Helping people to create memorable moments at their wedding is no easy task, but it is one Stefaan and Elizabeth White willingly undertake. They noticed that audio guest books were becoming more common and decided to take a shot at it themsleves. They created Off The Hook to rent out retro phone audio guest books and chose Booqable to manage online bookings, payments, and communication.
Off The Hook
Stefaan and Elizabeth founded Off The Hook in the late summer of 2022 when he noticed a trend in audio guest books. They knew that they were becoming more common and felt that they could provide a better experience than some of the existing companies on the market. Their mission was to turn the product quality up and provide the best hire experience for couples on their big day.
The retro-style phones are built in-house by Chris, who makes a big effort to ensure everything is internal and no ugly cords or power banks are required. The aim is for the phones to fit perfectly into a customer’s wedding without ruining their aesthetic. They require one button to set up and are super easy to use to provide the most convenient experience.
The audio guest books are prepared with a customer’s greeting, charged, and sent off to customers 3 days before their wedding day. Designer-quality signage is provided, and all customers have to do is find somewhere to put it in their venue. Then, they return the phone 3 days later and receive an online gallery of the sentimental, fun, and downright outrageous messages recorded on their big day by their loved ones.
A challenging journey
Everyone knows an excellent customer journey is essential in rentals, and you could argue more for couples planning a wedding. One of the challenges Stefaan faced was knowing if a couple had sent their personalized greeting or if they needed to be reminded. This is a big part of the process as it allows customers to leave a message for their guests before they leave their own.
He also found it challenging to manage deliveries and return times as the hire period is several days, despite only being used for a single day. This is because customers need to receive their phone ahead of time and Off The Hook offers delivery nationwide in Australia. So, ensuring stock was unavailable at the correct times was crucial to making the process work.
Finally, Stefaan needed to be able to customize the checkout of his online store as he needed to collect more than the typical customer information to personalize the customer journey. For example, their partner’s name and the venue where they’re getting married. This is done to tailor communication and provide better customer service without chasing for this information.
Perfecting the customer experience
As most people would do, Stefaan searched for software to help him achieve these goals. After trying a few, he decided that Booqable was a complete solution. He was able to use custom fields in bookings to mark if a customer has provided their personalized greeting or not. This information is passed on to an API integration which sends an email asking for it if required.
To manage deliveries and return times effectively, he has been able to add padding time to his products in the inventory. This allows for him to account for nationwide shipping and turnaround time, so he always knows that stock will be available. This was crucial as he wanted to make every customer happy, and there’s nothing more disappointing than stock being unavailable.
Stefaan also uses custom fields in the Booqable checkout to get all the information he needs from customers ahead of time. He has set up custom fields for information like the customer’s partner’s name, the wedding venue, delivery address, event type, and social media handle. This helps tailor the experience and save time following up on this information.
A successful launch
In the first four weeks of launching Off The Hook, Stefaan and Elizabeth took over 100 bookings without going through a single manual booking process with a customer. This solidified that the customer experience he built works and has saved him tens of hours of admin time. Their customers also love that it is simple to make a booking and receive instant confirmation.
In addition, Stefaan has provided prompt and high-quality service thanks to the access the Booqable iOS app gives him to booking details on the go. This has allowed him to troubleshoot any issues without pulling out his laptop. They are now on track to have over 1,000 bookings in his first year of business and is looking to double this in his second year.
