Long Cove Resort & Marina (NC): How Marina One by LockTrust streamlined operations, boosted slip revenue, and delighted guests
At‑a‑Glance
- Location: Lake Wylie, North Carolina
- Business: Full‑service marina & resort (wet slips, boat rentals, retail – concessions, RV -cabins rentals, events)
- Employees: 12-20 seasonal and full‑time
- Inventory: 112 wet slips, 0 moorings, 15 dry storage
- Marina store
- Go‑Live: [11, 2019]
- Core Modules: Automated Invoicing & Billing, Member Management, Retail & Concession POS, Event & Parking Management, Online Bookings, Reporting & Reconciliation
- Integrations: QuickBooks Online, Payment Processing by LockTrust
With Marina One, month‑end no longer hijacks our week. Our team is on the docks helping guests – not buried in spreadsheets.
— Owner, Long Cove Resort & Marina
The Challenge
Long Cove operates a busy, mixed‑use waterfront destination. Before Marina One, the team managed slips, rentals, retail, and events across separate tools and spreadsheets. Common pain points included:
- Fragmented Billing: Seasonal and annual slip renewals required manual prorates, discounts, late fees, and metered utilities—leading to errors and write‑offs.
- Limited Self‑Service: Tenants and boaters had to call or email for renewals, statements, and payments, creating back‑and‑forth delays. Everything is automated
- POS Silos: The retail shop, and concessions used separate registers with nightly manual totals; reconciliation to the GL was slow and error‑prone. Cash is no longer accepted and loss has dropped to “0”
- Event & Parking Rushes: Holiday weekends and tournament days overwhelmed staff; paper passes were easy to duplicate and hard to track. QR code payment are fast and simple , Losses have stopped
- Reporting Gaps: Leadership lacked unified visibility into slip occupancy, AR aging, and per‑cap spend by guest segment.
The Solution: Marina One by LockTrust
Marina One consolidated Long Cove’s core workflows in one platform:
- Automated Invoicing & Billing
Auto‑generate recurring invoices for slip leases with taxes, utilities, late fees, and deposits; send reminders; offer pay‑in‑full or installments; support surcharges or convenience fees where permitted. - Member & Tenant Management
Central profiles with documents (COIs, registrations), e‑sign lease renewals, self‑serve portal for payments, statements, and work orders. - Retail & Concession POS
Unified catalog for snacks, apparel; pump‑to‑POS integration; tip prompts; end‑of‑day Z‑reports auto‑reconciled to accounting. - Events & Parking Management
Digital passes with QR validation; capacity limits; tiered pricing; bundled marina guest perks. - Online Bookings (Transient)
Real‑time inventory, deposits, and automated confirmations; upsells for power, or late checkout. - Reporting & Reconciliation
Occupancy dashboards, AR aging, revenue per slip, per‑cap spend, and settlement reports—exportable to QuickBooks.
Implementation & Change Management
Timeline: 3- 4 weeks
Week 1 — Discovery & Data
- Exported legacy tenant lists, rate tables, taxes, products, and GL mapping.
- Defined invoice schedules, proration rules, and utility fee logic.
Week 2 — Configuration
- Set up modules, payment flows, and permissions.
- Built custom invoice templates and dunning cadence.
- Configured POS stations for fuel dock & retail.
Week 3 — Migrations & Testing
- Imported slips, tenants, balances, and contracts.
- Test invoices (UAT) across seasonal/annual plans; POS test transactions; event ticket flows.
Week 4 — Training & Go‑Live
- Role‑based training for office, dock, retail, and management.
- Parallel run for first invoice cycle; LockTrust hyper‑care during opening holiday weekend.
Outcomes
Billing & AR
- Automated renewals , lifted on‑time payments to 98% and cut DSO by 10 days.
- Error rate on invoices dropped to <1%, reducing write‑offs.
Revenue Uplift
- Cross‑sell prompts added power hookup, pump‑out, trailer storage, and late checkout at checkout, contributing +12–18% slip revenue lvs. prior season.
- Event & parking passes with dynamic pricing increased non‑slip spend by 8–12%.
Operations
- Single‑source reporting cut reconciliation time by 35–50%.
- POS consolidation saved 2.3 hours/day at the fuel dock and retail during peak.
Guest Experience
- 24/7 self‑service portal reduced inbound billing calls by 40% and boosted NPS to 64.
What the Team Loved
- “One login, everything we need.” Front‑of‑house and back‑office work from the same source of truth.
- “Invoices that make sense.” Taxes, utilities, and deposits are calculated consistently.
- “Stress‑free big weekends.” Digital event/parking passes smoothed arrivals during holidays.
Tech Stack
- Platform: Marina One (LockTrust)
- Payments: LockTrust Processing (cards, ACH)
- Accounting: LockTrust + QuickBooks Online
- Email/SMS: Built‑in notifications + Microsoft
About LockTrust Marina One
Marina One centralizes marina operations—automated billing, POS, member management, events/parking, and analytics—so teams spend less time reconciling and more time serving guests.