Gifts and RMS

Who doesn't love a good gift?  Whether its a gift basket, a hidden gift, surprise gift, big gift or little, isn't it great hitting someone's "sweet spot" and really giving a good gift?  "What sort of gifts do you "What sort of gifts do you leave for your guests and what do they leave you?"  was a recent discussion of Vacation Rental Professionals on Linkedin. 

The ideas discussed were good, such as a bottle of wine or shampoos and soaps.  I was surprised to read that fresh baked breads and farm fresh eggs were also mentioned as items left on purpose for guests!  Some companies stressed "green gifts" to go with there "go green" style. What you provide your guest  in their accommodations may reflect on the personality of the home, the owner, the management, the resort or even who the guest is.  A family may prefer a hospitality fruit basket to a bottle of wine for example.  Simple touches can make a strong impression on your guest and keep them coming back.  RMS can help you manage the details of your vacation rental.

In RMS you may consider listing your gifts as amenities.  The amenities charges are embedded with the rent.   It is never revealed to the guest as a charge so it is considered included. The gift amenities you want to add to RMS should be created in the Amenities File, found under Files on the main menu. Then they can be assigned to units on a per unit basis, as needed. The amenities you add can be valued per person or per reservation or they could be zero cost to the reservation.  Since their price is hidden in the rent the published rent price would be the amount that includes the amenities.  They can be assigned to a unit or they can be bundled in a package or promotion.  The only amenity that does not work this way is the reservation fee amenity that is added in the rate file.  Amenities can be tracked by running the Other Charges/Amenities/Equipment Report under Management Reports of the Main Reports menu.  

One of the most common gifts the guest may leave you is feedback.  Most homes will have a guestbook and our online partners FlipKey and TripAdvisor, HomeAway and VRBO all have ways for guests to give you the gift of a review, an online guestbook of sorts to assist those searching for somewhere to stay during their vacation and to help vacation rental managers know what works, that valuable information of what really "hits the spot".  Contact us for more information on how to automate your guest reviews and even link them into your unit's web pages.

Unconfirmed Reservations

The Unconfirmed Reservation Listing report in RMS helps you find out WHO is near arrival and has a balance due  or did not send in their GLA (guest license agreement). Two reports can print from this screen which is found as an option in the long list of Reservation Reports off the Reports Main menu.  Choose just the Summary report or the Summary and letters (Both).  The summary report lists out every guest arriving within your entered date range that has a balance due and if needed, those that have not returned their Guest License Agreement (GLA).  Now don't forget, RMS only knows they have returned the GLA if you tell RMS you have received it.  This may be done on the Reservation view screen or in the Reservation Maintenance menu option Reconcile Guest Agreement.  If you do not use this option in RMS then click "No" for the "Require GLA received" setting on the report. 

The Unconfirmed Reservation Listing also can print or email individual letters to the guests who owe a balance or have not returned their GLA.  Design this letter and assign it in User Designed Letters of the Utilities menu.  All systems should have a stock letter in place that you can use as a template, or create and upload your own html letter.   These letters will email or print, depending on preference, when you run the report and choose the option "Both".   RMS gives you a count of how many will email and how many will print, as well as an option to remove a recipient from the list before sending.