Your booking confirmation email is often the first direct communication between the guest and your property. Across multiple industries, confirmation emails boast an exceptional click-through rate of 65 percent.
Done right, they reinforce the positive first impression made by your website and booking engine while building excitement for the stay and driving ancillary revenue. However, a lackluster booking confirmation erodes that impression and creates a missed opportunity. Here are some common mistakes to avoid when crafting booking confirmation emails.
Your booking confirmation email is an important touchpoint as you build your relationship with the guest. Not only does it bolster that relationship and showcase your brand, it confirms the guest’s booking went through, offering reassurance and improving customer satisfaction.
Booking confirmations aren’t just a nice touch; they’re necessary for providing the guest with a record of the reservation. A property management system that includes automated email templates is the best way to ensure this necessity is never forgotten and that every guest receives the same great customer service.
If your booking engine does not connect to your property management system and allow you to create customizable, automated email templates that are personalized based on reservation data, it’s time to switch to one that does. No busy hotelier has the bandwidth to manually respond to each reservation.
Different booking confirmation templates can be set up for different guest segments by attaching them to specific room and/or rate types. For example, you can create separate confirmation emails for corporate and leisure guests and tailor communications accordingly.
WebRezPro Property Management System includes default email templates as well as the ability to create your own custom templates. In addition, we provide integrations to email marketing platforms such as Cendyn, Constant Contact, and Revinate.
A booking confirmation email should include all relevant details of the guest’s stay, such as the property name and address, room and rate, stay dates, etc. It’s for communicating essential information, so make sure all the essentials are there!
This email can and should promote your brand while boosting revenue, but its primary purpose is to reassure the guest that you’ve received their reservation and prevent any confusion. Place the most important information at the beginning so that the guest does not have to scroll to find it.
Your booking confirmation email is an excellent opportunity to upsell, with North American upsell revenue from these emails growing 26.7 percent in 2023 to reach $73 per reservation. You have the guest’s attention, so use it! You’re leaving revenue on the table if you don’t.
However, take care not to overwhelm or bombard guests with too many offers at this point. Creating templates for different kinds of guests helps a lot by allowing you to target your offers effectively. Your corporate bookers may like to know about late check-out options, while guests that booked your romance package may be interested in a city tour. Just remember, a booking confirmation is primarily for communicating essential information (see above). Other pre-arrival emails provide further opportunities to promote upsells.
Your booking confirmation needs a call to action so that guests know the next steps after they read it, whether that’s taking advantage of an upsell offer or beginning the self check-in process by completing their online registration. Create buttons for important links and make sure they stand out.
It’s not about what you want to say to the guest; it’s about what the guest wants to hear. Consider the value your booking confirmation email offers, i.e., reassurance, and keep that value in mind as you write. You can even ask a friend or family member to review it from a customer’s perspective.
And remember, we all have limited time—including your guests—so make your booking confirmation email as easy as possible to skim through and digest information. Use short lists, not long paragraphs.
As with any other guest communication or public-facing platform, your booking confirmation email is an extension of your brand. The brand signifiers that appear on your website and booking engine, e.g., colors, logo, images, etc., should be present in your booking confirmation email as well.
Not only does this show professionalism, it indicates to guests that the email is legitimate. Consumers are becoming ever more cognizant of hospitality scams, and it’s imperative that your emails do not look like one of them.
The text itself is as important as the images and other branding, so proofread for spelling and grammar. Attention to detail in your confirmation email indicates that same attention to detail in the stay experience. Tone matters too. If you have a casual beach vibe at your property, reflect that in your text (sounding as if you’re inviting the guest for a British high tea—pinkies out—will leave them feeling something is off).
Even as far back as 2018, over half of lodging and travel service emails were read on mobile. Optimizing your booking confirmations (and all other guest communications) for mobile is crucial. Choose email software with responsive design built in, which adapts automatically to the user’s device for the best possible viewing experience.
Booking confirmations are arguably the most important emails your property should be sending. Getting them right is key to establishing positive relationships with guests. Avoid the above errors to create a confirmation email that generates excitement and builds trust—showing guests they were right to book with you!
