it's a trap! escape room
Bookeo Case Study
With its own uniquely theatrical approach, It’s A Trap! is challenging the standard escape room business model. The Florida company has been using Bookeo since opening its doors in Winter Park less than two years ago, and seeing remarkable growth ever since. Owners Debra and Alex Beardsley already have enough business to support 12 on-call thespians who perform live in games like “Magic Mirror” and “Super Villain.” With 95% of their bookings coming in online through Bookeo, they’re glad it’s affordable and that it doesn’t alienate new customers with off-putting extra fees. The Beardleys also count on several of Bookeo’s features: The new API, easy customized add-ons, a clean dashboard that streamlines internal communications, and reliably continuous data backup - which once literally saved the day when they accidentally deleted a game.
BOOKEO CASE STUDY | It's a Trap! | Copyright © 2016 Bookeo Pty Ltd | www.bookeo.com
“Bookeo is super-affordable. Other booking systems charge some percentage on top of the ticket price” - Debra Beardsley, It’s A Trap!
"Bookeo’s backup system was able to restore data we accidentally deleted." - Alex Beardsley, It’s A Trap!
Alex and Debra's story Before opening It’s A Trap!, Debra Beardsley was an immersive theatre production manager in New York City. She worked closely with an innovative theatre company that was breaking the dynamics of traditional theatre to get audiences up and interacting with performers. Alex Beardsley has been a software engineer for the last nine years, a career he continues while serving as part time technical expert and understudy at It’s A Trap!. Being an avid gamer has also contributed significantly to the company’s fun, original style. The Beardleys liked New York, but wanted to return to their Orlando hometown and start their own business. One day they went to an escape room for fun. “It was there that the light bulb clicked,” says Alex. “We realized we could do this, really theme it out, and do it better.”
"It's very easy to create a new game and have it be exactly what I need it to be." - Debra Beardsley, It’s A Trap!
The Challenges Deb and Alex didn’t start out business-savvy, so nearly every aspect of opening the company was new to them. For example, keeping track of all the different options in their regular, team building, and kids’ games was cumbersome and tricky. The developer in Alex knew they needed a system that would streamline the consumer experience and encourage signups with an intuitive, informative system that offered customized options and add-ons. When shopping for online booking systems, Alex and Debra noticed that some charged a percentage or flat fee for every sale. These fees were sometimes charged to the merchant and other times to the customer. They immediately liked Bookeo's low flat monthly fee: it gave them a way to offer a fully comprehensive online booking experience at a price they can afford, with no additional fees charged to the customer.
“A big thing for us is being able to set our own fees that go back to the customers.”
The Solutions As a software designer, Alex thinks in terms of the user experience. The couple doesn’t like the idea of having their new customers land on their site and have to pay more than they’d planned. Debra continues: “When you add tax, plus a convenience fee, plus a processing fee because part of it goes back to a booking company - that ends up totaling a lot. Suddenly your $25 ticket is $33 or $34.” The Beardsleys like that Bookeo lets them set their own fee structure without adding any extra fees. It’s A Trap! does a lot of team building, as well as kids’ birthdays and other special events. These were so popular from the start that Debra and Alex realized quickly that they needed to create separate game categories for them. Now Debra says that with Bookeo, “there is no forgetting to input something, no putting in the wrong price, or other little mistakes". When they get an email saying, ‘We want to do a team building on this day at this time', it takes less than one minute to go in and add a time to that game.
“With Bookeo, it takes less than one minute to add a time to a game.”
“When I did the trial, Bookeo seemed really robust”
"It was nice to have someone actually go into my account and look at my situation and be able to tell me the best way to do it”
Alex did his due diligence before choosing their online booking system. “I really like that Bookeo has an API now,” he says, “We definitely take advantage of that.” Bookeo has “a lot of good features [including] add-ons.” Since It’s A Trap! distinguishes itself with live actors and add-ons like personalized date night tokens, “Sidequest” scavenger hunts, and customized puzzle clues, Bookeo’s easy add-on feature is a big deal for the Beardsleys. As for Bookeo’s setup and customer service, the Beardsleys are more than pleased. While setting up their system, Alex says he appreciates that he could send a quick email asking simply “ 'What’s the best way for me to do this?', someone at Bookeo would look at my account and say, ‘Okay, the best way is to do X, then Y, then Z'.’’ These days Alex and Debra rarely have a question or need help, but they appreciate knowing that Bookeo’s ready 24/7 to respond quickly with an answer that’s informed by It’s A Trap!’s unique model.
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