We’re happy to announce integration the Constant Contact email marketing platform. Constant Contact is used by more than 500,000 small businesses to build and deliver e-mail campaigns. You can design, send, and track emails with a simple set of tools, and an easy to use interface.

E-mail marketing is a great way to stay connected with your customers. Last minute deals, sessional newsletters, and VIP offers can have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.

To get started you first need a Constat Contact account. There is a free trial available on www.constantcontact.com, and they offer competitive pricing based on the number of customers on your list(s).

Setup

You can enable the Checkfront / Constant Contact integration in the Add-on section of your Checkfront account. A single click will request your authorization and connect the two applications. You can then select the list to subscribe customers to.

Once activated, when a customer makes a booking they’ll be given the option to opt-in to a mailing list of your choosing. If you take phone bookings you can also ask customers if they’d like to be added to your list and add them while making the booking.

You can further map specific fields used in Checkfront to custom fields in your mailing list. This can include the last booking date, special notes or other information collected at the time of booking.

You can see in the activity log, or the log view while viewing a booking when a customer has been subscribe via Constant Contact.

For more information goto Constant Contact or contact us directly for any setup questions.

Already setup? See: Six Simple Tips to Increase Your Online Bookings.

We are delighted to announce support for the Stripe payment processing platform. Stripe is a popular payment processor currently available in the US and Canada. It allows you to offer your customers the ability to to pay in part, or in full at the time of booking and fully integrates into the Checkfront back-office app.

One nice feature that Stripe has is the ability to store and re-bill a customers credit card as needed. For instance if you currently charge a deposit in Checkfront, you can complete the payment, and / or add to the booking without needing the credit card details again.

Stripe has no set-up fees, no minimum terms and a hassle-free sign-up process, and weekly settlements. It’s priced competitively at 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. There are no monthly fees, or extra fees for refunds.

Checkfront currently integrates into Stripe by way of their direct payment method. This provides a seamless checkout for your customers, and fully integrates into the Checkfront back-office app.

Please note: the Stripe integration is a premium gateway available at no extra charge to our Professional and above plans. Soho users can still use it, however a 20 cent transaction fee is automatically added to your gateway fees from Stripe.

We’re happy to announce SMS notifications via Twilio with our latest update (v2.8.5).

With SMS notifications you can send short text messages customers and staff. You can remind customers about a booking date, follow up with a quick post-booking thank-you, and update staff regarding a booking status.

Twilio is a cloud communication service that makes sms and voice services a breeze and affordable. SMS messages costs 1 cent per message (USD).

SMS notifications in Checkfront work simular to e-mail notifications. You can select staff and customers as receipts, and trigger them based on the status of a booking. You can even schedule notifications based on the booking start or end date.

The SMS text can include dynamic details using booking variables. For example:

Hello! This is just a reminder that your booking for {$BOOKING_ITEMS} is on {$BOOKING_DATE}.

Setup

To enable the Twilio add-on, you’ll first need to create a Twilio account and well as a Twilio phone number (this is used as the from number in notifications).

You’ll want to note down your Twilio number, Account SID, and Auth Token and login to your Checkfront account. Go to the Add-ons section, select Twilio and supply the credentials and phone number from Twilio.

Once activated, you can go to Manage / Notifications / SMS and create your SMS notifications.

Staff Notifications

To send notifications to your staff they need to have a mobile number configured in their checkfront account profile. You should include the area code, but not the country code. Eg, 250-555-5555.

Customer Notifications

If you have the customer_phone field configured in your field editor, Checkfront will use this for mobile notifications. You may wish to change the label for “Phone number” to “Mobile Phone”, and add a new paragraph that explains that you will be sending an SMS to this number.

This add-on is free to all plans not including fees from Twilio. Please note SMS notifications are currently 1 way.

Related Posts:

• Update: New Field Editor
• Booking Details
• Checkfront Open API v2.0
• Zoho CRM Integration

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We are happy to announce support for Intuit Merchant Service for QuickBooks. If you currently use QuickBooks Merchant Services for your POS or in-house bookings, you can now use the same account to process bookings online with Checkfront.

QuickBooks Merchant Services allows you to offer your customers the ability to pay in part, or in full at the time of booking and fully integrates into the Checkfront back-office app.

Checkfront currently integrates into QuickBook Merchant Services by way of their direct payment method. This provides a seamless checkout for your customers, and fully integrates into the Checkfront back-office app.

