We sat down with Emily over a green tea after her Hollywood entrance into YourParkingSpace HQ as the reigning Young Parking Professional of the Year.
Why did you decide to take on the Commercial Account Executive role?
Starting as an intern in 2016, you can imagine I’ve taken on a number of roles and responsibilities whilst at YourParkingSpace. When I was approached with the opportunity to support the Business Development team as the nominated support agent to work directly with our commercial clients, I honestly had no idea what to expect… and the feeling of both unknown and opportunity is why I took on the challenge!
What would be your greatest achievement in your role?
The relationships I’ve built with our commercial partners who not only understand the value of what we bring to their bottom line, but also want to see the industry evolve and prosper in the digital age is my greatest achievement.
What excites you about the future of parking?
As with all evolving industries and companies set out to bring innovation to the market, we as a company still face many challenges. The parking industry is years behind the adoption of digital strategy. The climb is the best part.
What can the industry do to improve mobility for drivers whilst increasing revenue generation for underutilised parking assets?
Drawing on my penalty charge notice experience, there are instances where onsite technology can, on the odd occasion, not recognise a pre-booked driver. The cause of disruption to a driver’s parking experience is predominately due to no direct integration between technologies (onsite cameras and handheld enforcement devices) which leaves the location prone to human error when manually entering (or forgetting) to enter booking details.
Whilst we have great integrations that allow the majority of our car parks to operate seamlessly with our pre-book platform that is on course to deliver £24mil for commercial car parks across the UK this year, we’re still missing some vital partnerships with operators.
The better our industry technologies can integrate, the better we can improve the customer experience and positively impact the sheer volume of bookings that are passed straight on as incremental revenue for our clients.
Why are you so crucial to the continued growth of YourParkingSpace and the parking industry?
Becoming a specialist in the driver experience gives me a unique outlook on what both drivers and our clients need to continue delivering the revenue we’ve already generated and see that grow year on year. I’m typically the first to take the stage at management meetings when reviewing client accounts and platform development requirements because I have that first-hand experience regarding pain-points.
Let’s not forget that we book our flights online through marketplaces such as Expedia and SkyScanner, we reserve our accommodation online through Bookings.com and Trivago, we even find dates via Match.com and eHarmony. In the digital age where information is available 24/7 and at our fingertips, drivers too want choice, ease of use (no fiddly, cash-only pay and display machines), transparency (will there be a space available?) and, of course, the best deal going.
We, the parking industry, have already begun our digital shift. The power of user reviews, direct customer support, and web and app applications makes YourParkingSpace an upcoming giant and an untapped opportunity for commercial locations that aren’t yet capturing this huge and differentiated online audience.
It’s a side of the business that is our greatest challenge, and of course, the most exciting for me!
