Adding online scheduling and payment to your bicycle rental business is a savvy business move, and simplifying your offerings online will make a seemingly impossible task—to migrate and maintain those online options—achievable.If you think you can't offer online booking features to your site because of the sheer number of options you offer, you're not alone. This is an all-too-common reason why activity rental companies stick to pen and paper for far too long.If you're offering too many choices, you're actually limiting your business success and your customer's ability to make a decision. Below are three tricks to implement to simplify your options and, in the process, eliminate the headaches that go with keeping your online customer experience smooth and easy to understand.Offer bike rental options that tie to categoriesIf you own a bike tour and rental business, instead of offering 40 different bike options for your customers to sort through, think of the more common characteristics of the bikes that everyone can relate to (without having to be an expert).To do this, put yourself in your customers' shoes and ask the questions they would ask. For example:

• Will the bike be used for touring, sport, or mountain biking?
• Will it be used for dirt biking, racing, or street biking?
• Will the bike be electric or a two+ seater for family fun?

The types of activities your customers enjoy on your bikes, as well as the general type of bike, can give you insight into grouping what may seem like an endless array of bike options into just a few. For a rather simplistic example, assume for a moment that you offer bike tours and carry multiple bicycles. In inventory you have the following bikes:

• Trek 920
• Schwinn Searcher 2
• Trek Superfly FS
• Trek 720
• Schwinn Super Sport CX
• Trek SuperFly
• Trek 520
• Schwinn GTX 2
• Trek X-Caliber

You could give customers the choice of renting any one of these nine bikes. But that's a bit confusing, especially if the customer isn't familiar with bicycle brands and their characteristics. Now let's group the bikes by category/activity:Touring & Adventure (I prefer sticking to the roads!)

• Trek 920
• Trek 720
• Trek 520

Mountain Biking (I want hard-core off-roading, yeah!)

• Trek Superfly FS
• Trek SuperFly
• Trek X-Caliber

Hybrid (I want a little bit of both, but nothing too crazy!)

• Schwinn Searcher 2
• Schwinn Super Sport CX
• Schwinn GTX 2

Notice the descriptors in parenthesis next to the categories. This let's new customers know what kind of experience to expect on these types of bikes. Think of it as matching a category of bike to an activity all in one. (Note: each of the three bikes in each category were picked from three very different price points and listed from most expensive to least expensive for illustrative purposes only).

Let new customers know what kind of experience to expect on different types of bikes

Now, instead of prompting customers with nine different bikes to choose from, just ask this question first:What do you want to do?

• Touring & Adventure (I prefer sticking to the roads!)
• Mountain Biking (I want hard-core off-roading, yeah!)
• Hybrid (I want a little bit of both, but nothing too crazy!)

Once they pick the category, they'll have three bikes to choose from. This technique can cut down dramatically on the number of options your customers have to choose from.Offer options that tie to general bike characteristicsIf you've rented a car recently, the first question you are asked is the type of car you're interested in (i.e. compact, mid-size, etc.). Just this one question allows the car rental companies to significantly reduce the number of customer choices.As we move up in size, performance, and space inside the vehicle, we pay slightly more. And, as we select a classification of car, we in essence select ourselves out of the other categories. This is an important concept because you're interested in a mid-size car to rent, there isn't much value in presenting a bunch of compact cars that you don't want to rent.For example, you can stick to just a few bikes under each of these categories:

• Basic – no frills biking
• Better – biking without your legs going numb
• Bells-and-Whistles—the latest and greatest bikes on the market

This is an example of packaging in the Good/Better/Best model. It's also an interesting approach if you offer a wide variety of biking activities and a wide variety of bikes (i.e. electric bikes, two+ seater bikes, etc.).If you still have too many customer options, you can combine this technique with the previous section in this article and further reduce the number of options.To do that, first ask:What kind of experience are you going after?

• Basic (I want a good bike ride for the best price!)
• Better (I want great experience and don't mind paying little extra!)
• Bells-and-Whistles (Nothing but the best for me, budget is no obstacle!)