Features

• Virtual Terminal
• In App Refunds
• Integrated Checkout
• Sandbox / Simulator environments

Setup

To start using QuickBooks Merchant Services with Checkfront, login to your account and visit the add-on / E-commerce section, and select Quickbooks Merchant Services.

You’ll be prompted to click on a link that creates a “connection ticket”. This will require that you login to your QuickBooks Merchant Account and will present you with a “connection ticket” and a request for authorization. Copy and paste the connection ticket into the Checkfront add-on setup to activate.

Alternatively you can get the connection ticket by following this link.

Test Mode

If you have a test account and wish to use the QuickBooks add-on in sandbox mode, you need to obtain a separate connection ticket. Remember to replace this when disabling test mode.

Test mode allows you to place transactions as if they were real, and test the systems end-to-end.

The following test credit card numbers can be used with Quickbooks while in test mode:

Passbook is an application from Apple designed to store membership cards, tickets, coupons, and reservations — similar to a digital wallet. It’s great for customers because they don’t have to carry around hard copies and information is automatically kept up to date on their phones. For merchants it can be a big time saver and provides a great end-to-end booking experience.

How does it work with Checkfront?

When a customer adds a Checkfront booking to their Passbook, it stores the reservation on their iPhone or iPod. As a customer nears your location on the day of their booking (based on your longitude and latitude), the electronic ticket automatically pops up on their phone. Upon arrival, you can can scan, validate and check-in the customer using the built-in bar-code scanner in our native Mobile Apps (iPhone, iPad, Android). This is all communicated to your central system, in real time.

As an added bonus, if the booking is changed, the details are updated automatically in the customers phone. Your paper receipt can’t do that can it?

Passbook is made available in Checkfront as an add-on and is available to all accounts at no extra cost.

More info

Learn more about Passbook from Apple.

Try a demo of our new mobile booking interface (mobile device required) https://demo.checkfront.com/reserve/.

Learn about more updates in our v2.8 release.

• FAQ

• Do I need an iPhone to process bookings stored in an Apple Passbook?

  No. You can use our Android app to scan the barcode on the customers phone, or just type in the booking id into the Checkfront admin to locate the booking.

• I don’t see Passbook on my iOS device.

  Passbook is available for iOS 6 and later on the iPhone and iPod. There is currently no support for the iPad.

• Is there an Android equivalent to Passbook?

  There is an unofficial app called Passwallet that can be found in the Google Play store.

• I prefer paper only. Can I disable Passbook?

  Yes, just visit your add-on section in Checkfront and disable Passbook.

“Makes the job a 1000 times easier. We scan the QR code, reservation pops up and they are ready to go , instantly. Lightning speed, no delays.”
Rafael, New York Helicopter

You can’t put your booking administration on auto-pilot just yet, but things just got a whole lot easier! We are thrilled to announce our new mobile Apps for Checkfront.

You you can now have real time access to your customers and bookings while on the go.

The Checkfront Mobile Apps are available today for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android devices.

No More Sticky Notes!

With the Checkfront mobile apps you can view and add notes to bookings while on the go and keep in touch with your staff.

You can update the status of the booking in real time, without having to wait till you get back in-front of your computer.

Instant Check-in with QR Codes

The built-in bar-code scanner makes checking in customers and verifying bookings a breeze. Just wave your mobile device over the barcode on the Checkfront Booking receipt and it will instantly bring up the booking. With auto-checkin enabled, the customer will be checked-in or checked-out at the same time. (Remember to enable the 3D barcode add-on in your account.)

Put Customers at Your Finger Tips

Quickly pinpoint customers on a map, directly call or email them from the app, and add as contact to your device phone book.

Other features include:

• View current and upcoming bookings.
• Search bookings by customer, booking id or date.
• Check-in, and check-out bookings.
• View and update booking notes.
• Access your global bookmarks.
• View a map of the customers location.
• Export and open the PDF booking receipt.

Future updates will be based on your feedback, so share your thoughts!

Terms of Use

Please note use of the Mobile Apps are covered by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Checkfront is thrilled to announce integration with Xero. Xero is online accounting software for business that tracks invoicing/billing, accounts payable, bank reconciliation and bookkeeping.

