Ways to Increase Parking Revenue

A parking garage manager’s day is full of tasks—there’s rarely a moment of peace when there is so much to focus on. Every garage needs to be monitored for cleanliness, proper lighting, safety, and equipment functionality, not to mention engaging tenants on a daily basis to ensure their needs are being met.

There are also vendors, repairmen, and staff to assist. Most importantly, parking managers need to ensure that all admin work is completed, all tickets are accounted for, all monthly access is authorized, and all employees (if they have any) are treating customers fairly and providing top-notch service.

But with so much going on, how do you find time to implement new upgrades or initiatives that can increase revenue and keep your clients happy? We’ve compiled six easy ways you can increase your garage’s revenue while also saving time.

Monitoring Your Rates

Your rates most likely come from meticulous research, where you studied the garages in your area and learned their capacities and how much people are willing to pay in the immediate area. But this is an ongoing process, as rates can change daily or monthly depending on the activity in the area and if you fall behind, you could quickly become uncompetitive.

If your garage is full on a daily basis, your rates may be too low and everyone is flocking to your garage because you have the best “deal”. This is an indicator that your rates need to be increased and that additional revenues are being missed. On the flip-side, if your garage is vastly empty, your rates may be too high and lowering them most likely will attract new business activity and revenues. In any case, you want to maximize your revenue by either bringing in more parkers at a lower cost or making yourself more competitive with a higher rate.

Utilizing eReservations

If your garage has trouble filling spots at certain hours of the day or just in general, consider using eReservation platforms. There are lots to choose from, including SpotHero, ParkWhiz, etc., which are used daily by many parkers who don’t want to drive around looking for empty space. With parking eReservations, customers can see how many open spots your garage has and reserve one ahead of time, which helps attract customers, and additional revenues, that you may not have otherwise obtained.

Know Your Market

City garages have plenty of potential revenue coming in after work hours. Most cities areas have popular restaurants, hotels, and other industries that don’t have their own parking in such crowded urban areas. And for you, this is a perfect business opportunity—talk with your local restaurant and hotel managers to see if any of them want to partner with you as a parking option. As an incentive, you can offer discounted parking to larger groups or entities from these local establishments that fill your garage that otherwise would sit empty.

Offer Valet Services

As we mentioned above, many hotels have limited space within the city. Let them know you are open to a valet partnership, where you can secure a certain area within your garage for use only by the hotel valet or hotel self-parkers. In return, the hotel will give pay you for the space and help build awareness of your garage. An added benefit is that some customers could continue to use your parking facility in the future, even if they’re no longer staying at the hotel.

Provide Amenities

Every garage needs to be clean and well lit for customers. Other parking amenities are not always guaranteed, like free car charging areas or vacuums. A customer will prefer your garage over others if they know they can use your vacuum daily as part of their ticket fee or charge their car during the day while at work. In the long run, offering parking amenities is a great way to secure loyal customers—think of it as an investment.

Install Automated Systems

Many garages utilize automated systems to make customers happy and simplify their facility’s daily operations. The only problem you may run into is the “change” for your customers. People generally do not like change. However, if you properly advertise the change before it occurs, provide instructions ahead of time to your customer base and detail the advantages they will receive, the transition becomes easier. In addition, when you do implement a new automated parking system, it’s important to have a customer service representative on staff for a week or so who is well versed in using the system. That way, they can help your customers get used to the change.

Once you implement these changes, you could see results in possibly a few days, depending on the particular solution you chose. Other solutions may take a month or two for you to see results.

The most important thing is to keep track of your changes, monitor how well customers are responding to them, and listen intently to their feedback. At the end of the day, customers are your best review system to know if something is working or needs improvement.

Contact us today to learn more about how to increase revenue in your garage and keep both the client and customers satisfied.