Then ask:What do you want to do?

• Touring & Adventure (I prefer sticking to the roads!)
• Mountain Biking (I want hard-core off-roading, yeah!)
• Hybrid (I want a little bit of both, but nothing too crazy!)

Now you can show them even fewer options (one in the fabricated example above)! Take some time and work through these examples so you get comfortable with how they can work to your advantage.

Let the customer choose their bike

You don't even have to offer the exact model of the bike you are renting online. Think about Enterprise and how you rent a “class" of vehicle, then when you walk on the lot you get to pick any of the available cars on the lot. Or think of Southwest and how you don't actually buy a seat.You can do this with your equipment, too. First, you need to think about your pricing. This technique wouldn't work in the example provided above because of the various price points for each bike in the category are too wide. When you package using this technique, you have to group bikes at similar price points.Once you do that, you sell customers a "class" of bike online which allows them to show up the day of their rental, avoid the long lines, and pick an available piece of equipment on the lot they day of their activity.The customer would be able to try on bikes of various types in their "class" and upgrade if they like. This allows customers to rationalize upgrading to a better experience for just a few extra dollars.For limited availability bikes (i.e. electric), the online transaction is similar to making a deposit so that their bike is available on the day they requested. If for some reason you overbooked that day, offering a free upgrade (never a downgrade) is a way to build customer loyalty. It also allows you to run special promotions.

Conclusion

Simplifying your activity rental business options will make it easier to offer online booking options, and it will make your business life easier in general. Just make sure the choices you offer are priced and structured correctly so that the value your customers expect is met.Remember, just because you are managing lots of equipment, doesn't mean they have to translate that exactly to your ordering and booking experience.Create a structure where your customers have three or fewer options and you'll make everyone's lives easier.

Whether you're a seasonal tour operator or run a business that offers activities year-round, you may not have a lot of time or resources to focus on marketing—especially during peak season. While you may be able to generate more revenue by hiring more guides, expanding your line, or offering premium services to a niche market, there are other ways to make extra money on the side while supporting your core business efforts.Here are seven ways tour and activity operators can make more money—in any season:

#1: Sell instant digital photos.

Many tour and activity merchants already sell photo packages as part of the experience. But you could take it further by offering instant downloads of professional images that the customer can purchase on a per-photo basis to upload to Facebook, Instagram, or other social sites with ease.Creating the option to buy a single image at a time can speed up the checkout process and reduce buyer hesitation. Consider that many customers may be eager to pay $0.99 or $1.99 for a single high-quality image that captures a great moment right now—instead of going through an entire album later.Give your customers full access to the gallery of images immediately after the experience is over so they can review it on their smartphones, make their selection, and upload the captured moment to their favorite social sites right away. It's a fun way to share their experience with friends and family, and can help you generate a quick sale with little effort.New Zealand bungee company AJ Hackett, for example, has a station of computer monitors at their office for customers to view their photos right after their jump. Customers simply enter a special photo code to view the images, and since they all have to return to the office to pick up their bags before they leave, the timing is perfect. Customers can also view their photos online if they decide to order later.

#2: Maintain a blog

Even though you're in the business of selling and delivering interesting, unique, and unforgettable experiences to your customers, you can maintain their interest or pique a potential customer's interest with high-quality content on your website. Make an extended effort to develop content about different locations that your tour guides are experts in, and illustrate the experience a customer may have with high-quality digital images that you post. The goal is to tell interesting stories surrounding the experiences you already offer.Play with a theme, like the content on www.12hrs.net, where visitors can go on an in-depth, 12-hour virtual tour with carefully-curated photographs and commentary about different destinations along the way. Or keep things simple with a blog that talks about how to make the most of an experience.Fortunately, you don't need any web development or design experience to launch a blog. Western Prince Cruises keeps a simple one about whale-watching, filled with pictures and behind-the-scenes experiences from various trips. Navitat also has a site about its zip line tours, along with industry news.You can also sell digital products like podcasts, e-books, or downloadable guides directly from the site.Wayde's World Hawaii has uploaded free podcasts on its website, but a business could certainly sell its own content. As your readership grows, you may even be able to earn residual income by running ads.

