Our Only Sky Experience - Tamarack, Idaho
We spoke with Snow Sports School Administrator Chelsea Tuttle from Tamarack Resort about her experience working with Only Sky’s technology thus far. Tamarack is located in beautiful western Idaho, just 90 miles from Boise. This is the first season Tamarack has partnered with Only Sky.
A family enjoying the great skiing Tamarack has to offer
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO PARTNER WITH ONLY SKY FOR A NEW E-COMMERCE/BOOKING INTERFACE?
“The support team at Only Sky has made all the difference. Knowing that I have the knowledge of the folks directly responsible for creating Only Sky at my fingertips for any conceivable problem or question I have has helped me use the system with confidence.
— Chelsea Tuttle, Snow Sports School Administrator
Short answer…I didn’t! It was decided before I was hired. HOWEVER, I think Wolfe (Operations Director) saw the huge growth potential for us in having a combined online booking/scheduling/follow-up (report card, guest interaction, etc) system at the resort. Prior to Only Sky, we did all of our bookings and scheduling over the phone and on paper, with no electronic system to back it up.
DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCE INTEGRATING Only Sky’s TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT TAMARACK’S SKI SCHOOL.
Other than having to get all of our instructors onboard with the new online technology (we have some “old-school” folks here), it’s been a breeze. We are having to retrain our long-term guests to start booking online, which has gone pretty well, but otherwise working together with the Only Sky support team we’ve been able to get all of our products and pricing dialed in to make booking people easier than ever and take some of the load off of our shoulders with the online booking ability.
WHAT PRIOR ISSUES DID YOUR RESORT FACE THAT WERE SOLVED BY IMPLEMENTING Only Sky’s TECHNOLOGY?
“We were also able to pre-book more lessons than we ever had in the history of Tamarack for the holiday season because of the online booking.
As mentioned above, trying to maintain a decent capacity expectation without overbooking accidentally and then scheduling without accidentally double-booking an instructor was something I can only assume were big problems before Only Sky. I know that we were also able to pre-book more lessons than we ever had in the history of Tamarack for the holiday season because of the online booking. Prior to Only Sky, every booking had to be taken over the phone and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to return every single phone call and give the kind of service expected over the holiday season. With online booking, the process was expedited and took a huge load off of our shoulders and enabled us to better serve our customer’s other needs.
HOW HAS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF Only Sky ENHANCED BOTH THE GUEST AND INSTRUCTOR EXPERIENCE AT TAMARACK?
With the ability for customers to easily return to their accounts and book further lessons, it helps expedite the booking process even more. Connecting the instructor and guest digitally provides for a better guest experience and allows the instructor to communicate about the progress of the student in a way that they can retain for their own records. It also helps the instructors achieve recognition for the experiences they give to their students with the online review system, allowing future guests to feel like they’re getting a more personal experience by requesting an instructor that fits their needs best.
ANY GENERAL THOUGHTS ON INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE SKI INDUSTRY?
Having the ability to carry our booking/scheduling/review system essentially in our pockets on our phones or tablets has helped facilitate a lot of growth in our department and resort. Being able to glance at a layout of the day and see where our availability is and who is doing what at any given moment of the day makes booking walk-up clients easy and far less cumbersome than before.
ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ABOUT TAMARACK, Only Sky, OR OTHER THOUGHTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO COVER?
Throughout my time in this new position at Tamarack and working with Only Sky as a new addition to our resort, I have to say that the support team at Only Sky has made all the difference. Knowing that I have the knowledge of the folks directly responsible for creating Only Sky at my fingertips for any conceivable problem or question I have has helped me use the system with confidence. It’s a new company that’s still very much building and growing, but knowing they care so thoroughly about their clients and our needs makes me want to stick with Only Sky and be a part of its success as they continue to grow and develop.