INTRO - WHY & WHAT
Success is based on Personal Contact -- This is the Hospitality Industry
Hospitality starts with the FIRST Contact

BACKGROUND FACTS:

  • 7 of 10 innkeepers have e-mail addresses and/or forms on their web sites
  • Guests contact nearly 3 different Innkeepers before making a decision
  • 9 of 10 e-mails from Guests are inquires about room availability
  • Guests still want to talk to Innkeepers but only after they know you can accommodate them
  • 75% of long-weekend guests are researching and traveling within a 3 week window
  • 88% of guests said that they would select an Accommodation that showed room availability information on-line rather than call around for the same information off-line.
  • Innkeepers will lose the guest if they do not get back to them quickly.
  • The reality of running a small to medium sized Lodging property is that most can't afford to staff a separate Reservations desk on a 24 hour basis to respond to guest inquiries on an immediate basis.

    WHAT YOU REALLY NEED IS AN ASSISTANT:
    Yes SIR™ is an assistant that makes your e-mail Smart Intelligent and Responsive! It's like having an intelligent e-mail answering machine? This Assistant will follow your instructions and answer just the way you would.

    Yes SIR makes it EASY for Guests to get an immediate answer to the most commonly asked e-mail questions about your availability. Use it both on your site or on your Association/Destination's site. Innkeepers still personally make the booking and obtain the deposit.

    ADVANTAGES
    This is NOT a reservation system - NO COMMISSIONS, NOT a substitute for personal contact - YOU still complete the transaction

    For the Organization the Tools provide REAL assistance to callers

  • Callers will receive answers - not just more telephone numbers to call
  • Provides value added service to the association members - fills vacancies
  • Eliminates the burden of manually gathering daily availability information from each member
  • Reduces the number of incoming calls - off hours or for call backs
  • Reduces overhead costs of staffing and phone costs (800#'s)

    For the Guest/Consumer:

  • Ease of finding answers to availability questions
  • Reduces phone tag and expedites the process
  • Enhances Guests' perception of this segment

    For the Property

  • Easy to use - 2 or 3 minutes a day
  • Provides 'just-in-time' answers when the Guest is looking
  • Reduces calls when fully booked
  • Reduces phone tag and expedites the process
  • Fills empty beds own and members
  • Creates good-will with real help (if full, the Innkeeper will be able to direct the Guest to another lodging based on availability information)

    HOW THE TOOLS WORK FOR ASSOCIATIONS/DESTINATION GROUPS
    Groups' web sites contain a short form that Guests complete to inquire about a specific date. The software then quickly returns the subset of properties having availability in the Group's format.

    Group staff as well as guests can use this capability to answer phone or drop in inquiries about available lodging. Access to a computer in a Visitor center can provide this service to travelers.

  • Yes - SIR! can work for your Association by providing Guests with easy-to-access answers to room availability questions on-line while on the Association's website!
    - [more info] - (http://www.find-a-room-at-the-inn.com/innkeeperscorner/yes_4.htm)
    - [try the tools] - (http://www.find-a-room-at-the-inn.com/innkeeperscorner/tools_2.htm)
    - [Getting Started] -(http://www.find-a-room-at-the-inn.com/innkeeperscorner/sign_up.htm)

    Our smart tools can help increase your Occupancy Rates - use them!

    You can see how some other regions are using these tools:

    • Summit County Bed and Breakfast Association in Colorado - [for more info]
      - (http://summitcountybnbs.com/availability.html)
    • Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce - [for more info]
      - (http://www.cooperstownchamber.org/stay/bandbs.htm)

    Here's the really good news:
    a) Innkeepers do NOT PAY COMMISSIONS to use the system
    b) This is very easy to do, even if you consider yourself computer illiterate.
    c) Maintaining Availability will take very little time to do. (Probably less than 2 minutes a day).

    PRICING:
    The Association, Chamber or Group -
    30 Day Trial period at no charge. This assumes a fairly strong commitment up front.

    The Association's members -
    To use the Availability response tool ONLY on the Chamber or Association site the GROUP RATE is only $55 per year per participating member. If a member is only using the tool on the Group Site the level of availability is the LITE version. The LITE version is GENERAL availability - not room specific (only indicates which Lodging members have any rooms available by date). Property descriptions are the Association's descriptions.
    Members may also subscribe to the PLUS version. The PLUS allows Innkeepers to use the Availability response tool on their own web sites. In addition they may expand the level of availability to individual rooms or groups of rooms. PLUS is an additional $25 to the GROUP RATE or $80 per participating PLUS member.

    NEXT STEPS - HOW TO IMPLEMENT A GROUP SITE
    So how does a Chamber or Association get started using the LITE version?
  • LITE version - for use ONLY on an Association Site.
  • Only the YES-NO room detail option is available on this version
    1. Decide on the term of the Calendar you want your members to maintain. This can be 1 month to 6 months in advance.
    2. Verify the e-mail address that each Innkeeper wants their e-mail sent too. (An email address is necessary for a member to participate.)
    3. Obtain a preferred password for updating from each participating member.
    4. Decide whether the members will use the same standard property descriptions for the availability system that are on the group site. If different we will create an on-line form for each of the members to supply the room availability descriptions.
    5. Select a go-live date by which all participating members should have updated their availability data for the term of calendar that was chosen. The trial period provides time to clean up any loose ends.
    6. As soon as the decision is made to proceed with the Availability response tool for the Chamber or Association, an individual should be designated as the contact point for us to work with as questions arise, and to be a coordinator with the participating members. There will be questions as everyone comes up to speed on the use of and advantages of this capability.

    • NEXT STEPS - HOW TO IMPLEMENT AN INDIVIDUAL LODGING PROPERTY
    And how does a member get started using the PLUS version on their website also?
  • PLUS version - can be used on both the Association Site and on the Innkeepers Website
    • 1. Select a password - hint - select a password that is easy for you to remember
    2. Select the level of room detail that you want on the system
  • Room-by-room
  • Room Type (generally similarly priced rooms)
  • Not room specific - a simple Yes or No response about the date only
    • 3. Decide on the term of the Calendar you want to maintain - One month to 6 months.
    Room Availability is displayed in 3 week time-frames. The system has a flexible and expandable calendar feature. Each Innkeeper can decide to set their Availability Calendar for any time period from 4 weeks to 6 months in 3 week time segments - 4 weeks, 7 weeks, 10 weeks, 13 weeks, 16 weeks, etc, etc. You can change this whenever you want.
    4. Add the Availability Inquiry link to your own web site. (We will provide you with your specific link)
    5. Finally - you will need to start to Update your Availability [Instructions on how to do this are on-line]
    - (http://www.find-a-room-at-the-inn.com/innkeeperscorner/room_1.htm)

    Thanks - you are ready to start - the Find-a-Room-at-the-Inn.com team