How to set up a deposit in your establishment?

A few weeks ago, I was talking to you”Why use the deposit” and I promised to share with you how to set it up.

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• If a deposit is taken too early, it may be outdated at the time of booking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

Finally, here are some tools to allow you to receive deposits online.

Tools for receiving a bond online

LocShake

Do you have a Stripe account or are you looking for a tool to manage your deposits online? LocShake is made for you! You connect your Stripe account in a few clicks and you are ready to collect deposits from your customers.

The advantage of this tool is its simplicity and its fixed price without commission (29€/month). We highly recommend it!

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BookingShake

In our solution we offer an online deposit feature and we take care of configuring everything for you. All you have to do is receive the deposits.

You will have access to a message that you can send to your customer with a link in it for the deposit of their deposit by credit card.

When the customer clicks on the link, he arrives on a platform for registering bank details (personalized to your image).

He registers his credit card and you receive an email alert indicating that the deposit has been made. For his part, the customer also automatically receives an email telling him that the operation has been completed.

At the same time, the customer's reservation form in BookingShake is automatically updated with the amount and the “received” status of the deposit. And that's all.

Absolutely nothing is taken from the customer's account unless you ask our team to cash the deposit in case of non-compliance with the CGR.

Watch the video demonstration

Stripe and other online payment platforms

Stripe is a platform that allows you to link your bank account to an online security tool.

The customer goes to a web page, registers his bank details and everything is registered in Stripe.

You will have access to a management space which will then allow you to debit the customer's account in the event of a no-show for example or to delete the contact details following the reservation.

The creation of a Stripe account and the registration of the customer's bank details are free, however, if you cash the deposit, Stripe will take an automatic fee (1.4% of the amount withdrawn + €0.25 for European cards and 2.9% of the amount withdrawn + €0.25 for non-European cards).

However, being able to configure the web page that will allow the customer to deposit his bank details requires a bit of technological agility...

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You now have all the keys to secure your reservations and your spaces!

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