SAFRA Punggol required an effective solution to manage its club’s operations and efficiency, engage its members, and at the same time balance its image as SAFRA’s premier ‘smart club’. By implementing GTRIIP’s document-less verification systems, the club is now able to improve on these gaps, and allow for it to focus on the core of its business - relationships with their members and guests.
ABOUT SAFRA Punggol
Nestled in the scenic Punggol Waterway Park, SAFRA Punggol is a five-story club featuring unique play and enrichment options for its members. It is an ideal destination for NSmen and their families to have fun and unwind with a wide range of lifestyle facilities and programmes. The club features the first indoor water playground in Singapore, sports facilities, and an exciting suite of fitness and leisure choices - a gym, bowling centre, KTV outlet, electronic darts bar, yoga studio and spa and wellness centre.
CHALLENGES
SAFRA Punggol is part public facility, part member club, of which the latter would require gating mechanisms to preserve exclusivity for its members. Previous gatekeeping measures to these member-only areas were inefficient - requiring members to physically queue and exchange a pass at the concierge, and to return the passes once they are done.While the team explored different alternatives to solving this challenge, such as through the existing membership cards, it often added up to be cost-ineffective. As a member club, data privacy and security was also a priority, and the club required a solution that offered no compromise of these sensitive information. After considering many different options, the SAFRA Punggol team then decided on the idea of using the members’ personal mobile devices as a means to solve the issue.
“We had thought of the idea of using mobile devices, but we had not explored the possibility of using it as a mobile key. When we first heard of GTRIIP’s capabilities, our team was naturally excited about the prospects and potential they could bring.”
SOLUTION
GTRIIP introduced a document-less verification system for SAFRA Punggol, where members are able to validate their identity and status as a club member without the need for any documents or physical registration. This was done through the biometric scanners on the personal mobile devices, allowing users to access facilities conveniently.This greatly enhanced the club’s security, manpower restraints, as well as receiving feedback from the members on its enhanced exclusivity. The system also proved a cost-effective solution to their longstanding issue, and was complementary with the property’s vision of achieving its image as a ‘smart club’.
“We were amazed by GTRIIP’s portfolio of existing customers, and it was assuring to know that it has been deployed in many other properties and facilities.”
RESULTS
The benefits that GTRIIP brought were enjoyed by the different stakeholders. For the members, they were impressed with the facilitation and convenience the technology brought, and complimented the club’s forward-looking initiatives.The members also have a greater peace of mind, knowing the areas specially segmented for them were properly gated. While only a small percentage of their older members saw initial resistance to the new technology, the staff required minimal time and effort to convey the added benefits to them. GTRIIP also offered alternative solutions to users without biometric-enabled mobile phones, either through specially-generated passcodes or physical access cards.Customer service officers at SAFRA are now able to better focus on their roles in engaging their members, further improving the club’s focus on service orientation. SAFRA Punggol is now also the only SAFRA club to have a guest relationship officer, whose role is to roam around the club addressing any issues and engaging the visitors at public areas and facilities - something that was only possible as GTRIIP enabled SAFRA to optimise its manpower.Many of the club’s employees also have mental pressure relieved off them, and they are able to focus more on improving the club rather than be tied up with administrative tasks.
“GTRIIP has furthered our claim as a ‘smart club’ using technology to our advantages - especially so as most of the visitors living in the Punggol estate are younger and IT-savvy. This has not only improved our day-to-day operations, but also our club’s overall image and branding."
