Everything you need to know about the deposit

Reception of the deposit: check or bank card

You can receive a deposit via 2 ways:

The check

The +:

• Possibility of hand-delivery to meet the customer
• No impact on the customer's behalf, less scary

The -:

• A lot of administrative work (receipt of checks, filing & storage, destruction after the event)
• Wooden check (empty account)
• Binding for the customer: write the check, go to the post office, mail it or go to your establishment to give it to you
• Unengaging for the customer

The online bank card

The +:

• We are sure that the customer's account is solvent for the amount at the time of the deposit.
• Convenient for the customer, can do it from anywhere and at any time
• Fast (only a few minutes)
• Very little administrative work for the establishment
• Very engaging for the customer

The -:

• If a deposit is taken too early, it may be outdated at the time of booking

I can ONLY advise you to use the online deposit!

It is much safer for your establishment and if your argument is “yes but I want to see the customer” = organize an appointment with the visit of the place.

Now that you have chosen your deposit method, you need to set the amount.

How do I choose the amount and type of deposit?

There are 3 types of security that you can use:

Deposit per reservation

=> percentage x average ticket x average number of people per group

[Example: On average, a customer spends €30 at home and a group is on average made up of 20 people, i.e. a projected turnover of €600. If the customer does you a bad job, you think you can fill at least half the space you had reserved for him with the passing customers, i.e. 10 people. You therefore expect a loss of 50% of the estimated turnover of €600 or €300. That's the price of your deposit.]

Deposit per person

=> percentage x average ticket

[Example: On average, a customer spends €30 at home. If a group of customers does not come, you feel that you can, with passing customers, replace at least 1 person out of 2. You therefore expect a loss of 50% of the estimated turnover of €30/person, or €15/person. That's the price of your deposit.]

Space deposit

=> percentage [equipment and installation costs]

In this case, we are more on an amount that will be significant enough for the customer to take care of your space and also to be a first advance on work or repair in the event of serious damage (yes you have to imagine the worst). So if you estimate that you have €5,000 of equipment and €2,000 of decoration, i.e. €7000 of work in the event of serious damage, you can set the deposit at 20% of this amount, or €1400.

And I advise you to add a part to your rental contract or your CGR indicating that in case of damage exceeding the deposit costs, an additional invoice at the expense of the customer will be issued.

Exactly the same as renting an apartment or a car.

In all cases, it's up to you to place the cursor so that the amount seems right for you and you the customer.

How to integrate the deposit into your process?

To integrate the deposit step into your reservation process, I suggest the following procedure:

• Write your terms and conditions (General Booking Conditions)
• When accepting the new reservation, explain the rules of the game to the customer (based on your CGR of course):
• The conditions for validating the reservation (ex: validation only if the deposit is received)
• Announce the amount of the deposit
• Explain the methods of paying the deposit (check and/or credit card online)
• If online, send the payment link
• If by check, specify the order, address and/or times for shipping/depositing
• Detail the payment conditions
• Specify to the customer that if the deposit is posted, this automatically results in the acceptance of the CGRs or ask your customers to sign your CGRs.
• Upon receipt of the deposit, send a written confirmation to the customer of the good reception and validate the reservation by recalling the conditions of payment and the acceptance of the CGR.
• Send a reservation reminder a few days before the date and repeat the conditions for cashing the deposit and that the CGR have been accepted.
• After the reservation, if the customer honored their reservation and you received a deposit check, send proof to the customer that the check was destroyed and if it is an online deposit, delete the customer's contact details.

In the case of a space deposit, add an inventory step at the start of the event and at the end of the event.

Good listening

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Every week, I offer you a 10-15 minute mini-episode of pure advice, ideas, tips to be the superhero of your event sales department.

I am Clémence Férault, your host, former event salesman and now CEO and co-founder of BookingShake, the Event Management Software that unleashes the potential of your place.

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