters bookings directly into its Escape Room clients’ back-office systems such as Resova, Reservio and BookSteam. Having a live, well-structured and simple back office system is key for Escape Room operators. It makes the booking process quicker, more enjoyable for the customer and, as Paperclip is paid on a per-minute basis, more cost-effective for the Escape Room operator.
3 – The calls trend shows significant peaks and variations
In terms of ‘days of the week’, prior to lockdown Paperclip experienced significantly higher Escape Room call volumes on Fridays, often by a factor of three or four. Afternoons were busier than mornings which were often very quiet indeed. So far, so straightforward.
There were often peaks in call traffic in the afternoon but, in Paperclip’s experience at least, there appeared to be random and without a discernible pattern.
What do these trends mean for Escape Room operators?
Paperclip has two principal ‘competitors’: online booking and Escape Room operators that answer incoming calls. The term ‘competitor’ in this context is actually a misnomer as all three often happily co-exist within the same business, each contributing in their own way to customer service. Online booking is discussed in point 4 (below).
The peaks and troughs in call volumes make manpower planning difficult. Do you have enough employees on hand to make sure no calls are missed? Or, do you minimise manpower costs on the understanding that you’ll miss a certain number of calls and, by definition, sales? If you rely on voicemail: don’t! Anyone with children or friends under the age of 35 will recognise, probably with a degree of frustration at the number of unanswered messages they have left, that voicemail is dead.
For some clients Paperclip handles all calls and bookings; the Escape Room operator concentrates solely on delivering a fantastic experience for their customers. For other Escape Room operators, calls are diverted to Paperclip after an agreed delay i.e. when there is a peak in calls, or the team is greeting and briefing customers at their venues, or team members are on vacation or ill.
4 – There is often a degree of anxiety, uncertainty and equivocation with first-time gamers
Experienced and regular gamers will be happy to book online. Paperclip offers Live Chat services to Escape Room operators to handle online queries from customers.
Those new to making an Escape Room booking, however, tend to have a number of questions that need answering before they are willing to take the plunge.
Many of these questions relate to perceptions that gamers may be locked in feeding fears around claustrophobia. They may have heard stories there will be ‘hidden’ spies, monsters or intruders tasked with scaring them witless: they may want this! They may simply want guidance as to which game to choose based on the age, number and preferences of their party.
Whilst most Escape Room operators provide game descriptions and FAQs on their websites, these questions are rarely answered effectively simply by words on the screen. People, particularly when anxious, worried and uncertain, prefer to speak to someone to allay their fears and answer their questions.
The lesson for Escape Room operators is that online is rarely in and of itself enough. There needs to be an opportunity for prospective customers to speak directly to the operator, or to a proxy like Paperclip.
When Paperclip answers the phone and makes a booking on behalf of an Escape Room client we effectively respond as a member of that client’s team. We agree the greeting to be used, the call handling process, the booking mechanism. We ensure we know about the client’s venue, pricing structure and games so we are able to answer the vast majority of gamers’ questions.
5 – People buy – book, pay, cancel, rebook, upgrade – from people.
Escape Room profitability is largely driven by ‘activity rates’ i.e. the number of games booked across the variety of experiences offered in any venue. Cancellations impact on activity rates, but a well-managed waiting list can turn them into an opportunity. Alternatively, Escape Rooms can operate a frequent-gamer system where cancellations are offered at discount rates to devotees.
Waiting lists and gamer discounts can be delivered via an online system, but these lack the immediacy and ‘closing power’ of a call from the Escape Room team or Paperclip.
People buy – book, pay, cancel, rebook, upgrade – from people. Make sure you give them a voice!
To find out more about Paperclip and the services it offers to Escape Room operators call us on 01246 418181.
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Hi, I’m Anne Batty, Managing Director of Paperclip. I am passionate about customer service. I believe enduring relationships are built on being open, transparent and trustworthy.
I love questions. So, if you have a question relating to telephone answering – pricing, technical, scope and more – I would love to hear from you at anne@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418181.
Paperclip’s clients enjoy working with us. I know you will too.