PCI Compliance Saves Snowbird Resort an Average of Six Hours a Week

Business Challenge

Ski resorts are beloved getaways throughout the world and Snowbird Resort is no exception. Snowbird is a beautiful Ski Lodge nestled in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon, offering some of the best views and slopes imaginable.

It comes as no surprise that the property does a lot of business including a great deal of group business. Snowbird’s Reservations team as well as their Sales and Catering team were previously using paper processes for executing contracts, BEOs, and credit card authorizations.

Sending credit card authorization forms via email to guests, asking them to print and sign, and then either scanning or emailing back was time-consuming. On top of the exhausting back and forth for Snowbird’s Reservations team, Snowbird’s Accounting team was tasked with maintaining PCI compliance. The forms sent to guests only asked for the last four digits of the credit card. Then, to charge the card, Snowbird’s Accounting and Reservations teams would track down and call guests to retrieve the rest of the card information. A similar manual process existed for contracts and BEOs. The resort’s Sales and Catering teams would email documents for their guests to have to print and sign and then scan or email back.

Sertifi Solution

“Customers were asking us for a digital way to complete forms,” says Mike Nielsen, Sr. Hotel Accountant at Snowbird. “It was to a point where there was no excuse, we needed to offer an online solution.”

As a response to guests’ high demand for Frictionless Business, in May 2017, Snowbird launched their first Sertifi product, Sertifi eAuthorizations, for digitizing and verifying credit card authorization forms. With Sertifi eAuthorizations, credit card authorization forms are now sent to guests through Sertifi’s easy-to-use Portal. Guests can complete forms directly from the Snowbird-branded email they receive, all online from anywhere at anytime. The best part is the guests can now conveniently and securely submit their full credit card information in one fell swoop. This credit card information is instantly verified and tokenized for future billing needs.

By May 2018, Snowbird was gaining momentum and having so much success they decided to extend Frictionless Business to their Sales & Catering team by adding Sertifi eSignatures to their repertoire. When looking at expanding eSignatures to the Sales & Catering team, Snowbird was evaluating other eSignature options. The property’s decision to expand Sertifi was based on Sertifi’s experience in Hospitality and the solution being more cost effective. With Sertifi eSignatures, Snowbird’s Sales and Catering Teams are also benefiting from the digital contract process. They can send documents for eSignature, track the status of these documents, and automate friendly reminders for guests, all from the same easy-to-use Portal.

The Results

Sertifi has been a home run for not one, but three teams at Snowbird. The Accounting, Reservations, and Sales & Catering teams are all reporting benefits – but most importantly, clients love it!

Now that the Accounting team is no longer wasting time tracking down full credit card numbers, Sertifi has freed up 6 hours a week on average for the Accounting team to focus on tasks more closely aligned with their needs as a department.

Alexis Croce, Reservations Manager, says that the Accounting team isn’t the only group reaping the benefits of the Sertifi Agreement Platform. The Reservations team loves the automatic reminders. Employees are no longer spending time following up with guests to collect completed and signed forms, freeing up more time for them to do what they do best – creating an excellent guest experience!

Alexis says, “Sertifi eAuthorizations is very welcoming for both our guests and agents. Guests are more willing to complete these forms online than with paper. Overall, Sertifi saves us about an hour each!”

About Snowbird Resort

Snowbird Resort is an alpine skiing and snowboarding area, which opened in December 1971 and is nestled in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon.