No-shows are a real problem in the RV rental business.
When they occur, a company loses a rental and an opportunity to rent it to someone else.
How about eliminating it from your RV Rental Business?
Here are the top 10 ways to do it.
1. Solidify customer commitments with deposits.
Customers who commit to paying upfront are likelier to show up for the rentals.
If no-shows are persistent, even when you require a deposit, ensure your deposits are high enough to sting the customers if they fail to show up.
Please note: You must disclose the terms of security deposits in rental contracts and have customers sign them to avoid possible disputes.
2. Remind customers with automated notifications.
People are busy and forgetful nowadays.
They may forget about their RV rental reservations.
Sending customers reminders and notifications may refresh their minds.
We recommend automating your notifications and reminders so that they are sent on time and consistently.
Reservety’s RV Rental software already has this feature. It allows you to create new notifications, customize existing ones, and schedule them for automated deliveries.
3. Take orders with an online booking system.
RV Rental business owners get full or partial payments for bookings through the online booking system.
For example, here is how Reservety’s booking system works:
- A customer visits your website.
- Views RV inventory and picks one or multiple
- Selects the rental period from the calendar
- Picks necessary add-ons (optional)
- Views the automated quote
- Inputs personal and billing information
- Signs electronic contract and waiver forms
- Pays with a credit card or e-wallet.
- Gets booking confirmation.
- Picks up or receives the RV on the scheduled date/hour.
Please note: These are just generic steps. You can change or modify the steps easily.
4. Set cancellation limits and let customers know about them.
You never know what customers go through between the time of booking and the actual pickup date.
For example, customers may have emergencies, a change of plan, or other unexpected circumstances that require them to cancel their trip.
In those cases, refunding their money is essential to build a reputation as an ethical company.
But it does not mean you should ignore your interests.
So, set limitations for cancellations.
You can introduce bracket-based refunds, something looking like the below:
- 100% refund for cancellations made 30 days from the planned pickup date.
- 80% refund for 20 days
- 50% for 7 days
- 30% for 3 days
- 5% for 2 days
- 0 refund for the cancellation made on the day of pickup.
You probably get the logic here.
Earlier customers cancel their RV bookings, so there is a greater chance you can rent it to someone else.
At the same time, it encourages customers to be more responsible with their commitments.
5. Allow rescheduling.
Some customers may not show up due to having new priorities for the scheduled date.
In those cases, you can recoup some of your losses by allowing them to reschedule their bookings.
It is a win-win situation for both sides. Being flexible protects your reputation while the customer eliminates the risk of losing some of their upfront payments.
6. Call and Confirm.
Sometimes, your automated notifications and messages can get lost in a large number of emails, and your customers may ignore them.
Calling is still the best option for confirmations.
So, whenever you make RV reservations, get multiple phone numbers as a backup in case one is unreachable.
7. Reward those who are diligent.
For example, you can implement a reward system that rewards those who follow up with their orders and penalizes those who do not.
This method is perfect if the majority of your customers are repeat clients.
Reservety also has this feature. It lets you create individual customer accounts and track customer performances, and you can automatically and manually assign points to customers.
8. Boost customer commitment with strong relationships.
Some rental businesses do not employ this strategy, but it is essential.
When you build warm interaction with potential customers during booking or reservation, they are more likely to show up to honor their commitment.
We can’t explain the psychology of this mindset, but it is true in everyday life, too.
People show more significant effort to fulfill their commitments to someone they have a good relationship with.
9. Print or send reservation confirmations with full details.
You may be surprised that some RV renters forget their rental date and hour, which can lead to no-shows.
To remedy this problem, you can print and hand out the booking confirmation to the clients or automatically send it to their inboxes.
For example, a rental website powered by Reservety automatically sends booking confirmation with all the details as soon as a customer completes an online booking.
10. Implement an online check-in system
You can request early check-ins to ensure that everything is on track.
Online check-ins are more convenient; you can set them up with Reservety.
To increase the success rate of this method, introduce discounts for early check-ins.
How Can Reservety Help with No-Show?
Reservety developed its RV Rental Software after extensively studying every little detail of the industry.
And yes, it also implemented features to minimize no-shows, some of which we mentioned above.
In case you missed it, here is the list:
- Solidifies customer commitment by enabling businesses to collect upfront payments and security deposits
- Reservety-powered rental websites automatically send notifications and confirmations with booking details so customers will not forget their reservations.
- Enables RV rentals to create customer accounts to build relationships and give incentives to those who fulfill their commitments.
- Allows business owners to set their cancelation policies with their terms and implement a refunding system.
- Makes it easy to create rental contracts that accept digital signatures to avoid customer disputes.
- And more.
Want to try Reservety for your RV Rental Business?
It is the best time to do so!
Sign up today and get the following bonuses:
- 14-day free trials with no credit card requirements
- Free Consultation
- Free web design (even for those in the free trial)
- Free Migration
- Free Setup & support