#3: Self-publish books.

Tour and activity operators have valuable insider knowledge about particular destinations and sites they work in. Consider publishing e-books that provide useful information such as travel tips and seasonal activities that a traveler can access on their smartphone or tablet. These shorter mini-guides can be priced much lower than other books on the market for a quick download. Look at these Kindle travel guides for inspiration.Take advantage of self-publishing tools like Amazon's CreateSpace. These tools can help you create and upload books to print-on-demand and places them for sale on Amazon's network, where you'll earn a percentage of each sale. Whether you publish a single book or a whole series, these books can provide detailed maps, resources for travelers, photographs, and insider tips about a particular destination. Promote these on your website and take advantage of Amazon's marketing services to help generate passive income in any season.

#4: Partner with local businesses.

When it's slow season and you have more time to shift your focus on branding and marketing, consider reaching out to local businesses that complement yours to co-market various tours. Since partnering with bigger chains and brands have challenging approval processes, target smaller businesses instead.

To avoid challenging approval processes, target smaller businesses to partner with

Reach out to some of the busier boutique hotels and independently-owned properties, including bed and breakfasts, vacation home rental companies, and smaller motels to see if they're interested in referring business to you. In return, you could offer to recommend them to your customers, or even add their name and logo to your marketing materials as a "preferred" hotel. Some businesses could be interested in sharing a percentage of revenue for each referred customer that gets booked, and you could offer a similar deal to them. At the very least, stay in touch with the concierges on staff so they can recommend your business to their guests.

#5: Host workshops and events.

You're likely an expert in your activity, so establish yourself as an authority in your industry with educational events geared toward aspiring tour and activity operators, or other hospitality professionals.Hosting a seminar onsite can also be a great way to introduce more industry professionals to your business. You could sponsor training events for aspiring tour guides or activity operators, create workshops on how to build a tour business, and participate in other informational sessions that can expand your network.Even though some attendees may be your competitors, the information you share doesn't need to be tied to your core business operations. Focus more on general tips and insights about the industry and talk about co-marketing ideas to encourage dialogue at the event.

#6: Offer immediate discounts on future bookings.

Encouraging satisfied customers to book their next experience on the same day of their visit can help you book up that calendar—much faster than trying to reach out to the customer at a later date. Consider offering an attractive discount on all bookings confirmed that same day so that you can generate repeat business with very little effort.Remember that the customer is already in a positive and comfortable mindset after completing the activity. This is a perfect time to encourage them to come back. Think about different ways to pitch this idea to your customer, like sending an email with the information shortly after the tour is complete, or simply encouraging guides to mention the discount as the experience comes to an end.

#7: Sell packaged content.

If you have specialized knowledge about a certain destination that would be valuable to fellow tour operators or high-quality photographs that could be used as stock photos, consider selling packaged material in the form of digital content like e-books, downloadable PDFs, or MP3s. There may be a hungry market for podcasts and virtual tours that you haven't tapped into yet, whether they're prospective customers or armchair travelers. You could develop content in a variety of formats to entertain and educate while also marketing your business.For example, a museum tour guide might sell a walking tour podcast of a certain museum, or a zip line tour operator may offer high-quality digital images of various shots around a popular destination. An experienced boat tour operator could publish an e-book on starting a boating tour business, or downloadable guides about maintaining and repairing boats.There are countless ways to create revenue streams outside of just direct bookings. Use these tips as a guide to find new ways to help generate more revenue each season.Looking for more ways to effortlessly drive revenue? Check out Peek Pro here.

[et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.0.47"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.0.47" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.0.47" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]As a tour and activity operator, your booking website may be the very first thing customers see, so it's important to make a great first impression. Johnnie Manzari, one of Apple's early lead designers, shares some simple tips on how to turn website visitors into customers.

