Charter fishing captains face unique struggles in their lines of work. But! With proper time management you can effectively reel in more customers, and have regular sessions booked.
Time management is a core skill for most professionals and as a charter fishing captain you know how much time you lose just in navigating offshore. How do you recover time already spent? Well, you can’t.
However you can manage the rest of your time to be more efficient, effective, and to improve your client’s satisfaction.
Time Slot Pro is a great tool for fishing Captains that do not want to have to answer their phone while out on a charter or miss client bookings because they are cutting bait. Instead let clients check your live schedule, book a time slot and pay you online with Time Slot Pro.
Schedule Time for Your Client’s Rate of Learning
A lot of people get the itch to have their own “Deadliest Catch” experience and have no prior knowledge. Or worse, have never been offshore and don’t understand the factors that come with being on a charter boat.
If you get the seasoned fisherman who just wants a few days of fun while on a trip that’s great. But the premier client doesn’t come along every day. Odds are you find yourself juggling the duties of a teacher and captain on a regular basis.
How do you manage this? Scheduling!
Ask your client when they are booking, or if they’ve booked online or through an app when they arrive, how experienced they are. You may lose thirty-minutes to an hour with someone who has gone out a few times, and maybe an hour and a half on someone who has never been charter fishing before.
Taking the time onshore to go over safety expectations, a code of conduct and basic jargon can help ensure everyone has a good time. Clients who feel they are getting more than just a taxi ride are more likely to book again and recommend your charter boat to others.
Use Downtime!
The time spent navigating offshore varies widely. If you were out the day before and know where the fish are then it could be efficiently navigated for peak time. However, if you’re setting up for an all-day charter and need to find out where the bite is it may take a bit more time.
With delegating you can utilize some of your crew to help your clients learn to understand the ins and outs of fishing while you are scoping out a prime spot to anchor.
Scheduling, Booking, and Invoice Writing
No captain enjoys the administrative side of the trade. Hand-writing invoices, although outdated and tedious to find later is often the easiest at the time.
On top of it, scheduling and booking have become even more difficult with unreliable websites. Instead, accomplish all of these tasks with a single app, Time Slot Pro.
This powerful app allows regular or potential clients to book appointments through an app that you can see directly. No checking into a site or checking your email constantly. It can also be a service for your clients to pay you!
Take the hassle out of writing out invoices and processing payments. Instead, let the app do it for you. Not only is this easier for your, but clients often find that paying through a mobile app is more secure and safe for them as well.
Build Meaningful Challenges with Your Clients
Clients become frustrated and don’t rebook when they go back to shore empty-handed. If they saw a marlin or blue and experienced a line breaking or subpar bait they probably won’t be back.
If you notice that the waters are having an off-day, focus on challenging your client’s time. Rather than heading back to shore with both of you feeling like the day was wasted use time to open discussion, and promote challenges.
Your experienced clients know that not every day out is going to be a smash hit. They take it with a grain of salt. But if you have new anglers on the boat and want to book them consistently, try challenges like jackpot weigh-ins or sac weigh-ins.
Getting the newbies involved can take over time that would otherwise feel like it was spent doing nothing.
