Is your B&B or Self Catering business fully booked? Are you losing potential visitors because you don’t have online booking so they have to email or call you to book their stay?
With more and more people booking online, can you really afford to be one of those businesses that still requires holiday makers and potential visitors to contact you directly?
As many as 80% of people now book their holiday via the internet, a study out today (Friday) claims. Nine out of ten research their holiday online before travelling….
We all want immediacy!
We don’t want to have to wait, to have to put off booking a holiday or short break because the location we think would be perfect doesn’t offer online booking facilities.
Don’t get me wrong, there will (probably) always be that small niche group that like to phone or email directly, but that is and will continue to shrink. By catering to that market, your potential customer base is constantly shrinking.
How about visitors from outside the UK who are in a different time zone or would like to pay in their own currency? By offering online booking and availability checking, you can benefit from these foreign travellers without making them go to the inconvenience of emailing or calling you to book.
Years ago, this may have been true. However, with services like Free To Book & Guestlink offering great rates, including plans on an AdHoc basis, you can ensure running costs are kept low; as low as zero outlay if there are no online bookings made. And if there are bookings, the percentage you pay can be as low as 5% – so that means you get 95% of all bookings you may not have made without online options.
It’s Too Difficult To Add Online Booking To My Website
Website integration is pretty painless, often simply requiring an offsite (external) link to your booking page. Alternatively, there are easy options to paste a small block of code into the page and your online booking calendar is embedded into the page.
If your website uses WordPress, there are free plugins for many of the main online booking suppliers that are installed and setup in minutes.
Still not sure how it would work? Just email or call and I’ll be happy to help!
How are you currently managing your bookings? With a diary or a spreadsheet?
Using online booking calendars gives you the added benefit of having a centralised booking facility that is available anywhere you have an Internet connection. This means you could easily take bookings when outside the office, should you need to add one to ensure you don’t double book!
How about the ability to take credit card payments in advance, without the need to have a credit card machine in the office?
You also don’t need to deal with the security issues of taking online payments as this is generally part of the online booking service offered by the likes of Guestlink or Free to Book.
Is It Really Worth Losing Out?
In these incredibly competitive times, removing every barrier possible to your potential visitor is paramount to ensure they don’t go to your competitors who make the whole process of booking so much easier.
If you’d like to discuss adding online booking facilities to your website or are looking for a partner to create a beautiful, easy to use website for your Bed & Breakfast or Self Catering business, contact I-Pixel Design to discuss your specific requirements today on 01873 85 55 85.
