So, what is an Online Booking System? And why even use one?

By Brian Schmitz & Dave Olson, Resort Forward

​An online booking system is an automated software solution that allows your guests to book and pay for a reservation though your website. In addition, it should give you the best tools to run and scale your resort, all in one place.

If your resort has gotten this far without any such system, you might be thinking to yourself: do I even need one? I’m getting enough reservations already; my calendar is already booked for 2022. Why would I bother taking on that extra expense?

Well, let us ask you this: is your email inbox overwhelming at times? Are you tied to your desk all day? Does your phone ever stop ringing? Are you drowning in post-it notes, waivers, and booking forms? Are your Excel documents getting harder to understand with in-depth formulas and messy mistakes? How much manual work are you putting into the same tasks every day/week/month? Your time is valuable and if you find yourself doing the same task over and over, it might be a good time to look at automating these things with software.

​Let’s look at just a few of the things an online booking system can do to help make your life a little easier.

1. Always available for reservations.
   
   Having an online booking system means your resort is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Allow your guests to make reservations on their schedule, not yours. Allowing potential guests more flexibility to book on their terms, and with greater ease, results in increased revenue for your resort.
   
   
2. Offers more security and flexibility.
   
   A web-based booking system, while it may seem strange, is a far more secure solution as your information is not just confined to a desktop computer. Your business can now follow you! Just like your guests, who can book on the go, you can run your resort on the go. A web-based booking platform enables you to use your mobile phone/tablet to manage reservations and any other resort- based activity you are tracking within your platform.
   
   
3. Reduces your workload.
   
   Your time is valuable! Manually entering data takes more time than you anticipate. You should not have to be chained to your desk or tied to your phone as a resort owner. An online reservation system can help you save time by tackling dull, repetitive tasks — whether it’s sending emails, creating reports, or updating current availability. Everything is kept up to date in real time allowing your staff to focus on more important things — like your guests and having a healthy work-life balance.
   
   
4. Creates a more enjoyable guest experience.
   
   The right reservation software speeds everything up, from book- ing to check-out. In just a few steps guests can book, pay, and sign any required documents while getting a confirmation email in their inbox right away. All of this being done ahead of time helps create a smoother overall experience for your guests while they are at your resort. Automated emails allow guests to keep up to date with your latest resort new or deals!
   
   
5. Provides important insights into your resort.
   
   Let the program automatically create reports for you, in real time! Since a quality booking software should keep track of every reservation and all the information included in it, you can easily see reports when you would like without having to manually create them. You can see what units and boats are making you the most money. Better understand your total sales and guest details. A quality booking software should be able to create any type of report your resort relies upon to operate effectively.

I already have reservation software; how do I know if I should switch?

There are some clear red-flags and markers to watch for when trying to determine if your current reservation software is right for you.

1. Is it desktop based? – This means, does it live on your computer in any fashion. This is not ideal since if anything happens to your computer, your data is gone. A web-based solution is reliable, scalable, transferable, and mobile.
   
   
2. Is this primarily hotel software? If so, you will constantly be trying to fit your unique resort needs into their hotel specific product (round hole square peg!). This may even have you starting to change the way you run your resort to fit your software platform (not good!).
   
   
3. Does your reservation software company work with you? Who knows better about what is needed in a resort reservation system than you, the resort owner? Therefore, your opinion on what is needed should matter. Many, systems do not take feedback, or even worse, do not have good support.
   
   
4. Does it keep you in contact with your guests? Your platform should have the ability to send out emails or text messages based on certain criteria that you can set up. For example, a deposit is due email sent 20 days before they book with a web link for them to pay with.
   
   
5. Is the product scalable? This can be hard to determine. Basically, this means, is the product evolving with the ever-changing technology landscape. A product that seemed great 3 years ago, can quickly become outdated. If your product seems unchanged and/or they are not taking your feedback, you may find yourself looking for a new product with 1-3 years. Find a product that is focused on the small-to-medium sized resort space that will grow with you!

​Of course, any new software is going to take some time to set up and there is always a learning curve involved for you and your staff. But the best software companies should provide you with all of the support you need to make the transition as easy and as smooth as possible. With an estimated 700 million people expected to make an online booking by 2023, and 83% of U.S. adults wanting to book their trips online, the time spent incorporating a reservation software that makes the most sense for your resort will be time well spent.

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About the Author:

Resort Forward is a valued Associate Vendor Member of WHLA. Brian Schmitz and Dave Olson are the co-owners of Resort Forward by Banter Software.
​
[email protected]
www.resortforward.com/info

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