There is little more frustrating than getting an enquiry for dates that are already booked is there! (Like I just got now)
Where I rent there are several lodge owners who also let their units. I was wondering if there is a (free ) calendar anywhere that would allow say half a dozen owners to update availability and then when you get an enquiry for a week you have already sold, point the enquirer at one of your friends web sites having done a quick and easy check on which ones are available.
I think that rentcalendar might allow this but you'd all have to have the same id and login if I understand it correctly.
John, you could do this with calendars on yahoo or google. You just have to pick the "share with" option.
If you haven't already checked out the features on google they are really useful. Online "Word" and spreadsheets which again, can be shared. and accessed from anywhere.
Are your prices the same/similar? My 2 renting friends in the village based their prices on ours. I've upped mine now as I'm turning guests away and, er, they're not.
Edit - you need to be invited to gmail. If you or anyone else wants an invite please email to soodyerREMOVE@gmail.com
obviously removing the remove!!!
Last edited by Sue Dyer on Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sue Dyer wrote:John, you could do this with calendars on yahoo or google. You just have to pick the "share with" option.
Sue, can you merge dates that you already have in an Outlook calendar with the Yahoo/google one? I currently put my bookings on my outlook calendar at home but can't access it at work and it would be REALLY useful for me to check who's asked about what dates etc... I sometimes have a bit of time at work to answer email enquiries but it's so frustrating not knowing what other enquiries I've had for dates already. My rental websites will show me what I've got booked but my outlook one is the only one that shows me all the 'possibles'.
I don't really want to have to re-enter it all in another calendar so if I can just bung the data from my outlook one into a yahoo one which I can then access from work that would be great...
Nightowl
Forever going one step forwards and two
backwards......
Do you have a google account? email me if you need info. I've set up igoogle as my home page (or one of them) you can add your calendar and other useful modules to access easy.
thanks Sue, I will have a look at it and see if I can work it out. I haven't a google account but I have a yahoo one but I don't mind setting up a google one if it means I can get access to my calendars. The London rent is generating a lot of enquiries (the conversion rate is less though) but I'm finding it hard to keep track of who has asked for what, which are the 'hot' leads etc.. and it's useful to know if there are any enquiries for that week when weighing up how to respond to a 3 day enquiry etc...and if I don't have that info when I am at work, it gets a bit difficult.
How's your ankle, by the way (I know it's thread creep...sorry)
Nightowl
Forever going one step forwards and two
backwards......
Hi, check out the Home Alone thread for an ankle update!
I like both google and yahoo for different reasons. I still stick to yahoo for primary email and gmail for spam. When I'm away I can sort out enquiries quicker that way on my handheld.
I'm going to mess about with Outlook, google and yahoo tomorrow and will give you my opinion. Save me from daytime telly!
Hi John. There is a group of us in Glenridding (about 8 cottages altogether) who already do the same thing. If we get an enquiry and we're full, we put folk on to someone else in the village.
And it's proven to be worth it's weight in gold when we get a late cancellation or have the odd week to let. From the punter's point of view, you're seen to be really helpful, instead of just saying "sorry, we're full". And it gives you a good baseline for judging how your bookings are going.
Our system appears to be based on the quill and ink of the middle ages. I send an email round to everyone each week with an attached Word document showing everyone's availability. Quaint and old fashioned, but it doesn't take much time and it works!
From the punters' point of view, you're seen to be really helpful instead of just saying "sorry, we're full".
Some day I am going to have to emerge into the 21st century!
I've been trying out google calendars. It's not bad and the advantages of having access to an updated calendar do outweigh the disadvantages.
The main disadvantage for me is not being able to use different colours for different things - I put enquiries in one colour, changeovers in another and bookings in another so that they stand out when I'm viewing a week's worth of dates.
In google calendars I get around this by having separate calendars for each thing - it's a bit clunky but at the end of the day it gets the same results.
So thanks for the tip, sue.
I'm liking google mail though, specially the labels feature - instead of filing emails in folders, you give them labels and then you can search for things by their label. I find that works pretty well.
that one is thanks to HelenB and others I think, who have recommended googlemail in the past.
Nightowl
Forever going one step forwards and two
backwards......
Nightowl wrote:The main disadvantage for me is not being able to use different colours for different things -
I use Google Docs Spreadsheet for exactly this purpose. I share it with my local manager, you can have text colours, background colours, and most of the usual Excel features (including import/export).
Once you're logged in to Google calendar, you shoudl be able to see the above link easily.
) calendar anywhere that would allow say half a dozen owners to update availability and then when you get an enquiry for a week you have already sold, point the enquirer at one of your friends web sites having done a quick and easy check on which ones are available.
