Chicago Line Cruises Enhances Operations and Customer Experience with RocketRez’s All-in-One Ticketing System

The Company

Chicago Line Cruises has operated a fleet of two passenger boats running up and down the river for over 35 years.

Their knowledgeable staff guide customers through the historic architecture on a 90-minute cruise featuring over 50 skyscrapers, or host a private event with food & beverage service and live music.

Selling tickets online, through an OTA or even to walk up guests is a critical part of Chicago Line maximizing sales on all available channels.

In addition, their operations team needs to plan and manage events, order food & beverage inventory and run sales reports from many different revenue streams. They were a perfect fit for RocketRez all-in-one cloud ticketing system, and decided to make the switch from their previous provider.

In order to capitalize on the extra revenue and efficiency RocketRez would provide, they wanted to switch immediately. Mia Alba, IT Consultant for Chicago Line Cruises, describes the decision as a bit daunting at the time of implementation.

“We were using [another provider]. There were a lot of restrictions, and we were eager to move to a different ticketing system. When we spoke to Margi (Owner of Chicago Line Cruises) she had made the decision to go with RocketRez – and she let me know that I would be the one to take it and set it up.”

The Chicago Line team and the RocketRez Customer Success team were tasked to get RocketRez implemented, with all staff trained to use it effectively, in a short time frame – with zero interruptions.

Fortunately, at RocketRez, we excel at guiding our new customers through a painless transition to their new platform.

The Challenge

Mission critical software

RocketRez builds what we call “mission-critical” software. Selling tickets, food & beverage and private events constitute most of the revenue for Chicago Line cruises. Once implemented, most staff will become daily active users of the software. Coordinating the switch seamlessly, with no downtime, is imperative.

Employee buy-in and training

A common issue with a switchover in mission-critical business software is that there is a disconnect between departments about whether the new software will help them reach their goals.

“It’s a daunting task to switch software systems. Everything that’s handling the tickets and the money – of course you’re apprehensive to switch it over.” – Mia Alba, IT Consultant for Chicago Line Cruises

Management wants to increase revenue, or cut costs. Operations needs automated processes and simplified reporting. Everyone wants to port their previous data easily, and understand the new system quickly.

Implementing a new system requires taking all viewpoints into account to get buy-in from the entire employee base. If not managed properly, it can lead to disagreements, and poor adoption of new systems.

The Solution

Intuitive, user-friendly U/X

RocketRez understands that our customers cannot spend a lot of time training employees. As a result, we have made it an organizational priority to ensure that no matter how many functions our system covers, it should feel as comfortable and natural as navigating any smartphone, email system, or TV guide.

“When we made the switch over, I learned the system in about ten minutes. Anyone could. It’s just user-friendly. Changing reservations, making notes for private events, running a financial report daily, weekly or monthly to see revenue and number of passengers. It’s cut down on a lot of time for us! We have hours and hours of time saved from switching to RocketRez,” says Elizabeth Johnson, Vice President of Chicago Line Cruises.

We take special care to batch similar functions together, simplify navigation and provide the warm and intuitive feel of your favorite consumer apps. The result was not lost on the team at Chicago Line Cruises.

Customer Service

No matter how intuitive the system is, there will always be hiccups in the early days of a software switchover. After a decade, we’ve seen them all. Our process includes a white-glove service to get customers up and running and using all the system can offer. This often includes an on-site visit, to tailor our recommendations to specific customers.

“There have been a few times when I needed customer support on a weekend. Not many places are open or available over the weekend. We had issues that were time-sensitive that couldn’t wait until Monday. It was a special event! RocketRez got back to us right away, they called me on my cell phone. The responsiveness for customer service is excellent,” Mia remarked.

In the early weeks and months of using the new RocketRez system, we can count on several customer service calls. It’s in our DNA to go the extra mile to deliver answers quickly and prevent any disruptions during revenue-generating times.

The Result

The RocketRez Customer Success Team enabled Chicago Line to see and test their new software system in a sandbox environment, make additional requests and sort through minor fixes before going live with customers.

As a result, there was no disruption in sales during the switchover. More importantly, some previously hesitant employees found that they were able to use RocketRez with very little instruction – and couldn’t be happier with their new capabilities.

“We just love RocketRez. Everyone says it. When I started, I thought I would need a week to learn the whole system. It’s just so user friendly and intuitive. It takes a somewhat savvy person ten minutes to learn it and figure it out. Lots of things that would take a lot of time previously, take no time now. It’s incredible. We bring it up all the time how happy we are that we’ve switched to RocketRez,” says Elizabeth.

Because Chicago Line was able to automate several routine functions, their knowledgeable staff were able to set their sights on the next level of efficiency, and focus on revenue driving activities, during their upcoming off-season.

“As we have a lull from our busy season, this is when we have time to think about ‘what can we implement now that is going to make our lives easier next busy season?’ When people are working ten to twelve hours a day, we don’t really have time to think about how to optimize things,” says Elizabeth.

RocketRez has created a step-by-step process to make a seamless transition for tour and attractions operations of any scale or complexity. Learn more about how you can migrate your ticketing software to RocketRez and launch on your own schedule.

‍