Digitization in the marina sector - is this a unique concept in France?

BB : To my knowledge, there is not a single sector of activity, in France or in the world, that is not impacted by the digitalization.

This revolution, which is essentially linked to usage and practices, creates the following paradox:

  • On the one hand, consumers are more and more connected, with an increased capacity to act through social networks exchanges and making digital an everyday use.
  • On the other hand, companies, with little or not enough digitalization, with a weak digital culture. (France is in 17e th position worldwide according to the Network Readiness Index 2020 [1].)

Obviously, the boating industry is no exception to this rule since boaters are also users of digital services and have acquired a certain habit of use and a certain requirement.

Naturally, this requirement is expressed and they wish to benefit from dematerialized services within a marina, which bring them more ease and comfort.

Is boating the last sector to go digital? No, I don't think so! Everyone advances at their own pace and often the starting point comes from the pressing needs of their customers. Moreover, digital technology opens up numerous possibilities for improving operational performance, simplifying the daily lives of boaters and managers alike... - it's a source of opportunities for reinventing the role of marinas.

All these combined elements mean that today there is a general awareness and acceleration of digitalization projects.

How do you work with the marinas?

BB At Falco, we have an approach that I think is quite humble and based on listening. We don't come to our clients and say, "Look! We have the perfect solution. This is exactly what you need."

The starting point of a relationship with a client is the pre-diagnosis. Understanding how they work, under what conditions, and understanding where they want to go. This allows us to bring him adapted solutions.

For me, the pre-diagnosis is materialized in two essential steps:

  • Listening to each actor of the company during individual meetings;
  • To observe in real life conditions the execution of daily tasks.

Par mon expertise « UX » (User Experience), l’utilisateur final, aussi bien interne qu’externe, est au cœur de ma démarche. Cela me permet d’identifier où sont les points de blocage, les tâches chronophages à basse valeur ajoutée, les points de crispation etc.

The goal is to identify digitalization opportunities that will enable us to gain operational efficiency while offering boaters an enriched service that meets their expectations.

A recent example: the renewal of online contracts for a 750 berth port.

The result: more than 1,500 hours of administrative work saved and a functionality massively used by boaters.

[1] https://networkreadinessindex.org/countries/france/accessed on 18/12/2020