As winter approaches, it’s great to reflect on the success of your summer season while sitting by a fire, drinking hot cocoa. You look forward to a little break after a busy summer, and you certainly deserve it. While you are taking that time this winter, it is also important to be thinking about next summer.
It’s quite common for people to book for their next summer vacation in the winter. As a business owner who specializes in offering awesome summer experiences, being prepared is key. Here are a few simple tips to help you get ready for your summer this winter.
Review the Data from the previous season. Take the time to review how the business did in sales and bookings from the past season. If you utilized an online booking system, like WebReserv, then you will be able to access reports to gather this data. WebReserv has a complete reporting section that allows you to run reports specific to Reservations, Sales, Transactions, and Utilization. These reports will give you valuable information on how to price and advertise for the next season. To access reports in WebReserv, go to Frontdesk – Reports.
Get your Booking System Working while you are Relaxing. The best option to allow your customers to book early for their next vacation is to have a booking system that will take bookings 24/7, 365 days a year. The WebReserv booking system can do this, and permits you to set it up so it can take advanced booking for next year (or even the year after). After you’ve summarized the data from last season, make the changes to your offerings such as adding new rentals, update pricing, or refresh your descriptions and pictures of your current items.
In WebReserv, follow these steps below.
- Confirm that your Rates are valid through the following year. To check go to Setup – Rates – Rate Lists.
- If your rates will remain the same as this year, then you can simply ensure that the current rate list goes through next year (or beyond).
- If your rates will change, create a new Rate List for the upcoming year and add your updated rates.
- Ensure that your Rentals are up to date with descriptions, pictures, and booking rules so guests can book for next season. To make changes, go to Setup – Products & Reservation Rules, and select your product to edit. You through the setup pages and make changes. Pay attention to the Description, Pictures, and Reservation Rules pages.
Prepare for the Holiday Season. Consider offering gift cards, so your customers can purchase during the winter for their friends and family. It’s been shown that more and more folks like giving the gift of experiences to their loved ones during the holidays. This is great news for you since you offer the experiences that people are looking for. See more details here: Give the Gift of Experiences. WebReserv offers you the ability to set up gift cards for purchase throughout the year.
Spruce up your Website. Once you’ve made the necessary updates, improvements and additions to the booking system, make certain that your website information reflects any changes you made for next season. Add new pictures, update a pricing page, and review the booking page to make sure it’s working to book today for next summer. A good idea is to have a ‘Book Now’ button on each page of your website so customers who are reviewing your page can easily book once they are ready.
Want to know more? If you are currently in the market for a new booking system that can help you manage your rentals all year round, give us a try. We offer an affordable, user friendly booking systems. Our latest booking platform, WebReserv 2.0 is a great option for rental and tour operators.
Need help? As a current WebReserv customer, reach out to us if you have questions or need assistance with helping you prepare for your next summer. We’re here to help.
Happy Winter!
Leave a Comment