It is human nature to avoid the unknown because it may be dangerous. You may find yourself in a difficult situation with all its negatives. Why use then an online booking system when you can make do with a pencil and paper? The answer is simple - it can solve many of the problems you may be facing. Here are a few examples.
Your occupancy rate is too low
As a hotelier, it is your job to sell rooms and get revenue in return. Without an online booking system, you will have to rely on walk-ins, emails and phone calls only. Often they are not enough to ensure the number of bookings you want and this is especially true for large hotels. The increase in room sales can come from the use of an online reservation system. It works 24/7, allowing prospective guests to book a room anytime. In fact, research shows that most bookings are made outside of business hours so you’d better be ready.
OTA fees are serious
Spending money on OTA fees is losing money. True, OTAs help you sell more rooms, but wouldn’t you feel better if you didn’t have to spend a small fortune for their services? To lessen this burden and increase your real income, it is necessary to use an online reservation system. It will give people the freedom to book directly with you, saving you these dreaded OTA commissions.
There’s a lot of stress
Stress is a health hazard and without an online booking system you are all prone to experiencing too much of it. You will waste a good deal of time carefully tracking the reservations you receive, while trying to avoid mistakes and falling behind on other tasks, etc. - all of this will lead to dissatisfaction and even more stress. Isn’t it a high time you broke with this scenario once and for all?
Operating costs are high
Managing property’s bookings by hand will most probably involve hiring a person for this job who’s going to cost money. You can enjoy savings by installing a PMS platform that not only saves time and effort but will significantly improve your cash flow. And if the platform is cloud-based, all the better. It will surely cost you only a small portion of what you would otherwise have given to have the same amount of work done.
Upselling is hardly possible
A common practice in the hospitality industry is to offer additional services or upgrades with a booking. Without an online booking system this is next to impossible. The upgrades and services you provide will be hard to see and promote. Moreover, communication with guests will be slow and cumbersome. Who needs this? The right way to offer upselling is online at the time of booking.
No-shows cause losses
Guest no-shows are common in the hotel business and they bring nothing but losses. You are left with an empty room that you cannot sell instantly and no income. An online booking system is the way out of such situations. When needed, it can require guests to pay upfront and in case of a no-show, you get to keep some of the money as compensation. This approach will certainly reduce your losses.
To some people online booking systems may seem a luxury both very complicated and expensive to consider. In reality they are neither and can help you a great deal when running your hotel. Using them, you will effortlessly overcome the most common setbacks hoteliers face on the path to success.