Your website is optimized, social media profiles are active and regularly updated. What else is left? ๐ค
Start by wondering how the booking process looks from the guestโs perspective.
Youโll be well-positioned to gain even more direct bookings.
Challenging Organization
Online booking has become essential for hoteliers and vacation rentals who wish to offer their guests a pleasant online experience.
The uses of booking engine systems are numerous, making them ideal for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
24/7
The booking engine system works all the time, increasing your sales.
Your potential guests will be able to make bookings seven days a week, regardless of the working hours.
Smart insights
Keep track of each reservation and related details.
Quality Booking Engine systems are equipped with analytic tools, empowering you to understand your guests better and improve your sales and marketing strategies.
Higher revenue
The Booking Engine system will improve your hotel, apartment, hostel, or camp occupancy.
It will also enable booking through social media and increase revenue thanks to upselling possibilities.
Reduced workload
Synchronized booking information reduces the workload for you and your staff.
It also ensures availability is correctly updated. After confirmation, the reservation is safely stored in your system.
Direct Bookings โ Best Bookings.
Provide your guests with a simple, smooth and secure booking experience and increase your conversion rate.
Less is more โ a simple booking process.
A study conducted by Google and Deloitte showcased that 0.1s website load speed improvement can increase conversion rates by 10.1% for the travel industry. ๐คฏ
Improving basic functionalities will make your website load quicker, keeping your guest focused on making a booking. Speeding up the online direct booking process can be easily achieved by attention to detail and the right technology.
Your booking engine should play a focal role in achieving a smooth booking process.
Remove frictions
Friction is any part of the process that negatively affects the guest experience.
When guests visit your homepage, your ultimate goal is a booking confirmation. Display your availability and the Book Now button so guests donโt get confused and click away.
Even if youโve created a simple, user-friendly booking process, everyone can look for help sometimes. Giving your guests accurate and helpful information will go a long way. Viewing contact information is an easy way to let guests know how customer support is available. But even that is a step too far for a younger generation. Used to instant responses, this generation could give up if they canโt get help promptly.
Connecting Facebook Messenger to Rentlio Booking Engine will allow your guests to quickly reach you in case of questions during the booking process.
Design
A well-structured booking engine, which creates a harmonious overall impression, encourages booking.
Colour schemes and fonts, an optimized header, and a displayed logo are essential factors that will make the booking engine pleasing to the eye.
At least thatโs how it should be.
Check what Rentlio Booking Engine looks like here and here.
Photos and visuals
Attractive and high-quality images of your apartment, hostel, hotel or campground will give your guests the opportunity to imagine themselves enjoying an afternoon on your terrace.
An online booking process showing guests what theyโre getting creates a more compelling experience for travellers looking for that picture-perfect destination.
Ascending order
Many choose to book directly to take advantage of the guaranteed best price and lowest rate.
Place the lowest rate at the top of the list and sort by price in ascending order. It will provide your guests with an uncomplicated booking experience.
Recommendations for wellness or gastro arrangements will enrich your offer, as well as the entire reservation process. The same goes for choosing a payment option.
Few required fields
Ask for meaningful mandatory fields in the data query โ as much as necessary but as little as possible.
Also, make the booking process steps visible so the guest knows how many steps still lie ahead.
Cancellation policy
The cancellation policy for all offered rates should be clear and understandable. It will save you calls to the front desk.
Rentlio Booking Engineโs cancellation policy redesign enables more flexibility in determining fees and conditions.
You can easily define the amount charged, depending on the period of cancellation. Also, as part of the billing dynamics, you can specify when a certain booking amount will be charged. This way, guests have accurate information about the costs.
Find more about new Rentlio features on the link.
Mobile display
As more guests and travelers move away from their desktops, make sure that your booking process works smoothly on mobile devices and tablets.
Photo by Taras Shypka on Unsplash
Confirmation
Fast is good.
A quick and automatic booking confirmation email is even better.
If you still do it manually, you are doing unnecessary work. Automating such emails reduces errors by retrieving data entered by the guests themselves.
Use booking confirmation to inspire guests with photos and materials of what awaits them. Encourage them with basic information about the safety measures you are undertaking to ensure a relaxing holiday.
Reward direct booking
Offering exclusive discounts will give your guests more reason to book directly.
Encourage them towards online booking, informing them with the brochure, email newsletter or social media.
Continue the conversation
Received booking confirmation does not mean the booking process is over. Try to continue the conversation.
Send your guests a follow-up in the form of handy content, such as a helpful guide or travel advice.
(Not) Just Another Experience
The booking process should be another pleasant experience for your guests.
The guestsโ expectations have changed. Expectations are equally high regardless of the type of accommodation. That is why service optimization is necessary. The booking process is just another segment that gained additional importance due to the pandemic, among many other contactless experiences.
Do you have reason to think that your current booking process does not reflect the quality of your service?
Feel free to contact us for a free consultation ๐
