Coastfields case study

From standalone finance solution to full holiday park management solution

Not every customer has to jump headfirst into implementing a completely new holiday park management system. Some, like Coastfields (who operate nine holiday parks on the Lincolnshire coastline, plus pubs, a market, and arcades), decide to dip their toe in the water and focus on a specific area of the business first.

Here, Coastfields tells us about their initial experience with EliteFinance – Elite Dynamics’ standalone finance solution – and how this in turn led to a complete change across the business.

Coastfields wanted to focus on upgrading and introducing new technology into their business. Like many holiday park companies, Coastfields had previously been using Sage50 as their finance solution. But they knew there were alternatives to Sage in the marketplace that could streamline and improve their financial processes. Coastfields Head of Finance explains:

“Firstly, I was really impressed with Jamaine and the team and then it was an added bonus to see that the solution they were proposing – EliteFinance – offered quite a lot more functionality, more control, and better reporting.

“It was just more dynamic and straight away we were seeing time and cost savings using EliteFinance.”

“I’m also quite technically minded, so once I was able to see how EliteFinance was structured, it made more sense than other systems as you can build and modify the solution. And of course, it has Microsoft as the base platform. At that point, I knew we could make great leaps in the business if we explored implementing a full park management system with Elite Dynamics.”

All the tools you need for your business in one platform…

Fast forward to October 2020 and Coastfields have now become one of the latest holiday park companies to go live with EliteParks holiday park management software plus the top tier EliteCRM Diamond solution.

“After experiencing EliteFinance, I wanted to move everything together for full integration.  One of the major positives is EliteParks’ integration* to the finance system” said Coastfields Head of Finance.

“Being able to track everything on one system effectively gives you all the tools you need in your business in one platform. You can create great reports with Power BI and CRM, and it enables us to look more professional as a business.”

But as every consumer knows, the product is just one part of a business. Any industry, from hospitality to manufacturing to technology, recognises the importance of customer service to the overall success of a business.

“Another reason we chose Elite Dynamics is that they’re progressive and open with their customers about exactly where they’re heading with their systems. And have no doubt, they will always find a solution. If we need something to change within the system if it doesn’t quite fit in with the way we operate, they’ll put something in place. We never get told that the ‘system can’t do it’. They’re always helpful and have an answer for everything.”

*EliteParks is the only holiday park management software solution to offer a fully integrated finance solution

Holiday parks today are in the midst of a digital awakening…

Not only are they recognising the importance of investing in technology, but also that there are alternative software solutions out there that will grow with them and drive their businesses forward. After many years, tech inertia in the holiday park industry is now firmly in the back seat, which is great news for their growing number of customers who expect to be communicated with instantaneously and across various platforms.

As a family owned holiday park operator, giving the customer what they want and delivering an all-round excellent customer experience is always the top priority for Coastfields. Their largest holiday park, Grange Leisure Park in Mablethorpe, has undergone massive investment including adding a new luxury countryside lodge development, with more lodges for hot tub stays being planned in the future.

“We’re always expanding, with the likelihood of people not going abroad due to the impact of COVID, this presents a positive opportunity for the British Holiday Park industry. That’s why we’re investing in new fleet and adding to the existing fleet accommodation so we can cater for everyone whether they’re new to holiday parks or have enjoyed this type of holiday before.”

“The Elite software solutions also gives us new and improved ways to communicate with both our owners and holiday customers through CRM and the Owners app. We’ve already had Sales staff say they’re expecting to make more sales from using EliteCRM as it’s much more professional in managing appointments and sending reminders to follow up prospective customers.”

“We’ve also got our Owner app going live soon, which will be great for our owners and we’re looking at other ways we can use this including our market traders who all have different sized units and pay different rents. Without any doubt, the software better futureproofs our business.”

There’s nothing the team at Elite Dynamics like more than being able to demonstrate how having the right technology in place can make a positive difference to a holiday park’s bottom line. Sometimes in ways that you wouldn’t even have considered.

“When I put pen to paper and looked at costs over five years, you start to get payback as a project.”

Reducing business costs and improving efficiency…

As standard, having the right software in place should help businesses reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Coastfields is experiencing exactly that.

“We’ve integrated the EPOS sales into the software, which previously could take us up to two to three days a week in the height of the season. Now it takes around two hours as it downloads all the data straight into EliteParks and posts it through to the financial ledgers. We also invoiced all the site fees in five minutes, which usually takes two to three days so it’s no surprise that the new software has been well received across the business!