A seasonal business finishes a good season. Everybody was busy, the customers were happy, and the team is exhausted.
In November somebody remembers that they should contact last year's customers about next year. By then those customers have moved on, and a proportion of them will book with somebody else in the spring.
The moment to ask was in August, while they were still there and still enjoying it. Nobody had five minutes in August, which is precisely why it never happens.
Step 1: decide what next season's offer is before this one ends
Dates and an indicative price, even provisionally, since nothing can be sold in advance without something to sell.
Step 2: ask at the moment of maximum satisfaction
While the customer is still there or immediately afterwards, which is when willingness is highest and comparison is lowest.
Step 3: make the ask automatic
Because nobody has time to do it manually during a peak, and a manual process during a busy season is a process that does not happen.
Step 4: offer a reason to commit early
A preferred date, a held price or a small incentive. The date is frequently worth more to customers than any discount.
Step 5: keep the deposit small
A modest holding amount converts far more early bookings than a substantial one, and the commitment matters more than the cash.
Step 6: make the terms generous at that distance
Somebody booking a year ahead needs flexibility, and the terms that suit a booking made next month are not the terms that suit this one.
Step 7: capture the ones who will not commit yet
A note of interest with a date to contact them, which is the mechanism described in advance booking questions customers ask early.
Step 8: contact the interest list before marketing to anybody new
Warm, already interested and cheaper to convert than any new enquiry.
Step 9: keep answering through the off season
Because people plan in the quiet months, which is the ground in off season enquiries and why they still matter.
Step 10: confirm early bookings periodically
A short message a few times across the year prevents the booking made eleven months ago from being forgotten or quietly abandoned.
Step 11: publish next season's dates as early as possible
People planning around holidays and events need dates before they can commit to anything.
Step 12: track how much of next season is already sold
A simple number that transforms how a seasonal business plans, borrows and markets during the quiet months.
Step 13: treat the advance bookings as the priority at peak
They committed earliest and they are the base of the following year, and they should not be the ones squeezed when the season is full.
Step 14: let the asking happen while everybody is busy
An assistant that mentions next season's dates at the right moment, explains the small deposit, collects contact details for an interest list of the undecided, answers through the off season and takes early booking requests for you to confirm does in August what nobody has time to do in August. Set it up through install the widget and train your bot. A sector example sits in pool opening and closing season bookings, and the multi brand case in running assistants for several brands. The sector view sits under small business.