Your ultimate

A-to-Z guide to SiteMinder

Sit back as we take you through the alphabet
from A-to-Z and explore all things SiteMinder...

Your ultimate A-to-Z guide to SiteMinder / 1

 Your guide to all things
SiteMinder...
Thanks for downloading your ultimate A-to-Z guide
to SiteMinder.
It’s a great way to find out more about us, what we do,
our best-of-breed technology products, and how we
help hoteliers, just like you, run better businesses,
every day, all over the world.
Don’t forget to visit SiteMinder.com today!

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 a … is for ALL AROUND THE WORLD
We love Australia. We love the great beaches, the great weather, and the great view of the
iconic Sydney Opera House from our head office. But enough bragging from us! SiteMinder
might have been born in the land Down Under to the two Mikes, but they wasted no time in
taking our technology global, quickly opening offices in London, Bangkok, Dallas, and Cape Town.
We also have lovely representatives in many different countries – the list is too long to mention
so check out our Contact Us page for more information about where we are around the world.

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 b
Did you know that we have a brilliant blog completely dedicated to hotel industry insights?
You’ll find articles covering everything from mobile-friendly websites through to social

… is for BLOG media marketing advice, and helpful tips on how to make better use of our products.
Check it out by visiting: SiteMinder.com/blog

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 c … is for COMMISSION-FREE BOOKINGS
Online, direct bookings with no commissions is
the dream, right? Well, here at SiteMinder we
can give you just that with our internet booking
engine, TheBookingButton. It’s designed with
the capability to match your hotel’s brand
identity, and helps your hotel’s website attract,
reach, and convert guests directly. It offers
bookings via mobile devices, and even plugs
into Facebook, so you can sell completely
commission-free there too!

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 d … is for DISTRIBUTION
Distribution, distribution,
distribution!
It’s the key to maximising your
online presence and getting your
hotel booked from all corners of
the world that you’d previously
never have thought possible.
SiteMinder has lots of handy
advice for your distribution
strategy. This helpful guide is
a great place to start: ‘How to
diversify your hotel’s distribution
strategy’ – and just like this one,
it’s free to download too!

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 e … is for EASY INTEGRATIONS
One of the crucial elements of a successful distribution
strategy is the ease of seamless integrations to your
hotel’s existing technology.
Here at SiteMinder we often say that we serve the whole
industry, and that’s because we partner with hundreds of
online travel agents, metasearch sites, wholesalers, property
management systems, central reservations systems, and
revenue management systems. Working so closely with
these partners allows us to offer hoteliers true global and
regional reach to key markets worldwide.

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 f … is for FREE TRIAL
We know that implementing
something new at your hotel, such
as a channel manager or an internet
booking engine, is a big deal.
And we also know how important
it is for you to familiarise yourself with
the technology so you can evaluate
the impact it will have on managing
your business. That’s why we offer
a 14-day free trial for you to get
comfortable with our products and
their many different features.
Our global support teams are always
on hand to help answer any questions
you might have, so it’s a great way to
get started and explore the benefits
without signing your life away!

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 g … is for GDS BY SITEMINDER
Having access to a global travel network via GDS by
SiteMinder can open up a world of possibilities for selling
more of your rooms.
It connects your hotel to more than 500,000 travel agents,
as well as some of the world’s top GDSs, including Sabre,
Amadeus, and Travelport. You can talk to us about your
suitability for GDS by SiteMinder – simply get in touch for a chat.

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 h … is for HIGHER PROFIT MARGINS
The internet economy is a huge opportunity for hoteliers
of all sizes, all over the world.
One way to ensure the online world works to your
advantage is to employ a commission-free internet booking
engine, like TheBookingButton, which enables higher profit
margins for hotels. You can read more about solutions and
tactics for independent hotels on our dedicated page.

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 i
Your hotel should be making better business decisions, with the data that’s
available, and many of the systems you use come with insights already built in.
Take The Channel Manager for example, which gives you full visibility of your
online distribution performance with a comprehensive reporting dashboard.
… is for INSIGHTS Measure your earnings from reservations, booking volume and average lead
times – in summary or as trends over time. It’s a great way to gain crucial
insights into your business without needing a degree in statistics!

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 j … is for JUST SET UP...AND GO
Here at SiteMinder we try and make things as easy
as possible because we know how busy you are.
And we also know that once you decide to come
onboard with us, you’ll need some guidance on how
to get going. We have some amazing people in our
Training & Onboarding teams (you can tell we’re
proud of them!) and they’re great at providing our
new customers, no matter how ‘techie’ they are,
with a brilliant welcome experience, which ensures
they’re ready and comfortable to go ahead and start
using our products.