Here are three key takeaways from Johnnie Manzari:

1. Put yourself in the customer's shoes

Consider what the customer's motives are for coming to the website and how they are getting there—are they coming through a mobile device or on a desktop computer? These are important considerations because the user experience can be completely different across different devices. When you're designing for both desktop and mobile experiences, you may need to use different fonts, graphics, and layouts to optimize the user experience.Manzari says to step back and test the site on different devices to ensure everything goes smoothly. "Putting yourself in the customer's shoes" can help determine whether the customer will be enjoying a smooth and seamless process.As a tour or activity operator, this can also help determine what the typical user experience is like for your customers, and make it easier to identify how they behave. It may be useful to simply ask customers how they're booking their trips and how their experience with the process has been. Are they using a smartphone, or booking from a desktop computer at home or in the office? Determining how these customers are making the decision to book can help you create the best possible user experience.

2. Use mobile technology to figure out what's most important

Prioritizing the key components of the mobile experience is also important when designing the site. Manzari suggests to "think about it on a small screen." It can be tricky to format the layout and make sure important features are more prominent than less-important ones. Working on the small screen can help you eliminate certain types of content, layer the information, and pave the way for a better user experience. This type of constraint can actually make it easier to prioritize what information and features need to appear as soon as the user logs on to your mobile site.A good user experience is about giving the customer what they want, and figuring out what they're most responsive to. Some customers may be more responsive to a layout that includes lots of photos, but other budget-conscious customers may be more interested in seeing a pricing breakdown within a few screen taps.

A good user experience is about giving the customer what they want, and figuring out what they're most responsive to

3. Invest and iterate

It's important to remember that great design is never done. If we approach design as something that's a living thing which grows and transforms over time, it makes the design process much easier. Manzari recommends treating the project as if it's always evolving, and can be improved and modified at any point. If the site needs to be updated often, that can be an opportunity to try new things.For a tour or an activity booking site, this could involve updating the site regularly with fresh content, such as activity descriptions, news, and current photographs. It could also involve changing the layout to accommodate different types of content, like videos and podcasts that provide details about your tours and activities.

Audience Q+A

Q: What are some good design resources out there for business owners to reference for best practices?

A: For tactical changes, such as how to set up the pages of the site, how to manage call to action buttons, and other key layout features, Manzari recommends "Don't Make Me Think," by Steve Krug. And "Creative Confidence," by David and Tom Kelly, covers creativity and problem-solving.

Q: What's the best way for business owners to tell their story through an About page?

A: Manzari recommends "being authentic" and focusing on authenticity throughout the site. He says to refrain from using content that doesn't authentically represent the business or company because it's important to express the personality and voice of the service. Your customers will appreciate it!

Q: If there's one thing I can do today in less than 30 minutes to boost online checkouts, what should I do?

A: Manzari recommends having a friend load up your site on a mobile browser and see how they're navigating the site. You'll be able to get unique insights on a user experience from a device that you may not have or may have overlooked.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Online bookings are growing quickly, according to Phoenix Marketing International’s Online Travel Audit, . More than three-quarters of business and leisure travelers use travel websites when booking hotels, for example. They expect a similar ease of use when booking tours and activities while traveling.Making your online registration easy to use through a strong online booking system can help improve your customer experience and free you up to spend your time focused on expanding your business. Here’s are a few advantages of online booking systems.

Get closer to your customers

As technology has improved, online registration software has become much more responsive, flexible and powerful. Some travel operations may feel like they don’t need a full-service platform that can do more than simply take a name and credit card, but the fact is, it’s beneficial for all businesses to capture, sort and analyze their customer data.Organizations that pride themselves on providing a personal touch when dealing with customers can still maintain that feel with a modern online registration system.

Discover time-saving shortcuts

No matter what your needs are when it comes to online registrations, look for features that make the rest of your work easy. Booking systems that automate repetitive tasks can save you time and effort. Automated emails, for example, can be set up to remind booking customers about their upcoming trips and reduce no-shows, saving you money as well. Automated bookkeeping and reports can lighten your workload as well.

