With a global pandemic, constrained operations, and perhaps a smaller staff, digital waivers are no longer just a “nice-to-have.”
Chances are – if you run an outdoor adventure tour company, a zip line challenge course, or an axe-throwing company, you are likely well-versed on why having all guests sign a waiver is a smart idea. It protects you and your company in the unlikely event a guest gets seriously injured at your establishment.
However, the advantages of switching from a paper waiver to a digital one go far beyond protecting against any sticky legal or liability issues.
Whether you run an escape room, a zip line challenge course, kayak rentals or anything in-between, we’re sharing how digital waivers can not only protect you but also help you grow your business.
What’s a digital waiver?
A digital waiver is simply a legal consent form between two parties. It is primarily used as a way to have your guests acknowledge any risks associated with being in your venue or partaking in any activities or excursions.
Digital waivers can not only protect you from any liability issues but also help you improve your business from streamlining guest experience, collecting information on all guests not just the person who made the booking, and even improve your marketing campaigns. (We’ll go into more detail on all of this later in the post.)
How do you create a digital waiver?
Creating a digital waiver is relatively simple.
For example, Xola is excited to bring customers our own in-house waiver solution – Xola Waivers – automatically included.
We also support integrations with three digital waiver solution partners, so that our customers can choose a solution that is best for their business needs. Either way, we strongly encourage bringing digital waivers to your business.
If you are interested in Xola Waivers, just log into your account, go to the App Store where you can search and install the Waivers app along with dozens of other Apps and functionality. Get started with Xola Waivers.
Pro Tip: Not a customer but interested in checking out Xola Waivers? Click here to watch a demo from one of our product specialists.
What should a waiver include?
This will depend on the nature of your business. However, at the bare minimum, your waiver should include:
- Any associated details and risks about the activities they are participating in
- Any compensation offers they are entitled to in the unlikely event they are injured
- Signatures from all active parties involved- your guests and a representative from your company
- Date the waiver was signed
Pro Tip: Make sure to account for any minors (anyone 17 and under) who will be participating. For example with Xola Waivers, you can add minors to waivers with custom messaging and specific rules and requirements for both legal guardians and minors.
You can also embed questionnaires to waivers to collect additional information, such as date of birth, height, weight, emergency contact details, etc.
Is a waiver enforceable?
Most waivers are good for anywhere from 6 months to 5 years. However, as all businesses are different, we recommend consulting with a lawyer.
What are the main advantages of digital waivers?
There are countless advantages of using digital waivers. We’re sharing 7 of the top benefits below.
Avoid any costly legal and liability issues
We’ve already touched on this earlier in the post, but it is also a key reason why digital waivers are essential. Digital waivers are designed to protect you and your business in the event a guest gets severely injured, or something goes catastrophically wrong. It is kind of like buying home insurance. You are not sure if you need it, but if a tornado levels your home in 3 years, you’ll be glad you had it.
You should hire a lawyer to look over the legalese in your digital waiver to make sure you are adequately covered and that your waiver is enforceable. Nowadays, there are even sites like RocketLawyer where you can chat with a lawyer online.
This protects you in the event Little Timmy is playing with his siblings, falls down a few stairs and breaks his ankle. The signed waiver ensures that you are not responsible for Timmy’s medical bills and his family can’t sue your company.
Minimize COVID-19 liability
You can also add a line item about any COVID-19 precautions you are taking along with any risks to your digital waivers to minimize your business’s liability. This is something that even many hair and nail salons are doing.
Offer more security than paper forms
Digital waivers cut down on user errors from illegible handwriting, careless mistakes from filling it out too quickly, typos when you are employees try to transfer it into your booking software (if that’s even supported by your software), and the inevitable coffee spill right on the paper waiver.
Today, many insurance companies require you to hold onto waivers for a minimum of 5 years. Digital waivers have structured data points that are easy to search and find in the case you do need to locate a waiver. You’re not shuffling through boxes or cabinets trying to locate the right waiver.
In addition, once a customer signs, your waiver solution can automatically send them a confirmation email with a signed copy for their reference.
It is also better for the environment since you don’t have to print out stacks of paper or worse fax or copy anything, and you don’t have to accumulate cabinet after cabinet, and then find the space to store them for the next 5 years.
Streamline guest experience
When a guest books their tour online, they expect everything to be filled out digitally, including waivers. After they book, automated confirmation and reminder emails will prompt them to fill out and e-sign waivers before they arrive.
This cuts down on lengthy guest check-in lines and results in shorter lines. So, guests can spend more time having fun on a tour or experience and less time filling out tedious paperwork or waiting in confined spaces, which increases the spread of viruses and germs.
Boost team efficiency
When you have constrained operations and perhaps a smaller team, anything you can do to automate processes and boost productivity can go a long way.
Here are just a few of the ways that digital waivers can save your team a ton of time, including:
- Send a digital waiver automatically after a guest books a tour.
- Save time by creating multiple waiver templates
- Assign one waiver across all of your listings, or tie specific waivers to individual listings.
- Send automatic reminders to guests to sign their waivers before they arrive
Collect valuable information on all guests
Another advantage to digital waivers is it gives you a legitimate reason to ask for customer information for all guests in a party and not just the person who made the booking online. This means you now have all of your guests’ names, email addresses, mailing addresses, birthdays, and ages in your CRM.
This information is super valuable and can help you get to know who your customers are better and how you can market to them effectively.
Improve your marketing campaigns
This brings us to one of the most underrated and most powerful reasons to use digital waivers. They can help you expand your customer database and run smarter marketing campaigns to build your brand and customer loyalty.
Here is just a small list of marketing tactics you can try with the customer information you have collected from digital waivers.
- Automatically sync your customers’ names and email addresses from their waiver to your email marketing platform such as MailChimp, ConvertKit, or Constant Contact.
- Send an email to all guests summing up the highlights (perhaps with photos) from their time at your venue. For example, if you are an escape room, you can email a group photo with their best time and how that compares to other guests that day, week, or month.
- Start an email or text message/SMS campaign to guests on their birthday offering them a 20% off coupon using an email marketing platform like Constant Contact or MailChimp.
- Turn existing guests into repeat customers by sending personalized emails to all guests, including photos of their experience, coupon codes, or any incentives to keep them coming back.
- Build out a custom audience of your customers’ email addresses and/or physical addresses and then run retargeting Facebook and Instagram ads.
- Build out a lookalike audience of your customers and run Facebook and Instagram ads
- Send out snail mail or postcards to your customers
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In sum, digital waivers not only help you avoid any costly legal battles, but they can also make your business more efficient and even help you improve your guest marketing and retention efforts.
Looking to get started with Xola Waivers? Just log into your account, go to the App Store where you can search and install the Waivers app along with dozens of other Apps and functionality.
Pro Tip: Not a customer but interested in checking out Xola Waivers? Click here to watch a demo from one of our product specialists.
