I added a channel manager last year and it really changed my life. Nevertheless, there are few things I would have been happy to know before starting.
There are few parameters you should check first.
- Contact your PMS to know if they are connected to the channel manager before signing any contract with a channel manager. Your PMS may have a list of recommended channel managers. If you need any development in the future or even if you have issues in the mapping or rates, it is very important that they have worked together in the past.
- The price is an important factor. But not that much important actually, if you consider the time you will save with a channel manager, it worths spending money in this tool.
- Re your property's website, you need to check that your channel manager supports your direct booking engine. It maybe my big mistake. Both companies were not very connected and I had hard time to be in the middle of tech guys.
- I work with SiteMinder. It is relatively easy to use and to set. The only drawback with this company is their customer support service. When they cannot find a solution to your problem with you on the phone, they create tickets for their tech department/IT/development. They never come back to you. They never reach out to give you a solution and you have to call them many times. Very frustrating.
- Check how often the channel manager send updates to your channels: If the frequency is very low you may get over-bookings as your inventory is not updated.
Hi Flcm28
I added a channel manager last year and it really changed my life. Nevertheless, there are few things I would have been happy to know before starting.
There are few parameters you should check first.
- Contact your PMS to know if they are connected to the channel manager before signing any contract with a channel manager. Your PMS may have a list of recommended channel managers. If you need any development in the future or even if you have issues in the mapping or rates, it is very important that they have worked together in the past.
- The price is an important factor. But not that much important actually, if you consider the time you will save with a channel manager, it worths spending money in this tool.
- Re your property's website, you need to check that your channel manager supports your direct booking engine. It maybe my big mistake. Both companies were not very connected and I had hard time to be in the middle of tech guys.
- I work with SiteMinder. It is relatively easy to use and to set. The only drawback with this company is their customer support service. When they cannot find a solution to your problem with you on the phone, they create tickets for their tech department/IT/development. They never come back to you. They never reach out to give you a solution and you have to call them many times. Very frustrating.
- Check how often the channel manager send updates to your channels: If the frequency is very low you may get over-bookings as your inventory is not updated.
Have a great day
FL