Government of Alberta grant helps improve the guest experience journey

At WinSport, our commitment to fostering a vibrant and active community through our diverse programs and world-class facilities is unwavering.

However, more than two years ago, we identified significant gaps in our customer experience, primarily due to our outdated point-of-sale (POS) system. This system was no longer capable of managing the capacity required to service our community effectively, leading to barriers that hindered access to our programs and services.

Thanks to our aging POS system, it became clear that the guest experience journey, which starts long before visitors arrive at our park and begins with their online connection with us, was severely lacking. The challenges became even more pronounced during the pandemic, which exposed the significant flaws in our system and the inadequacy of the patchwork fixes we had in place. The feedback from our community through guest satisfaction surveys confirmed that one of the top detractors to their experience was the frequent crashing of our system, causing frustration and delays.

This is where the Government of Alberta’s Community Initiatives Program (CIP), through its Project-Based Funding stream, made a transformative difference. We are incredibly grateful to receive this grant from the CIP, which offset the significant costs of implementing a new, state-of-the-art, point-of-sale system.

The new POS system, which launched this past winter season, revolutionized the way we serve our community on our Canada Olympic Park campus. It has enabled us to deliver a seamless home-to-park experience, manage our inventory more efficiently, and provide a more secure and user-friendly platform for our guests. This upgrade has allowed us to better manage our resources, identify opportunities for growth, and, most importantly, enhance the overall guest experience.

With this new system, we have been able to:

• Streamline operations: By improving efficiency and reducing the time spent on transactions, both online and on-site.
• Enhance guest satisfaction: By minimizing system crashes and reducing the time spent by guests booking and accessing services.
• Support our Team: By providing our Team Members with reliable tools that allow them to focus on delivering exceptional customer service rather than troubleshooting technical issues.

The support from the Government of Alberta has come at a crucial time. It has enabled us to address the technological gaps that have long been a barrier to our mission, which provides inclusive opportunities for Canadians to discover, develop and excel at sport and physical activity through world-class training, legendary facilities, and exceptional experiences.

This grant has allowed WinSport to invest in the future of our community and ensure that everyone can enjoy the full benefits of our programs and facilities without unnecessary frustration or delay.

We are thankful that the Government of Alberta has recognized the importance of our mission and provided the necessary resources to help us better serve our community.