Booking systems that automate repetitive tasks can save you time and effort

See Also: 9 Ways an Online Booking System Will Save You Time

Improve your customers' experience

Having a well-designed and engaging website will help make it easy for customers to find information and reserve a trip with you. Ensure that your website makes it easy to sign up and book an outing -- make that “book it” button noticeable for its size or contrasting color. Don’t make customers click through multiple pages or retype information -- a case study by Imagescape found that reducing their form fields from 11 to 6 resulted in a 160 percent increase in submitted forms. Share positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers, post videos so customers can see what to can expect, and ensure that your FAQs page is full of useful information for people who haven’t booked before.

Process payments the smart way

Taking credit card payments over a secure online registration platform protects your business and is more convenient for customers, as well.Remember that taking credit card payments over the phone can mean higher fees for you. If you don’t take payment at all until the customer shows up, you risk a higher rate of no-shows.With the advances that have been made in online registrations, it makes sense to give customers what they want when they’re trying to book online. Look into the technology that can help your business make its online registrations more efficient.

Bargaining is an age-old practice, and it's common for customers to try to negotiate for better prices when booking tours and activities.If you see bargaining as an unavoidable part of doing business, you end up rationalizing that it's okay. Even though "everyone" seems to be doing it, that doesn't make it a best practice in almost any kind business—including tour operations. In reality, you probably shouldn't let them negotiate at all, unless you've already set your prices higher than they should be.One problem with accepting customers' requests for a lower price is that it can destroy trust and cheapen your brand—as well as people's perceptions of the value you provide. If a customer who walks in today can get a discount that is different than another customer who purchases the exact same thing from you tomorrow, you should hope they never compare notes. This can be especially damaging to tour operators, where word-of-mouth and referrals are a major source of new customers.Negotiating also erodes prices at the same time it optically lifts them. If lowering your prices is what it takes to win a customer, your competitor will also do it. Then it turns into a race to the bottom of who can offer the cheapest experience and still make a profit. The margins become so tight that each operator has to pump an enormous amount of volume through their facility to make money.

If lowering your prices is what it takes to win a customer, your competitor will also do it

Giving a customer a better price occasionally may seem like no big deal, but it can add up substantially and quickly—and companies can go out of business. You shouldn't have to discount. But what can you do instead?

Say No, Then Add a Sweetener

Although this differs by culture, as a general rule people rarely ask for a better price more than two or three times. If saying no doesn't do the trick, remember that when people ask for a discount, what they may really be asking for is to make them feel special—not necessarily a concession on price.One of the easiest things you can do is to add something extra to the experience. This can increase the perceived value on their side and helps substantiate your price. Ideally, this something extra can be provided at low or no monetary cost to you.For example:

• If you're a boat excursion company offering pre-packaged trips, you can offer snacks, appetizers, and beverages for the group.
• If you offer an activity that takes five hours, extend the adventure by another 30 minutes.
• If you offer a tour, find ways to customize the experience for them.

Try Asking for Something in Return

Discounting to land new customers where you get something in return of equal—and preferably larger—value is a much better strategy. In this case, discounting isn't discounting; it's is simply exchanging things of like value to come to terms of a deal. If adding something to the experience doesn't work, you can try asking for something in exchange for a discount.If a bigger company or group is pressuring you on the price, you can:

• Ask to be the preferred tour operator in exchange for a discount. This means that all activity business would go to you first, and only to someone else when you can't meet their needs.
• Ask for a larger commitment in the form of multiple events (or more participants in the event) in exchange for the discount.

Or if you're looking to land a single new customer, you can:

• Ask the customer to commit to more than one activity in exchange for the discount.
• Ask the customer to purchase add-ons in the form of equipment upgrades or other offers.

If a monetary discount appears to be the only option to keep your customer, you'll have to weigh the pros and cons. Be sure to have standard discounts in your back pocket so you can avoid making them up on the spot. And always ask for something in return for the monetary discount.Things you can ask for include:

• a referral to another company they know and work with.
• a press release mentioning your company's name.
• a review on a popular site where your potential customers visit.
• a blog article talking about the event with a link to your site.
• a testimonial you can use on your website.
• the ability to use the company's photographs in your marketing efforts.

