Configuring Tour Bookings

WebReserv.com is a highly configurable booking system. It can be used for virtually any type of bookings that you need for your business.

This post describes how to configure tours with WebReserv.com.

Creating a tour

In WebReserv.com, a tour consists of the following information:

• The tour itself – name, description, pictures, reservation rules.
• Schedules – describes when a tour can be booked
• Rates or prices – describes what a tour cost

To create a tour, log on to your WebReserv.com account and select Setup - Products & Reservation Rules and select Add product. On the description page, enter a name and a description of the tour and click save and continue.

On the reservation type page, select fixed schedule and click save and continue. This will tell the booking system that you will provide the schedule for the tours.

Select fixed schedule

The next page is the scheduling page. This is the page where you will add one or more schedules that your customers can book. The schedule page consists of two sections: a list of already defined schedules and a section to add new schedules. When you create a new tour, both sections will be empty:

Schedule list (empty)

Adding one or more schedules is easy. The booking system has the ability to repeat schedules daily, weekly or monthly. The Outback tour in this example is every Sunday in November 2009 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. To add the schedule, enter the start date and time and end date and time for the first schedule:

In the title field, you can specify a title. If you don’t specify a title, the system will show the date, start time and end time for this schedule. You can use the codes @startdate, @starttime, @enddate and @endtime instead of writing a specific time and date. This allows the system to show the correct date and time for a schedule even when you do repetitive schedules.

In the example above, we have specified that the tour starts on Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 PM and ends on Sunday, November 1 at 5:00 PM and as the title it should show 11/1/09 2:00 PM.
 
Next, we specify how often and for how long to repeat the schedule. Since this tour is every Sunday for all of November, select Weekly recurrence until 11/31/09:

The last step is to click the Add schedule button. This causes the booking system to create a schedule for each tour and show the schedules in the top part of the screen:

At this point in time, you can add more schedule entries, delete existing schedule entries or simply save and continue. If for some reason you have created or deleted schedules unintentionally, you can also click previous in which case the booking system will cancel the changes.

On the next page you can upload one or more pictures of the tour:

When you have added the pictures for this tour, click save and continue.

The next screen includes all the reservation rules. The most important rule is the availability/inventory calculation. In most cases, a tour is dependent on the number of people, so select number of people and enter the maximum number of people that can be on this tour at any point in time and click save and continue.

On the next page, you can specify what information the booking system needs to get from a customer when a booking is made. Make sure that you select number of people as a required field. If you differentiate between adults and children, set number of adults/children as required as well.

Adding rates

You are now almost done with the setup. In the top menu, click the Rates menu option, and select standard rates. In the rates list, find the Outback tour and enter the price per adult and optionally child.

Don’t worry about the daily label for the rates, as long as you enter the rates in the very first column, WebReserv is smart enough to pick it up and use it as the rate for the tour. Click save and continue to save your rates.

Testing the rates

You are now ready to test the schedules. Click Frontdesk in the main menu and then select New reservation. You can enter number of adults/children (if selected) and click recalculate to see the total amount.

Your tour/schedule setup is complete and you can now start taking tour reservations with your webreserv.com booking system.

For more tips and tricks on how to set up tour bookings with your WebReserv  booking system, go to http://www.webreserv.com/resources/na/downloads/WebReserv.com-Configuring-Tour-Bookings.pdf

New booking calendar setup

The new WebReserv booking calendar setup makes it very simple to add the booking calendar to your website. To add the booking calendar to your website, log on to your WebReserv account and go to Website - Booking Calendar.

On the booking calendar page you can specify how the booking calendar will look on your website. The different options are detailed below.

Style: Specifies how you want the booking calendar to appear on your website. You can choose between Link (default), Embedded or Button. The Link and Embedded options are the two most popular methods. With the link method, you’ll get a link that you can add to your existing website. When a user clicks the link on your website, the user will be forwarded to the booking calendar where the availability can be viewed and reservation(s) can be made. The button works in the same way, except that the user will see a booking button instead of a booking link.

Booking calendar standard

The embedded option is slightly different. With the embedded option, the user will stay on your website, but will see the booking calendar inside your website. There is also a difference in what is shown in the booking calendar: when the booking calendar is opened with a button or a link, it will have a header with your business name, address, contact information and a link back to the website. The embedded calendar does not show the business information as this information usually is shown on the website.

Embedded booking calendar with listing

Include Search Dates: If this option (and include listing) is set to yes, the customer will be able to search for a specific date range to view availability and rates across all your products.

Booking calendar search

Include search dates has no effect if include listing is set to no.

Include Listing: If this option is set to yes, the customer will see a list of all products/units. If it is set to no, the booking calendar will not show a list of products, but will instead show a detailed reservation calendar.

booking calendar with no listing

Preview

After selecting the style of your booking calendar, click the preview button and a preview will be shown on the right side of the screen. If necessary, you can change the options and click preview again to see how different settings affect the booking calendar.

