Are Check-In Services Useful for Your Business Centre?

Are Check-In Services Useful for Your Business Centre

?

We read an interesting blog post today that mentioned the use of FourSquare and it prompted us to think about how business centres providers could be utilising location based check-in services.

What are you talking about?!

OK, so lets start at the beginning. On the likes of Facebook and Twitter, people often write about where they are so now there are specific services that allow users to simply 'check-in' to a location using software on a smart phone.

So for example, you walk in to a cafe, go to the FourSquare app on your phone (which with the help of GPS / Wi-Fi knows where you are) and check-in. You'll instantly see which other of your friends is there and then also any tips people may have left, which may be along the lines of 'there is a meal deal 2-3pm, great for late lunch'.

In addition to tips others may have left, the owners of the cafe may also list special offers to encourage people to come back - e.g. 'check-in 10 times and get a free coffee'.

FourSquare is one application, there are also others including Facebook Places and Gowalla but all do roughly the same thing.

What's in it for the venue?

Publicity and repeat business are the two main things. Social Media has become somewhere that people like to shout about where they've been and so often link FourSquare check-ins to Twitter or Facebook so friends and the wider world can see where they are. So, every time they check-in to a venue they are effectively giving that venue a bit of free publicity.

If a venue is making offers to those who check in the most then they are also encouraging repeat business.

So why use it with my offices?

Perhaps business centres aren't really somewhere that you can promote loyalty (if people work there then they're going to go there every day anyway!) but you can certainly use it for publicity.

How many people come in to your building each day? Most likely it is in the hundreds. Even if less than 5 per cent of people check-in, that's still a few who could be putting your name out to their friends.

For people to actively check-in, there probably needs to be some sort of incentive - e.g. most check-ins each month gets two hours free meeting room usage. Or perhaps you could regularly update the tips to include special 'FourSquare only offers'. You'll probably also need some sort of visual stimulus to remind people - maybe a note on your visitors book or a sign at reception?

It may also help foster networking within your centre. How many times has a client said to you "I didn't know so and so worked here too?" Well, this is another way of linking your clients to one another and creating a community.

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