Also, remember that it's ok to say no. Sometimes you have to cover your costs, and sometimes saying no even has the surprising result of turning a few customers around to pay your asking price. Don't forget to have some standard discounts already prepared so you can treat customers fairly—while also protecting your margins.You really should not discount at all. If you fall into the trap that you're one of many companies that offer the exact same thing, you risk rationalizing that discounting is the cost of doing business. If you have to discount, you might as well ask for things that can help you keep your new customer for a long time—but lowering your price should be the very last thing you offer.

You've won half the battle: you have an influx of potential customers perusing your site. But you've noticed that spike in site traffic hasn't led to an increase in bookings. So how exactly do you turn those passers-by to your site into loyal, paying customers? Implement these seven tips to start seeing more bookings.

1. Simplify the information on your site

Keep your website easily navigable and searchable. According to Hubspot, 76% of consumers prefer a website that makes it easy to find the information for which they're looking. So keep your site simple with a few large images per page, concise descriptions, and well-labeled tabs to direct them to the information they want. And what information are customers looking for? Aside from the basics—phone number, address, pricing info—they want to know what makes your business special. On your homepage, make clear what your company offers and, more importantly, what makes your offerings unique.

2. Revamp your site photography

Professionally shot images on your site can make a huge difference in the way potential customers perceive your business. According to MGD Advertising, 67% of consumers deemed detailed photos as important to them, and another 50% said photos are more important than product information, long descriptions, or ratings and reviews.

3. Make your booking button prominent on your home page

Even a beautiful website without a clear call to action will lose potential customers who may not be able to find the next step.

Even a beautiful website without a clear call to action will lose potential customers who may not be able to find the next step.

To remove any friction in your customers’ decision-making and booking process, make sure that your booking button is large and clearly visible on your home page. Something as simple as changing the pronouns you use in your call to action can help boost conversions. In fact, Unbounce and ContentVerve ran a test that found changing “your" to “my" resulted in a 90% increase in conversions. A little change from “Book Your Tour Now" to “Book My Tour Now" can have a dramatic effect on your bookings.

4. Flaunt third-party validation

There's no better way to promote your business than through third-party accounts. And perhaps the strongest form of third-party validation is testimonials from friends and family. In fact, a study by Nielson found that, compared to other forms of marketing, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family more. And Market Force Information found that 81% of consumers are influenced by their friends' social media posts. So encourage customers to share their experiences on social media, and tag your business in the posts.

5. Offer discounts to your customers

Discounts or special packages can be just the thing to sway someone’s purchasing decision. You can create a discount code and email it out in an e-newsletter or post it to Facebook for your fans to create buzz. Make it even easier for yourself with an online booking platform like Peek Pro, which allows you to create promo codes that customers can redeem during the checkout flow on your website. Offering specials like a first come, first served discount to a limited number of customers creates scarcity, which will add incentive for people to book quickly.And if you don't want to discount your experiences, read about how you can create irresistible packaged experiences for your potential customers.

6. Make sure your checkout flow is mobile optimized

If your website—and more importantly, checkout flow—isn't optimized for mobile devices, your potentially losing customers. A study by ComScore found that smartphones and tablets combined for 60% of all online traffic. As more customers are browsing for activities and tours on their phones, it’s important to ensure your site is mobile friendly. With an online booking platform that is mobile optimized, your customers can easily book directly from your website on any device.

7. Offer a smooth booking experience with an online booking system

Potential customers, more than anything, are looking for ease. Setting yourself up to allow for online booking gives customers a streamlined experience, which makes them much more likely to not abandon the booking process. If you run a tour or activity business, you can check out a demo of Peek Pro for free here.Focusing on these small details will help you turn those would-be passers-by into paying customers. What other strategies have helped you increase your bookings? Please share in the comments below.