Getting started guide Dear [#First Name] : Congratulations on getting your first listing up and running on Bookabach. We don't want to leave you confused, wondering how things work, or what to do next, so in this email we talk about the important stuff you need to get started - plus some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of Bookabach. Kind regards, - The Bookabach team   Where to go Firstly, we need to make you aware of our split personality! Bookabach has two separate websites: http://www.bookabach.co.nz - is where your property listing appears and it's where you should go if you want to rent a place yourself. http://manage.bookabach.co.nz - is where you to go to manage your property. We have two websites because they have quite different audiences trying to do quite different things. The good news is you can use your same login (email/password) to access either site and you can get from one site to another using the links at the very top of the web page. Your listing You can make changes to your listing at anytime. Any changes can take up to 30 minutes to show on the live website - except availability changes which show instantly. If you haven't already, take time to upload pictures. Listings with quality images receive significantly more enquiries. Edit your listing Upload and manage pictures You can refer people to your listing using either your property name or number. Just add a forward slash ''/" and your property name or number to the www.bookabach.co.nz URL. Here's some examples: http://www.bookabach.co.nz/te_papa - to refer by property name http://www.bookabach.co.nz/569 - to refer by property number * Directly refer people to your listing and have them book online. * Publish this link in any printed advertising you use. * Link to it from any other online services you use. * Use this link to display your listing in a frame on your own website. Your property number and name are displayed clearly when you log into the manage website: Responding to enquiries You will receive enquiries as either Booking Requests or Questions. They will be sent to you (as the Rental Contact) by email. They also appear in your Notifications. You can also opt-in to recieve FREE Property Manager Text Alerts (SMS). Remember, Bookabach is purely an introductory service. It is up to YOU to respond to the enquiries you get and to manage the bookings on your property. This includes: 1) Following up with people who have made an enquiry and deciding whether you want to rent to them (vetting). We'll give you a link to any feedback they have from other owners/managers on the Bookabach Network. 2) Agree a rental price, payment terms and communicate your instructions for payment. 3) Finalising rental arrangements including directions and key collection instructions. We'll help you by providing you with the best tools for the job. Set up Property Manager Text Alerts (SMS) Set up a Rental Agreement Set up email communication templates (payment instructions etc.) Keeping track of bookings Rental bookings appear in one of four states: REQUESTED > ACCEPTED > CONFIRMED > COMPLETED * Bookings, or Questions you convert to Bookings, show as requested when they are first received. * If you decide you want to rent to this person then you should accept the booking. Send them your rental terms and payment instructions. You can do this through the website using the links sent to you in the emails, or by logging in and finding the booking. * Once a deposit is received a booking should be confirmed. * Confirmed bookings that go into the past automatically show as completed. All rental bookings, whether received via the website or manually entered, follow the same booking states - so you can use Bookabach to track the progress on all your rental enquiries. Viewing and adding bookings Any bookings you receive automatically show up in the Bookings area - under Bookings > Show bookings. We display this information in two ways: * Timeline view: Each booking is shown on a calendar as a horizontal timeline. Mouse over the booking to see full booking information. Click on the booking to go to that booking. The booking timeline view makes it easy to see overlapping bookings. Click here to go to Timeline view. * Table view: Each booking is shown as a row in a table. You'll find links for different options, e.g. accept/decline/confirm or cancel, in the right hand column. Click here to go to Table view To change the start and end dates you can either: a) set the dates you want in the From and To date boxes; or b) use the drop down arrow to pre-select some standard options, e.g. Next 90 days or Last year; or c) use the view zoom to zoom in or out; or d) click on a year, month, week, day to change the view. As always, this sort of things is best learnt by doing. Once you get the hang-of-it you'll be away! Add your own family bookings, or rental bookings you've received from other sources using the +ADD BOOKING button on the calendar page. This lets users of Bookabach know when the property is actually available, saving you and them time! Also, add any dates you want to block out from accepting bookings by adding a confirmed booking for yourself. Add a booking Adding other property members You can add owners, family members and property managers to this property and assign them roles and permissions so they can make their own bookings and see who is using the property when. You do this under Property Settings. Add property members How we order (rank) listings We order ("rank") properties in search results based on a score calculation. We make it clear as to how your property is scored and ranked. Go to Listing > Listing performance to see this. A variety of factors influence your score including the positive feedback you receive from guests that have booked through Bookabach; and how long you've been listed. If you are on Performance Plan you can boost your score by agreeing to pay a higher than base-level success fee. Also, you can add 20 points to your score by completing the property Check List. You'll find this on the Dashboard page. View the checklist View your listing performance, score and ranking Quotations and Payment Tracking Bookabach does not currently provide a credit card facility for rental payments. However, the site does let you create quotations and track payments. When a booking is received a quotation is automatically created from the pricing information you've provided (Listing > Edit Pricing). You can add any additional options (e.g. linen hire) to this quotation. When you accept the booking this quotation is converted to a charge in the ledger for this booking and a Payment Schedule is set-up using the information defined in your Rental Terms. All payments expected for future bookings appear in Payments. Set up pricing Set up a Rental Agreement Enable Quotations and Payment Tracking Best practice resources Here are some resources we hope you'll find useful: * Got a rental agreement? Read our guide on what to include in a rental agreement and then take time to set up a rental agreement online. * Plan to rent to families? Understand your health and safety obligations and make sure your property is child safe. Read our article A holiday home owner's guide to health and safety and How to child-proof your holiday home You'll find more useful information in the Resources section of the owner/manager website. Listing more properties If you manage more than one property we invite you to list them all on Bookabach. Listing all your properties has several advantages: * It means you get bookings that are qualified to property and availability; * It increases your footprint on Bookabach, so you have a greater opportunity to be viewed; and * It make you eligible for multi-listing discounts on any subscriptions or success fees. To list another property go to My Account > Properties and Plans and use the +Add property link. Visit Properties and Plans Multi-listing discounts How to get help If you get stuck don't panic, you will find plenty of help online. You'll find a help link at the top right of every page. If you're still stumped, we are here in person too. You'll find links to send a support request and our 0800 number listed on the help site. Visit online help Copyright (c) 2011 AA Bookabach Ltd You've been sent this email because you have one or more listings on the Bookabach website www.bookabach.co.nz. It contains important information related to your effective use of the website as a property owner or manager.