October Lunch and Learn Recording

Secret Passages - Questions with Secret Answers

Giving public users special access to facility reservations or activity & membership registrations allows your department to close off the traditional path towards making these purchases while specific users have a secret password to access another entrance. This is very useful for advance access, priority tiers, and return customer perks.

Let’s consider your reservations for this trick. If you have organizations or customers who get first access to renting a facility before you make it available to the general public, you can add a secret entry for those users to make their reservations or requests by adding a Question with Secret Answer to the Facility setup. This means that while the general public will not be able to reserve or rent the location, those with the secret password can enter the rental process and submit without any obstacles. This can be a permanent element of the facility or just temporary each year. Once the first access period is over, you can make the Secret Passage inactive, and allow any and all users to reserve or request the facility from that point on. Next year, simply reactivate your Question with Secret Answer to activate the secret passage for first-access renters.

Setup on Management

1. Click on the Facility menu from the leftside navigation bar
2. Select Facility List
3. Add a New Facility or Facility Area
4. Be sure to Allow Rental
   1. Set up the rental info tab settings
5. Click the Requirements Tab
6. Click the link to Add New Question
   1. Create Question and Add Secret Answer
   2. Opt to add the End Date so this feature automatically shuts off when you want the general public to be able to reserve/request
7. Submit the changes

BONUS: Appearing and Disappearing Rental Buttons

Combine this question addition with the Show on Site dates for public reservations and for public requests to create layered rental setups with tiers of access. 

This is an example of a facility rental setup from a live MyRec.com department:

For a facility that opens Jan 1 until Sept 30, takes general public requests beginning Dec 1, has a first-access window from Oct 1-Nov 30, and reserves any available dates that are left Jan 1 - Sept 30 to the general public:

1. On the Facility Rental Info tab, set the Public Reservation Date Restriction to Jan 1 - Sept 30
   1. This means that the facility can only be used by renters Jan 1-Sept 30
2. Add the Question and Secret Answer
   1. Be sure to set the Start Date for Oct 1 and the End Date for Nov 30
   2. This takes care of the first access users, like sports organizations, who can submit their requests between Oct 1-Nov 30 to use the facility Jan-Sept
3. Enter a Public Request Date for Dec 1 - Dec 31
   1. After the first access window ends on Nov 30, the general public will now see the button to Request the facility
4. Enter a Public Reservation Date for Jan 1 - Sept 30
   1. Once the facility is open and all advance requests and reservations are booked, this will allow the public user to make direct reservations right from the public side for those leftover dates in the schedule

The facility in this example closes for any rentals between October to Jan, so that’s the perfect time to reset your dates for the next year and automate the entire process again!

Invisible Programs - aka Hide Program from Public and Allow Direct Link

When you want to offer a program of activities to a select group of users but not have that program available to the general public, you can use this trick to make the program invisible. 

Setup on Management

1. Click on the Program menu from the leftside navigation bar
2. Select Program List
3. Click the program for Swim Lessons or build a new program
   1. Click Edit Program
4. Check the Hide from Public box
5. The Allow Direct Links checkbox will become available
   1. Select the checkbox
6. Finish any remaining program setup or revision
7. Submit
8. Copy and paste the url from the program info screen to use for customers

For instance, if you have a Swimming Lesson program and you want only returning swimmers to be able to register for the activities, you can hide this program from the general public. Then, send an email blast to the activity from last session and include the Direct Link url. They will use that to access the program and choose their activity. Once your return customer window has closed, you can unHide from Public, and you can allow the general public to register for any remaining spots.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s essential that you add Start/End Registration Dates to these activities if you plan to use the program direct link again next year. If you don't, the public user with the link can find this program at any time and register for the activities before you’re ready to open them up again. Always use End Dates for registration windows on activities that don’t run perennially.

BONUS: Strategic Program Builds for Invisible Activity Levels

If you want to completely hide swim levels from registrants unless they have successfully completed the previous level, like a pre-requisite, one option is to use direct links and set up the activity levels as their own individual programs. This way, when you email blast all the Level 1s, you can include a direct link to a program that only has Level 2 activities. This greatly reduces the number of mis-registrations and transfers you complete because registrants only receive a link for the next level based on what they just completed. 

http://resources.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29842 

And with the option to clone Programs, setup is a cinch once you build that first program level. Contact the Support team if you have questions about this or any other clever setup.

Monster Deals - also called these Combos

Our final trick for today focuses on Products and how you can pass along savings for holiday merch, camp bundles, or concession stand combos. My favorite use of this is for the staff-side POS at the pool or rec center.

Combo package pricing is not applicable for public side purchases to ensure accuracy for staff. The combo package will not appear in the public store as a result. Combos are compatible with product options (like sizes) and also work seamlessly with inventory reporting.

Concession Combos

Whether at the pool, ballpark, or rec center, combo deals are a popular option.

1. Open the Products menu on the leftside navigation menu
2. Click into the Products List and see that you already have a drink product and chips product for your combo (if not, build those)
3. Create a chicken sandwich or other product for the price you would sell it at individually
4. Click the Combo tab
5. Build the combo by selecting the checkbox for the drink, chips, and sandwich items
6. Set the product prices for the items in the combo, reduce these to create your monster deal

In the POS portal, notice that combo packages have their own category.