Time saving. Cost effective. Informative. Helpful. Dynamic.
When the Town of Tecumseh opted to utilize a Google virtual tour a little under a year ago, the positive impact of the decision was immediately evident.
“My initial thoughts were that the public would really enjoy this,” explained Town of Tecumseh recreation clerk Shannon. “History has shown us that the public prefers to do things at home, rather than make a trip into an office.”
Tecumseh’s virtual tour is a real-time time saver, allowing potential clients to virtually step inside the facilities they wish to book without leaving the comfort of their home.
The seamless efficiency offered by the Google virtual tour also works to the advantage of the town itself, enabling employees to arrange these bookings without bringing an immediate halt to whatever task they are currently working toward completing, significantly increasing productivity.
“The virtual tour is an absolute time saver,” Kadar said. “I use the Google virtual tour feature on a daily basis. Whenever I send a contract to someone or an email to someone, I always include the link to our virtual tour. When a resident wants to come in to view the rooms in person, it can sometimes take hours out of my day to walk them around to all of the areas and show them all the different rooms and ice rinks that we rent.”
With the Google virtual tour option, Kadar can do the same without leaving her chair, and the same goes for every prospective client.
“When someone calls to inquire about a room rental, or they want to rent the ice rink, I give them two options,” Kadar said. “They can make a trip in to see me in the office, and I will physically tour them around to all of our facilities.
“For some of our facilities, they would have to pick up a key to go and see that facility in person, and then return that key to me, which can sometimes take hours. Or, they can take option two. That would be to use our new virtual tour feature, where they can check out all of our rooms and the links to our arena from the convenience of our own home.”
Overwhelmingly, Option 2 is the front runner when decisions are made. The Google virtual tour offers not only convenience to prospective clients, but also peace of mind and the opportunity to take their time and be absolutely certain before making a choice.
“They can spend as much time as they want from the convenience of their home studying the room, the decor, accessibility features, as opposed to coming in to view it in person, where time is limited,” Kadar said. “They can even view our parking lot, and our inside lobby area.”
For people seeking to plan an event, they can easily see the lay of the land in the facility they are planning to rent, and are able to visualize exactly how they will be able to set up the room for their occasion. Out of town visitors are able to view facilities such as the arena and familiarize themselves with the place before arrival.
The numbers back up the advantages offered by the Google virtual tour, and emphasize how the residents have embraced the option.
The 87 spheres of the Tecumseh Arena have been viewed 28,000 times in nine months. The Tecumseh pool’s 11 spheres show 8,000 views in seven months, while the jewel of the town, Lakewood Park has seen its 15 spheres viewed 21,000 times in just seven months.
A Google virtual tour can do the same for your municipality, but don’t take our word for it.
“I would highly recommend the Google virtual tour feature to any municipality,” Kadar said.
To view the tours on Google Maps click on the links below:
Tecumseh Arena: https://goo.gl/maps/skCm72ZK2m82
Town of Tecumseh Pool: https://goo.gl/maps/G11xh6NGy3y
Lakewood Park: https://goo.gl/maps/yr9UEExdZ5H2
St. Clair Beach Community Center: https://goo.gl/maps/nc4nDJNxPFN2