Checkfront made a decision to adopt Xero last year and replace the existing system with the hopes of streamlining expenses, reconciliation and cash flow management. We have been so impressed with Xero’s efficiencies and benefits we want to share them with the Checkfront community, providing an end to end solution. If you are still using Desktop accounting software, imagine this:

- Reconciliation while you sleep. Checkfront will automatically sync your invoices and payments with Xero.
- No more dragging files around. Give your bookkeeper and accountant access to your records.
- Access to your accounting records where ever you are.

What does this Add-on do?

The Xero addon automatically adds invoices, payments and customers to your Xero account. When a new booking is created, Checkfront creates an invoice and contact in Xero with the information supplied at the time of booking. When a payment is applied in Checkfront, a payment is applied to the invoice in Xero. If a booking is amended, changed or a refund is applied, the invoice is updated in Xero.

This means all of your transactions, and outstanding accounts payable are synced in both in Checkfront, and Xero.

Setup

If you don’t already have a Xero account, scoot over to www.xero.com and sign up. They offer a free trial and are well priced.

To enabled the Xero addon in Checkfront, login to your account and navigate to the Add-ons section in the top right. From there you will see a list of available modules. Select Xero and provide the following setup information:

• Connected Org: Will show the name of the connected account once authorized.
• Invoice Items Account Code: The Xero Account Code to assign to invoice items (for example: 200 – Sales).
• Payments To Account Code: The Xero Account Code to make payments to (for example 090 – Bank).

You can find a list of your Accounts in Xero under Settings / Chart of Accounts. Your invoice items account should be a REVENUE account, and your payments account should be a BANK account, with “enable payments to” activated.

When you click “Activate” for the first time, you’ll be redirected to Xero to Authorize the integration. If you have multiple organizations you’ll be given the option to select what one to use. After finishing the authorization, you’ll be redirected back to your Checkfront account. The Organization should now be displayed as connected in the Add-on setup.

Notes

Refunds to applied payments on invoices aren’t currently supported by Xero. You need to login to Xero and cancel the payment. Once payments are cancelled (or if there are no payments applied) you can VOID or CANCEL the booking in Checkfront and it will VOID or DELETE the invoice in Xero.

Looking for more Add-ons?

Having a booking system to both manage your bookings, and extend self service bookings to your customers is a no-brainer these days. It puts customers in the driving seat and reduces your overall administration, allowing you to focus on your business.

Consider these numbers for businesses on checkfront.com:

38% of bookings made on Checkfront happen outside of normal business hours.

37% of bookings on Checkfront are made by customers.

58% of website visitors arrive at your site to book, price & check availability.

Here are six simple things you can do to increase your online bookings, and ultimately your revenues (yay!).

1. Shout It Out

Just having a booking system won’t do. It’s important that visitors to your website immediately know that you accept online bookings, and know how to get there. Remember, the majority of traffic to your website is there to check your availability, pricing and / or book your service. Don’t make it a scavenger hunt!

Have a clear call to action (BOOK NOW!) visible when arriving at your website. Because visitors can arrive at different parts of your website, a book online button should be clearly available throughout your website — not just your home page.

2. Reach Out To Past Customers

Return customers are the least likely to need a phone call or email correspondence before making a booking. Make sure and let your existing and past customers know that you now accept bookings online. Don’t assume they will just find our next time they arrive to your site.

Tweet, and update your Facebook page: “Hey! You can now book online with us 24/7 at www.example.com/reserve/”.

If you have a mailing list, don’t bury the announcement in a newsletter. Send out a dedicated e-mail campaign that lets customers know you can now book online.

Hi Leah,

Thanks for your past business with us. We are pleased to now offer the ability to check availability, pricing and book online directly from our website!

If you book online with us in the next 30 days, use the coupon code NOWONLINE and receive a 10% discount.

Book Online Today at: http://www.example.com/reserve/?discount=NOWONLINE

3. Change Your Voicemail

If you get a lot of off-hours calls or have a call queue for your reservation number, make sure to mention you can book and check availability online, along with the website address. You’ll be surprised how much your time on the phone drops off.

“Thanks for calling MyBusiness. We are currently on another call or out of the office. Did you know you can check availability and make bookings from our website? Book online now at http://www.example.com/reserve.”

4. Reward Self Service

Taking bookings by e-mail, phone and fax is expensive. It can be frustrating for customers and expensive for your business. Consider rewarding your customers who book online with a small discount or other incentive.

