The diary by the phone
The diary has served you well for years. Every booking is in it, in your handwriting, in pencil so it can be changed. When the phone rings you open it and see at a glance what is free. When a Booking.com booking comes in, the app tells you, and you write it in. When someone books by phone, you write it in and then log into the Booking.com extranet to close that room on those dates.
In August, a family books room 2 by phone for the bank holiday weekend. You write it in. Before you get round to closing it on Booking.com, the phone rings again, then a guest needs directions, then you have to go out. Two hours later, a Booking.com booking arrives for room 2 on the same weekend.
You now have to ring one of them and explain.
Why the diary and Booking.com drift apart
The diary is the true record, but it cannot talk to anything. Booking.com is where many bookings come from, but it only knows what you tell it. Everything in between depends on you copying things across, and the more channels you add, the more copying there is.
- Every phone, email or walk-in booking needs closing on Booking.com, Airbnb and anywhere else by hand.
- Every OTA booking needs writing in the diary by hand.
- The gap between the two is where double bookings happen.
- Cancellations need undoing in both places.
- Away from the diary, you cannot answer 'are you free on the 12th?'
Many owners keep the diary because it is what they trust, and because moving to software feels like it will be harder, not easier.
What the gap costs you
Double bookings, occasionally, and the phone call you dread making. More often, dates closed on Booking.com longer than necessary because you were not sure, which means rooms you could have sold. And a constant background worry that something has not been copied across.
It also ties you to the house. The diary is by the phone, so answering an enquiry means being at home, and handing over to someone for a few days means handing over the diary and hoping.
How we move you to one calendar
- We look at booking systems that suit a small B&B, such as Freetobook, eviivo or Little Hotelier, and choose one with you, or set up the one you already have but never switched to.
- Booking.com, Airbnb and your website are connected to it, so a booking on any of them closes the room everywhere.
- Phone and email bookings are added on your phone or computer in a few taps, and the room closes on every channel straight away.
- We copy your existing future bookings from the diary into the system with you, and check each one.
- We set up a weekly or monthly view that looks like your diary and can be printed, so you can still keep paper by the phone if you want.
- Where your booking system's own screens are confusing for you, we can build a simpler page for adding and checking bookings that uses the system underneath.
| Job | With the paper diary | With one calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Phone booking | Write in diary, then close on each OTA | Add once, closes everywhere |
| Booking.com booking | Copy into diary | Appears on its own |
| Cancellation | Rub out, reopen on each OTA | Cancel once, reopens everywhere |
| Answering an enquiry while out | Not possible | Check on your phone |
We keep this as small as it can be. If all you need is your booking system set up properly, that is what we do.
The August bank holiday, next year
The family rings to book room 2 for the bank holiday. You tap it in on your phone while they are still talking. By the time you hang up, room 2 is closed on Booking.com and Airbnb. The second booking never happens, because the room is not on sale.
The diary is still by the phone if you want it, printed every Sunday from the calendar. But you no longer have to copy anything into it, and when you are out, you can still answer the phone and say yes.
Is the diary starting to let you down?
- You keep bookings in a paper diary and copy OTA bookings in by hand.
- You close dates on Booking.com yourself after phone bookings.
- You have had, or nearly had, a double booking.
- You leave dates closed online 'just in case'.
- You cannot check availability when you are away from the house.