Booking calendar preview

Customizing colors

In many cases you’ll want to have a booking calendar that uses the same colors as your website. To customize the colors, select no to “Use standard colors“. You can customize three types of colors in the booking calendar: the text color, the background color and the border color. To change a color, simply click the corresponding color field and pick the color from the color selector. If you know the RGB code (hex) you can enter this directly in the color field.

Booking calendar color selector

After changing the colors, simply click the preview button again to refresh the preview on the right side.

booking calendar with user colors

Adding the booking calendar to your website

When you are done customizing the booking calendar, copy the HTML code from the code window on the left side of the screen and paste the HTML code into your website editor at the place where you want the link, button or calendar.

Congratulations – you have now completed the booking calendar customization and setup process.

Booking calendar embedded on website

Advanced options

For advanced configuration options, please visit the resource center at http://www.webreserv.com/resourcecenter.do and our blog at http://webreserv.wordpress.com/

New Booking Calendar

Many of you are using the WebReserv booking calendar (also called booking widget) on your website. Next month we’ll release a new and updated booking calendar with integrated date search capability.

The new booking calendar allows your customers to search for available units based on dates and quickly compare units and prices before making a reservation. It’s a significant improvement from the existing calendar, which requires the customer to select a product before they can view availability.

Similar to the existing booking calendar, the new calendar can be styled to match your website’s color-scheme so it will blend in with your website.

New booking calendar

When you link to the new booking calendar from your website, your customers will be presented with a list of your units along with a date-search field. The customer can enter or select a specific date range in the list and can quickly see what units are available and what their rates are. As with the existing booking calendar, your customers can complete the entire booking process in just a few minutes.

What happens to the existing booking calendar?
The existing booking calendar will still work the way it does today. If you want to use the new booking calendar, you will have to change the URL (Internet address) to the calendar.

Is there any cost for using this new feature?
No, the new booking calendar is included with your Gold or Multi-Location account. The new booking calendar is not available for account levels below the Gold level.

Can I use the new booking calendar for fixed schedules?
The new booking calendar will show all products, however, it will only show rates and availability for units that can be booked daily.

This sounds great, when will it be available?
The new booking calendar will be available on May 18th.

WebReserv.com Announces a Partner-Referral Program for Web Developers

ATLANTA, GA–(MARKET WIRE)–Mar 17, 2009 — WebReserv.com, an online booking service for the hospitality and recreational industries, today announced the launch of its partner-referral program for website developers. The new partnership program provides a compelling financial incentive for web developers to integrate WebReserv’s online reservation and payment functionality into their client’s websites.

WebReserv.com’s solution offers small businesses in the recreational and hospitality industries, from bed & breakfasts and vacation rentals, to RV rentals, boat rentals and even tour guides and limousine services, a customer self-service facility to book online 24×7. Businesses that use WebReserv.com can attract more business and increase customer satisfaction by removing the obstacles that commonly result from having to book over the phone.

WebReserv.com’s online booking and payment service comes in the form of a widget that offers a calendar and product selection functionality for clients to make online reservations and can be integrated into any website. WebReserv.com also includes email alerts, customer feedback forms, and other customizable features.

Web developers can learn more about the WebReserv.com partner-referral program at http://www.webreserv.com/partnerprogram.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WebReservcom-Announces-a-iw-14661860.html

WebReserv API available

The WebReserv WebServices API is available for software developers and integrators. The WebService API enables developers and integrators to integrate their application with WebReserv’s powerful online booking system and availability calendar. Using the API, developers can download reservations and update availability, thereby keeping multiple reservation systems in sync.

The WebService API provides secure communication between WebReserv.com and other applications and is compatible with virtually all development languages and platforms.

For more information please go to http://www.webreserv.com/resourcecenter.do

Introduction To Online Payments – Comparing payment options: Credit cards, PayPal and Checks/Cash

With online bookings you have several different methods for receiving payments from your customers. Which method applies to you depends on several factors, including the volume of bookings and the value of each booking.

Credit cards

Many businesses require a credit card to reserve a product or service. The reason is simple; credit cards allow the business to receive the payment right away. In most cases, the booking process is automated and will not even allow a booking to take place unless the customer provides a valid credit card.

Since credit card payments can be automated, businesses with many bookings tend to prefer this payment type. Another benefit of credit card payments is that many online booking systems keep the credit card on file. By keeping the credit card on file, the business can charge remaining outstanding deposits to the same card.

In order to process credit card payments, you must set up a merchant account for your business. The merchant account functions as a connection between the credit card companies and your bank account. Many banks provide this service, but specialized merchant account providers (also called ISO’s) may offer better terms and are typically more familiar with online payments and credit card terminals.

The one drawback with credit card payments is the cost. It is common to pay $25-$30 per month just for having the merchant account, whether you use it or not. In addition to the monthly fee for the merchant account, you will be paying a transaction fee for each transaction. The transaction fee may either be a percentage of the amount or a percentage of the amount plus a fixed fee per transaction, typically $0.30.

The transaction percentage, often called the discount rate, depends on the merchant account provider, your industry and your sales volume among other factors. It is common to have transaction fees around 2.5% – 3.5% of the total sale.

