Top tips for smoothing the booking experience

Nothing kills a potential booking faster than hidden costs, while too many options upfront can cause decision paralysis.

Here’s a couple of quick tips from Tambourine to help smooth the booking journey for your guests..

1) Want to drive guests to make quicker transactions?

Stop offering too many options to sift through!

If you’re asking guests to select a room type, choose enhancements, and add upgrades before making a reservation, you’re setting up a serious roadblock to that booking.

[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”27469″ align=”left” padding=”10″]Offering too many options to customers can cause decision paralysis.

Guests are likely to get so daunted by making the wrong decision, that they delay moving forward, putting off the decision until the next day, the next week or worse, not at all!

Scrutinise the steps you make guests go through in order to complete a booking. Do they have to choose from seven room types with similar descriptions? Do you give them too many add-on and upgrade options, such as spa treatments, bottles of champagne, flowers in the room, airport transportation, etc?

While it may seem worthwhile to let them personalise their stay, modern travellers really seek simplicity and ease. Get them to the booking faster, instead of overwhelming them and causing unnecessary delays.

Leave guests a clear path to purchase by paring down on their options

2) Want to stop hidden costs from driving customers away?

Don’t wait until guests press ‘Book Now’ in your booking engine to announce new charges.

Present all costs, including resort fees, as soon as possible. Nothing kills a customer’s trust and transaction faster than hidden costs.

By now, we all know that travellers are looking for a seamless purchase, as well as full transparency in their transactions. They want to know that by the time they pull out their credit card, they’re certain how much their room will be.

However, many resort marketers are still guilty of a grave mistake: Slipping in last-minute fees at the worst possible time – right before the customer books!

Customers will see it as sneaky and manipulative, and in return will be ruthless in abandoning any hotel that tries to spring on pesky last-minute fees.

In fact, recent studies show that 64 percent of travellers would leave your booking engine when they find hidden charges.

The buyer’s journey is fragile enough.

Smart hotels do all they can to smooth out the path to purchase and eliminate potential roadblocks. So, showcase costs, such as a resort fee or parking fees, as early as possible.

Or else, your price bait-and-switch will continue to drive customers away.