10.5. The Importance of Documented Reservations Procedures
The Importance of Documented Reservations Procedures
As the somewhat gruesome adage says, there is more than one way to skin a cat and this is especially true of handling Reservations in ResRequest. There are some procedures that you need to define for your company, and write-up for your staff to follow to ensure consistency in the way your company handles Reservations. For instance do you have written procedures that cover:
Cancellations,
Waitlists,
Refunds,
Documentation (what information you show on the Reservation Summary, Proforma, Tax Invoice and Itinerary and what each of those documents is for),
How you name your reservations,
What information you need to gather for bookings, which could affect statistics and the effectiveness of your marketing (e.g. guest names, source of booking, originating agent, etc.)
If not you should seriously consider doing so. This is something we can assist you with if you're not sure where to start.
Having your Reservations Procedures written down ensures consistency and the perception of professionalism, but also, and possibly even more importantly, diminishes the damage done to your business by the inevitable learning curve of new staff.