Auto Pilot - Automate Your Marketing

Marketing experts help us understand that it normally takes five to seven exposures or "touches" to start seeing consumer action. According to the Harvard Business Review it costs five times as much to sell a new customer as it does to make the same sale to an existing customer. Auto Pilot, exclusive to Reservation Nexus, allows you to easily connect and communicate with your guests with very little time and effort on your part through automatic birthday and anniversary e-cards, newsletters, promotions and automatic welcome and thank you e-mails.

"Sending automatic birthday and anniversary e-cards produces powerful results. It's the extra polish that makes guests feel special and return consistently. One of our innkeepers reported she was experiencing an explosion of guests staying for their anniversaries. She was pleasantly surprised that her partner and husband had implemented automatic anniversary e-cards within Reservation Nexus."
- James Mayfield, Chief Innovation Officer / CEO, Reservation Nexus

What will Auto Pilot do for our business?

• Increase your bottom line by improving your guest return rate and guest loyalty.
• Eliminate hundreds of hours spent sending birthday, anniversary and thank you cards/emails.
• Save you money by reducing postage costs.
• Consistently brand your inn with your guests.
• Help you increase the number and quality of ratings on websites like tripadvisor.com and DestinationNexus.com.
• Allow you to make more money through specials and packages.
• Help you to create, manage, sell and redeem gift certificates online.

	Birthday Emails Guests are floored when they receive a birthday email from you. Most comment that it is the first time any inn has ever done so, even though they have stayed at dozens. What's wonderful is that many guests will reply and let you know that they are planning on coming back. We recommend keeping it simple on birthday emails. Don't try to up sell or promote anything to them on their birthday. Just wish them a happy birthday. Over 60% of all guests share their birthday and anniversary when booking online through Reservation Nexus. Be the first to wish your guests a personalized happy birthday with your e-card at the top of their inbox.
	Anniversary Emails We recommend sending two anniversary emails to your guests. The first should go out two to four weeks before their anniversary with an invitation to celebrate at your inn, and the second should go out on their anniversary, wishing them a happy anniversary. Don't be surprised if you become one of the spouse's best reminders of their anniversary!
	Thank You Emails Thanking a guest after they have stayed is not only professional, but thoughtful. They really appreciate it and thank you for being such a great host. It's also a great time to ask for them to rate you on TripAdvisor.com and leave a testimonial about your bed and breakfast on Destination Nexus. You will be surprised how many guests are finding and researching your inn from TripAdvisor.com. Most Auto Pilot subscribers see a huge increase in TripAdvisor ratings in a handful of weeks. Ed & Debbie Franko from Bass & Baskets said that the thank you emails alone made Auto Pilot worth the investment.
	Map & Directions It never hurts to send map & directions a few days before a guest arrives, especially if your place is a little challenging to find. It also reduces no shows.
	Holiday Greetings Constant contact pays dividends and brands your inn with your guests. Too much or too little can hurt your bottom line. Holidays are great opportunities to connect with your guests. Special thanks to Romantic RiverSong Inn in Estes Park, Colorado for their wonderful example.
	Newsletters, Promotions & Special Events You have ultimate flexibility with Auto Pilot. You can create newsletters for the year and schedule them to automatically go out. Use local events to capture more business by alerting your guests to these upcoming events. Create specials and promotions for helping you during your slow season. Special thanks to Historic Edgewater Hotel in Winter Garden, Florida for their wonderful example.

Specials & Packages

Reservation Nexus has the most advanced specials & packages engine on the market. Create romance packages that include flowers and chocolates with their stay. Guests can receive discounts for staying multiple nights. Partner with local and national entertainment businesses to offer fun activities. Create promo codes such as AAA for offering special rates.

Gift Certificates

Gift certificates with Reservation Nexus are fully customizable, purchasable online and can be easily e-mailed or batch mailed out to your guests and redeemed. In addition, the Reservation Nexus gift certificates engine keeps a running total of gift certificates used, when and how. The Reservation Nexus gift certificates engine protects innkeepers from losing revenue through careful tracking of gift certificates.

No other reservation system on the market offers a full solution or full sync gift certificates engine like Reservation Nexus. Not only that, but the gift certificates engine is bundled with the Auto Pilot edition of Reservation Nexus. Bundling gift certificates with Auto Pilot allows innkeepers to maximize marketing efforts. Gift Certificate promotions can be extended through holidays and special events automated marketing e-mails.