Your website’s retreat booking process is crucial to getting more bookings. Watch this video to learn the dos and don’ts of creating a smooth and seamless booking process.
Transcription:
(Note: I recommend watching the above video with captions if you don’t want sound. However, if you prefer to read, here is the transcription of what is covered in the video)
Let’s talk about the one small but crucial tweak that will make or break your ability to make bookings online. It is the booking or checkout experience. You need to make it super simple for me or a visitor to book or get in contact with you, like really, really easy.
Eliminate the unnecessary. And when you think of the checkout experience, do not just think it’s for buying a product online. You know, as such as on, on an eCommerce website such as Amazon, there is a place for this whole checkout and booking experience for your retreat. You need to have the easiest, fastest, and most simplistic booking experience possible because how often have you experienced a bad checkout process and given up and never gone back and completed the purchase?
It is the same with your website.
Here are the booking experience, dos and don’ts.
Do have retreat package prices, payment plans, and dates on your website and even through your booking process so people know exactly what they are booking.
Have an instantly book on your website button so that they don’t have to reach out if people already to make a booking already.
Now we need to make it easy, so have a really nice clear button book Now, reserve your space. You know, something like, Also add more payment options, the more the better in this instance. So you could add Apple Pay, credit card, PayPal, and so on, because if you are reaching people internationally, they are used to different payment systems.
So make it easy for them, give them an option that they feel comfortable with, and it’s then more seamless for them to actually make the book. Again, I reiterate, make it simple and reduce your feels. Have the minimum feels that you need on your booking form. That leads me to the don’t. Don’t use old payment methods to accept payment such as the check system or bank transfers, because what you’re doing, you are giving extra steps to the person who wants to book with you and you have no control on, let’s say their own bank system.
If they have to do a transfer, an eft, they might have problems with their booking system or payment system, so you have no control over. So please eliminate that if you can. If people then request to do an EFT or transfer, sure, then give them the option. But when you want bookings direct on your website, don’t have it there.
and then don’t ask for more information that is needed at the time of booking. Many times I see a booking form that is asking, What are your allergies? Do you need pickups from the airport? And so on. At this stage, when you want somebody to make a booking, a reservation, you don’t need that information.
That can come later. You just need the name, email, telephone number. and that’s it. And then they need to pay. And then once payment has been received, do you send a form requesting if they’ve got any allergies, if they need pickup or any other special requests? So reduce the number of form fields. Now have a think of your checkout experience on your own retreat website.
Do you think it has a seamless and simple booking experie? Or doesn’t it? Let me know in the comments below if you feel that yes, you’ve it pretty much you’ve ticked all the dos and you’re definitely not doing the don’ts, let me know in the comments. But if you feel that it’s not a great experience, let me know below as well.
What do you feel is missing? And I hope this video can help you minimize the friction that people feel when they try a book on yours.
I’m a firm believer that systems and processes save us time and give us clarity to move our businesses forward, and that is why I created the Retreat Marketing Master Checklist to give you a complete overview of everything on my to-do list when promoting a retreat from 90, 60, 30 days before the retreat starts.
Plus what you should be. During and after the event too. So when you use this master checklist in promoting your retreat, you’ll know what to do and when to do it. You can download it for free below.