A coupon code is a great way to track the source of a booking. For instance, mention a specific coupon code on your voice-mail and another one in your mailers. You should be able to draw a direct correlation to the discount offered and the money saved by automating the booking.

5. Update E-mail Signatures, Flyers and Business Cards.

You will continue to get requests for pricing, availability or just general questions via email. Put your booking page url in your signature so customers know where to go once their questions have been answered.

Anywhere you have previously listed your email address or phone number, add a direct link to your booking page. For example:

MyCompany
Book Online (Save $5.00): www.example.com/reservations

555-555-5555
info@example.com
www.example.com

Make sure to update any other media you circulate that has your phone number, including rack cards, business cards and advertisements.

6. Engage Your Customers – Regularly

Continue to use social media, mailing lists and your marketing efforts to steer customers to your booking page. Seasonal campaigns work great as do last minute deals.

Make sure you are collecting e-mail addresses (opt-in), following your customers on twitter, and encouraging them to like you on Facebook.

If someone has booked with you, send an automated follow up email thanking them, asking for feedback and providing links to connect to your social media pages.

Other helpful resources

• 10 techniques for an effective ‘call to action’.
• E-commerce tracking with Google Analytics and Checkfront.
• Accept bookings of Facebook.

Interface Update

We’ve spent a lot of time over the past several months tweaking the customer facing user interface. The new interface provides a more intuitive customer experience, additional configuration, improved session support and layout options. The goal of the customer booking interface and plugins is to allow customers to review your availability, check pricing, and make a booking with as few steps as possible. Ultimately this leads to less phone calls and e-mails to you, and more bookings. To see how the booking interface integrates into our website, have a look at our demo.

The new plugins make available the following:

• Configurable up-sells

  

  You can now specify a quantity in packages. This is a great option for items that are not date based, for example a add-on services, up-sells or static items (such as a t-shirt).
  This is configured via a regular inventory item with “simple pricing enabled”.

• SSL Support

  If the booking page is hosted with your own SSL certificate customers will stay on your site for the duration of the booking (with the exception of external Payment processors such as Paypal). Although completely optional, this provides a more streamlined checkout experience.

• Tabbed Categories

  Tabbed categories were removed from our v2 admin interface due to their inability to display more than a handful of categories well. But this works well with a smaller set of categories, so we’ve added it back as an option by request. If you wish to enable them internally, see your booking page settings on Manage / Layout.

• Support for multiple payment gateways

  

  If you are using one of our integrated payment gateways such Authorize.net or SagePay, you can now add additional payment options to your payment page. Currently, you can add Paypal, Google Checkout.

We recommend that you upgrade your current customer facing implementation of Checkfront to the latest version:

• WordPress Plugin (2.5+)
• Joomla Plugin (1.6 – 2.5)
• Drupal Module (1.7+)
• Facebook Plugin
• Hosted Booking Page

For a full list of updates, including new rules, dashboard widgets, and add-ons see the update center.

We have some of the most amazing customers operating businesses in fantastic places around the world. Our customers and their stories are what get us up in the morning and inspires us to build great tools to support them.

As we approach our second birthday in June we would love to capture this time with a yearbook. If you are a Checkfront customer and would like to participate please submit a photo of your business. Ideally a photo of you / your staff operating your business, interacting with a customer, or a stunning photograph of your location. Your photo and business will be debuted on our Facebook page, and made available in a photo collage.

Each submission will go into a draw to win:

• 3 months free service.
• A stylish Checkfront hoodie (who doesn’t love swag?).
• A $100 USD Amazon gift certificate.

To participate, please e-mail your photo to support@checkfront.com along with the name of your business, website url and short description of what you do. Be sure and like our Facebook page to see submissions and stay up to date.

Notes

Please make sure images are 800×600 pixels are greater. We can scale any high resolution images.

Prizes: 3 months free service to accounts in good standing only based on your existing plan type. Contest to complete June 30th and winners announced in early July. There are three prizes.

Photos may be added to the Checkfront Facebook page, and may also be promoted via Twitter, or other social media. You may request at a later date that the photo be removed or replaced.

July 3rd -Announcement

Congratulations to Checkfront Yearbook Contest Winners!
1st J World San Diego – 3 months Checkfront service
2nd Chappellet Winery – Stylish Checkfront hoodie
3rd Tourific Escapes – $100 Gift Certificate

Thanks to all that submitted entries.
Please continue to send us pictures of your teams in action.