The 7 Best Questions To Ask Before Buying Any Booking Engine

By Charles-Edmond RosazUncategorized
Questions booking engine

You read our article about the benefits of a booking engine and now you’re excited to start ?

Libertas heard you and did a list of 7 useful “before buying” questions!

THE TOP 7 QUESTIONS OF LIBERTAS

1- Cost of performance?

Most providers only want recurring fees or have a one-time “book-all-you-can-eat” model. 

The trouble with this model is that it creates absolutely no incentive for them to help you increase your revenues. 

It also opens up the door for what is called the “nickel and dime” approach.  

At the end, every time you want to do something to increase or improve there are new “unbudgeted” costs/fees associated with their services.

2- Can I have the informations of clients?

Firstly, you want to have this data for you, your statistics or even for a re-marketing campaign. 

You can also use it to create a special member offer and reactive old customers. Indeed, fidelisation and promotion are two powerful options for your business.

The possibilities are huge with your customer database, that’s why,  be sure to have the essential informations and always have a copy available!

3- And the speed of my Booking Engine?

As hotel manager, you want the best solutions for your customers and it’s totally normal. 

However, sometimes, you focus on what you see and not what your customer really need. I agree that a nice design is a good point but don’t forget your goal: give an easy and fast booking option of your rooms. 

The speed of the booking engine can kill a lot of sales if you don’t have a look at it.

So, here is some advices for you: 

  • First of all, make a try, do the customer road and look at the time spent.
 
  • Also, be careful of the linked booking, open a booking engine on another site can increase the loading time.
 
  • Mobile friendly or not, ask, because your customer use it to reserve, it’s a trend, don’t neglact it !
 
  • Finally, look if it’s an in-site loading. Because, some booking engine like Libertas open on your own website and it makes the difference in terms of reactivity, trust me !

4- Questions about the security?

Can I have your attention, please !  

Do you remember the recent story about a famous hotel group that has been hacked and customers database (included Credit Card) has been stolen ? 

Having a secured way to pay and trustful partner and suppliers for your hotel is vital. 

So, I hope by the time i’m speaking you all have already changed your “http” for a wonderful “https” website.  

I just want to insist on this fact for the simple reason that, hacker just need one opportunity to act. Each part of your website is a possible open door for them, included a “cheap” booking engine. 

5- Is the Booking Engine easy to use?

Do you know how a software can be hard or easy to use ?

I’m sure you have experienced both and I guess you’re not using the bad one anymore… 

For online reservation, we have to look at both sides also. Think in terms of customer experience but also in manager experience. 

If it’s a pain for you to update your booking engine daily or weekly, it will fail. If the customer has to pass a lot of times to book a room, he will desist. 

Remember, ask for a try of the platform or ask to look at websites already using it and “do the customer”. It will help you to confirm or not this point. 

6-Support, Assistance for booking problem?

A hugeeee point. the quality of the tool is vital. If you loose your booking option, you loose sale and nobody want it. 

Problems can happens, it’s a normal cycle in a digital life. Even at Libertas, we have to face sometimes urgent situations but we are always 100% involved in the process to fix it quickly. 

We have a dedicated team to support every bug, urgent situation or problem of understanding on the platform. It’s a real plus for customers and a normal engagement for us. 

Do not neglact this point because it can generate a lot of pain for you. 

Support, support, support !

7- Multiple languages available ?

Yes, maybe you don’t need it now I agree but what about having more than your native language for reservations ?

Foreign customers are always happy to be able to book in their language, trust me it’s a real plus.

To Finish, if you enjoyed this article, i’m sure will also like the one about the strategy of pricing, have a look.  And if you find it useful, share it !

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