RezNEWS HOT TIP
November and December are great months to sell gift certificates online!
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Many businesses sell gift certificates. However, few businesses maximize gift certificate sales by offering online gift certificates and taking advantage of existing customer data to increase gift certificate sales. RezStream Professional also makes it easy to create and manage gift certificates from within the software.
Marketing Tip: In late November or early December, send e-mail to all the people who have stayed at your property. Invite them to give the gift of romance and relaxation for the holidays. Your complete guest list can be accessed from the Select Names screen of RezStream Professional. Tell them details about your gift certificate program and then provide a handy link to a web form that allows them to request more information or purchase a gift certificate. In addition, make sure to display a “Purchase a Gift Certificate” button prominently on your website. Have your web designer create a simple web form that potential customers can fill out which will also be sent to you via e-mail. Some website design companies can even create a secure page that will encrypt credit card data so payments can be processed without having to call the gift certificate purchaser.
Offering gift certificates during the holiday season will increase your revenue!
How to Create and Manage Gift Certificates Within RezStream Professional
There are two distinct steps you must complete when using the gift certificate feature in RezStream Professional.
A. Create your gift certificate and record a payment from the person who is purchasing the gift certificate. These payments will then be displayed at the bottom of the normal Payment Detail Report on the Reports screen. Some businesses will consider the gift certificate revenue at the time of sale and others will defer the revenue until the guest arrives.
B. Redeem the gift certificate at the time it is used. This step is necessary to track outstanding gift certificates versus redeemed certificates.
A. Creating Gift Certificates
- Click the Point of Sale F4 icon on the RezStream Professional left-hand main toolbar.
- Click the Gift Certificate button in the lower left-hand corner of the Point of Sale screen.
- The Gift Certificates window is displayed. Click the New button.
- The Gift Certificate Creation window is displayed. By default, the name of the last guest that a reservation was made for is displayed in the Purchaser field. If this is not the person purchasing the gift certificate, click the Select button to the right of the Purchaser field and either enter a new name or select a name from guest history using the RezStream Professional Name Search dialog box. The new or selected name is automatically transferred back to the Gift Certificate Creation window. Complete the remaining fields in this window. Fields are described in the table below
- Fixed Value – A certificate for a fixed dollar amount, for example, $100.
- Fixed Length – A certificate for a specific number of nights, for example, two nights.
- Promotional/Trade – A certificate that is for a specific number of nights. There is no currency collected for a Promotional gift certificate. For example, the purchaser may have won a two-night stay in a contest.
Note: The vast majority of gift certificates are sold as a fixed dollar value. The advantage of this type of gift certificate is that if your prices increase before the certificate is used, the dollar amount of the certificate can still be applied as needed.
FIELD |
DESCRIPTION |
Certificate Number |
This number is generated automatically and should not be changed. If your property has its own gift certificate numbering system, independent of the number generated by RezStream Professional, enter it in the Comments field. |
Issue Date |
Enter the date the gift certificate is sold. |
Expiration Date |
Enter an expiration date, if applicable. If the gift certificate does not expire, uncheck the Expiration Date box. |
Type of Certificate |
There are three types of Gift Certificates. |
Value/Length |
Enter the gift certificate’s actual dollar cost, number of nights, or enter the “retail value” of what the certificate would cost if you were creating a promotional gift certificate. This will help track the retail value for tax deduction purposes. |
Actual Cost |
Enter the dollar amount collected when the gift certificate is sold. If you are selling a promotional gift certificate, enter the value it was sold for or enter $0 if it is a donation. |
Purchaser |
Select the purchaser from guest history by clicking the Select button. If the purchaser has not stayed at the property, enter the purchaser’s name and click the New button in the RezStream Professional Name Search window. |
Redeemer |
Many times the redeemer is not known at the time the Gift Certificate is sold. Therefore, this is not a required field. However, if the redeemer is known, a name can be selected from guest history by clicking the Select button or a new name can be entered from the RezStream Professional Name Search window. |
Comments |
Enter any additional information about the gift certificate. |
5. Click the Save button on the Gift Certificate Creation window. The following prompt is displayed.
Clicking Yes displays the Payment Information window where payment for the gift certificate can be recorded.
After selecting a payment type, click the Save button.
About Gift Certificate Payments: Some businesses consider gift certificate payments revenue at time of sale and others consider it revenue when the user of the gift certificate actually stays at the property. RezStream Professional includes gift certificate payments on the daily Detail Payment Report (go to Reports > Payments > Detail), but separates these special payments from other payments to provide the flexibility to customize your accounting practices based upon your property’s specific needs.
B. Redeeming Gift Certificates
- To redeem a gift certificate, make a new daily reservation or select an existing daily reservation.
- Record a payment for the reservation. Payments may be made from several screens, but using the Payments tab from the Contact Data screen is recommended.
- Once the Payment Information window is displayed, select Gift Certificate from the payment type drop-down menu (A). Click the Select button (B).
- The Gift Certificates window displays. Highlight the Gift Certificate that is being redeemed and click the Select button.
- The gift certificate amount is automatically transferred to the Payment Information window. Click the Save button.
Gift Certificate Reports
RezStream Professional has a number of reports specifically designed to track gift certificates. Some of these reports track all certificates, redeemed certificates, and outstanding certificates. Access these reports by going to Reports > Gift Certificates.