It can be worthwhile to shop around between different merchant account providers to find the best option (low transaction cost and monthly fee). However, bear in mind that you also want to use a merchant account provider or bank that understands your business and online transactions. You also want to make sure that your merchant account is compatible with your online booking system.

PayPal

PayPal was invented to create a method for people and business to transfer funds electronically without having to go through the hassle and cost of creating a merchant account. It quickly became the preferred payment mechanism for companies like eBay. Although PayPal has gained some traction outside of eBay, it is still more common for most business to accept credit card transactions over PayPal transactions.

In order to accept PayPal transactions, you have to create a PayPal account. It’s free and can be done in just a few minutes. With PayPal you can accept payments from other PayPal users. You can also upgrade to a business account and accept credit card payments from non-PayPal users. In this case, PayPal essentially becomes the merchant account for you.

PayPal charges a small fee for PayPal-to-PayPal account transfers and a larger fee for credit card payments through PayPal. For business with high volume of credit card transactions, it is worth comparing Merchant Account and PayPal rates.

There are some drawbacks of PayPal compared to credit card payments. Most importantly, PayPal payments go to a PayPal account and you will have to transfer the funds to your own bank account. While the funds are transferred around the PayPal system, and until the funds are transferred to your bank account, PayPal earns the interest, you don’t.

With PayPal you don’t have a credit card on file. This is an issue in cases where the business needs to charge outstanding deposits to the same card. With a credit card/merchant account, you can charge the balance due, but with PayPal you’ll have to ask the customer to initiate the funds transfer.

Checks/Cash

The use of checks (or cash) for deposit payment is declining for many businesses. There are two reasons for this; the use of checks delay the payment processing and introduces manual labor in the process. First you have to wait for the check to arrive in the mail. Secondly, you have to bring the check to the bank and sometimes you have to wait for the check to clear depending on the amount and the state in which the check is drawn.

In total, you should expect 10-15 days processing time for checks. The booking must be held during this time. This is important to take into considering, especially for bookings in the near future.

For example, say that a booking is made for your vacation rental one month from today. You receive the check in the mail and give it to the bank but unfortunately the check bounces. You cancel the booking. Now you only have 15 days left to rent out that same time that was held for this booking, and it will often be difficult to book another customer in such as short timeframe.

Tip: You can reduce the clearing time by requiring your customers to send a cashiers check.

Charging a deposit

You should require an initial payment, the deposit, at the time of booking. The deposit payment is a down-payment for the service and serves to keep the customer committed to the booking. If the customer later cancels the booking, some or all of the deposit may be refunded to the customer depending on your business rules.

If there is no deposit, the customer may not show up (often called a no-show) and you have lost revenue by keeping the service or unit reserved.

The deposit amount depends on the type of product or service, the value of the booking and the difficulty it will be for you to sell the same product or service later on if a customer decides to cancel a booking.

For the full article and more online payment tips, go to http://www.webreserv.com/articles/20090128

Customer reviews improve business

Customer reviews on WebReserv.com

Eight out of ten online shoppers indicated that online reviews were influential in their purchase decisions. That’s right – customer reviews is one of the most important influencers for new customers.

The new customer review feature on WebReserv makes it easy to collect customer reviews from your customers and share them with other customers. Your WebReserv account already includes this feature, so all you have to do is tell your existing customers where to post the reviews.

The customer review feature consists of two different reviews screens, one for your customers and one for your business. The customer review screen shown in the picture above can be found on your business listing on WebReserv.com. There is also a review writing section where your existing customers can post new reviews.

To help you monitor the reviews, we have also added a review section to the Frontdesk. To view your reviews, log on to your WebReserv account and go to Frontdesk – Reviews. Here you can view your customer reviews. You cannot edit customer reviews, but you can delete reviews that are inappropriate for your business.

To get customer reviews added to your business listing, tell existing customers to go to the online review section to provide a review of your business. You can find the Internet address for your review section in administration module – simply email your customers with the URL and ask them to provide a review and soon you’ll see the reviews coming in.

Transaction Report

You can now view, download and print a report containing all transactions registered in WebReserv. The report includes all automated credit card transactions, credit card transactions performed using the Virtual Terminal and Cash/Check transactions entered for each reservation.

Transaction Report

To view or print the report, to do Frontdesk – Reports – Transaction Report. Tip: All WebReserv reports can be downloaded as CSV and imported into most spreadsheets and databases.

Block all units/products

The availability calendar has been updated to support blocking of all units or all products. This feature can be used when all products/rooms/equipment needs to be blocked out for a period of time. To change availability for one or more products, go to Frontdesk – Availability Calendar.

Change Availability

Improved Reservation Search

The search filter has been enhanced to include location and product/room type selection. This makes it easier to find reservations for a certain location or product or both. The search filter will also remember the selected location and product and keep the same settings when creating new reservations or changing availability. To search for reservations, go to Frontdesk – Reservations.

Improved search filter