Want to encourage guests to book again through your own website?

It is hard to compete with online agents as we all know. Below we have a solution that will help you encourage repeat bookings through your own website. The idea is that you can set up a separate booking screen page for repeat guests, so that you can offer any discounts and also make the booking process easier for them.

Incentives for customers to book direct...

  • Booking direct through the property means you know exactly who you are dealing with, and you know exactly where your personal details are being stored.
  • We keep your details confidential, and you can rest assured we do not provide or sell this to any third party advertising companies.
  • We provide a secure Payment Card Industry certified credit card storage system, so you can be sure your details are kept safe. All credit card details are deleted 60 days after your departure.
  • Booking direct means you can communicate directly with friendly staff at the property who know the local area and can answer any of your questions. We all know it can be frustrating at times dealing with third party offshore call centres.
  • Booking direct through the property means you can also book additional options such as breakfasts, dinners, tours etc that are only available exclusively on their own website

Below we have easy to follow instructions that will show you how to set up your own agent booking screens, so that you can offer discounts/promotions and/or simplify the booking process for repeat guests so that they are encouraged to book directly through your own website.

If you are wanting to offer your guests a discount or added extra when booking, then the easiest way to do this is to set up an Agent in iBex. This way the discount will be applied automatically, and you can also keep track of bookings/discounts in your reports.

Instructions to add Agent

  • You will need to go to Add a Sales Channel in iBex.
  • Click on Create Custom Sales Channel as below.


Tip - Only the ID and the Name are mandatory fields.

  • ID: Enter a short code (between 4 – 8 characters) for you to identify this agent/sales channel in your iBex system.
  • Name: Enter the name of the agent/sales channel here.
  • User Code: If you have your own reference or code system, you can enter this in this field. If not, ignore.
  • Type: Select what type of agent/sales channel they are.
  • Notes: Add any notes about the company here.
  • Reporting Group: If you have created any Reporting Groups, you can assign the company to a certain group.

To add new Reporting Groups, please add them in the Manage Company report groups screen (also in the Users & Clients section in the menu).

  • You can fill out the Contacts and Address sections if you wish, although this is not necessary.

Rules section:

​Here you can set the Selling Group and Rate Modifiers that will be used for your booking screens.

  • Selling Group: Here you can select which selling group you wish to use for your agent booking screens. If you wish you can set up a new selling group - please click here for instructions. For our example we will use the Main selling group.
  • Rate Modifier: If you do not have a rate modifier set up already then please click here for instructions. For our example we will use Rate 2 which has been set with a modifier of -10%.
  • Extras Modifier: You can set a rate modifier for any extras that are added to the booking also, for our example we will use the same as our Rate Modifier. If you do not wish to sell extras then you can select this under the Sell Extras option.

Credit Options: Here you should set this option to Payment or Credit Via Invoice.

Policies section:

  • This is not currently supported with new front booking screens. In the near future under the Policies section you will be able to set a specific Payment Policy and Cancellation Policy for your Agent if you do not wish to use your default iBex ones.
  • Click Save Sales Channel and you will see 3 more tabs appear allowing you to view any payments, invoices and bookings made by them.

We are now going to create a new Front Booking Screen template that you can use on your website.

The main purpose of setting up a new booking screen template is so you can have Rates and Extras that are only applicable to the Agent and Selling Group that you set to be used. You can also simplify the process by limiting any mandatory fields you require for example.

  • You will need to go to Search/Maintain Booking Screens in iBex, which you will find under the Website Feed heading. If you do not see this option then please email support@seekom.com and ask to be upgraded to out new front booking screens.
  • Click on the orange New Template button at the top right of the page.
  • You will then see a popup box, and you should select the New Template (Single Property) option.

You are now ready to add your new booking screen template to your website.

Create Email Template

Now that you have set up your new Agent Booking Screens, and added this to your website, we can set up an Email Template and Scheduler in iBex so that departed guests will automatically receive an email with a link to book direct next time through your new booking screens.

  • First you will need to go to Email Templates in iBex, which you will find under the Users and Clients heading in your iBex menu. Once here select the New button at the bottom of the page.
  • You will then need to give your new Email Template a Name and Email Subject as below.

  • You can then type your email that you will be sending to your guests. Please click here for detailed instructions on creating Email Templates.
  • Select the text that you wish to add the link to your booking screen page, and click the Link Icon to add in the URL from your new booking screen page as below.

  • When you are finished editing your new Email Template click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Create Email Scheduler

Now all you need to do is create an Email Scheduler so that iBex will automatically send out your new Email Template to your guests.

  • First go to Email Scheduler in your iBex menu under the Users and Clients section.
  • On this page click the Add New button.
  • You will need to give your new scheduler rule a Name.

  • Next select the Rule Type, for which we will choose the 'Send Email After A Guests Departure' option.

  • Once you select the Rule Type, the screen will refresh and you will have some additional options to choose.
    You can leave the Email To option set as Customer.
    Select the Email Template that you have just set up.
    Select the number of days after the guests departs that you wish iBex to send these emails.

  • You can now click Save and you are finished.