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 k … is for KNOWLEDGE BASE
When you’ve experienced the greatness that
is our onboarding training (yep, we’re really
proud!), you might have some questions
about the features you were shown or want
to see again. Of course, SiteMinder support
is only a phone call away, but you can also
look up common questions that our other
customers are searching for in our Knowledge
Base - there’s one for The Channel Manager
and another for TheBookingButton. There are
helpful video demos, step-by-step articles, and
the content is often available in other languages
such as German, Spanish, Thai and Bahasa.

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 l … is for LOWER COST OF ACQUISITION
Making sure you have a Brand.com presence - also known
as your hotel’s own website - is great for lowering the cost
of guest acquisition. That’s because direct bookings put you
in charge of the guest relationship from start to finish and
you’ll save on commissions too. Direct to property ultimately
lowers your cost of acquisition, builds brand awareness,
rapport and loyalty with guests, and delivers personalised
guest experiences while increasing promoters. You can find
out more about lowering your cost of acquisition in our
handy, free downloadable eBook - ‘How to diversify your
distribution strategy’.

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 m … is for MULTIPLE LANGUAGES
SiteMinder may have begun life in Australia, but we’re most
definitely a company with a solid and important global presence.
To serve our customers truly and effectively, we offer many of our
services in multiple languages and this includes local sales teams,
local support, and of course, local versions of SiteMinder.com.

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 n … is for NO CONTRACTS
Let’s face facts – lots of people struggle
with commitment. And we get it.
We know it’s a tough call beginning a
new, serious relationship. But one of the
key reasons that many people choose to
join SiteMinder is our ‘no contracts, no
obligation’ policy. We don’t make you sign
your life away or lock you into a lengthy,
rigid contract. It’s all about putting you
in control and giving you flexibility. We’re
confident you’ll like us so much that you’ll
stick around! You can check out how
our pricing works here – SiteMinder’s
product pricing.

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 o … is for ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS
Online travel agents (OTAs) should play an exciting part of
your online distribution strategy. Most travellers today follow
a winding road during their search for accommodation -
switching between a whole host of websites such as Booking.
com and Expedia before they actually commit to making
a booking. Today’s smart hoteliers are taking advantage
of OTAs as an effective marketing platform. Consider that
OTAs such as Expedia spend more than $800 million on
marketing. Being listed on these OTAs allows you to tap into
an advertising budget you could probably never afford. The
key is to identify which OTAs will provide your business the
best return on investment and commit your time and energy
in those sites. See who SiteMinder connects to by viewing
our integrations.

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 p … is for POOLED INVENTORY
SiteMinder’s Channel Manager uses a pooled inventory distribution model. But what does that mean and
why is it beneficial? Pooled inventory means that you evenly distribute all your available rooms across a
number of sites – including your own website. In this case, all inventory is automatically reduced across all
booking sites when a booking is made on any site. SiteMinder’s Channel Manager works in real time so if
there’s one room left on Booking.com and one room left on Expedia, and one of those sells, it’ll be updated
on all sites immediately. Crucially by using the pooled inventory model, SiteMinder allows hoteliers to sell
their stressed inventory - the very last remaining rooms - helping maximise revenue. You can read more
about this model on our blog.

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 q … is for QUICKER BOOKINGS
We can all feel like admin is taking over our lives - and
hoteliers have a huge amount to tackle every day. Using
cloud technology can alleviate some of the stress and
eliminate the manual entry aspect of many processes by
making them automatic. By implementing technology such
as The Channel Manager and TheBookingButton you can
integrate your existing technology and instantly update your
rates, availability, and even special offers.

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 r … is for REDUCED RISK OF OVERBOOKINGS
Overbookings are bad news. It’s frustrating for hoteliers,
and very annoying for guests when it happens.
It might happen because you can’t take credit card payments
at the time of booking and you deliberately get into the habit
of taking more bookings than you ought to just to cover
any future cancellations. That’s a risky game and doesn’t
make your hotel look great. Or overbookings could happen
because you’re not updating your inventory in the most
efficient way – see P for pooled inventory. Working with a
two-way channel manager, such as SiteMinder’s, means all
your room inventory is available to all your online channels,
at all times. No more stress about allocating inventory or
having vacant rooms at your hotel.

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 s … is for SUCCESS STORIES
We love our customers here at SiteMinder - and yes
we know all companies say that, but we really mean
it. Our success is our customers’ success and it’s
something we celebrate as often as we can. Once
a year, we release the stats behind our customers’
success - in the 12 months to 30th June 2015,
SiteMinder powered 27 million hotel reservations,
delivering almost $11 billion (usd) in revenue
for our customers. You can also read some of the
stories behind these numbers from our customers
on our dedicated case studies page.

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 t … is for TheBookingButton
and The Channel Manager
Of course T is for our market-leading
products, The Channel Manager and
TheBookingButton, because where
would we be without them!
Both products have delivered
significant results for our 19,000
hotel customers. But don’t just take
our word for it! Pegasus Apart’Hotels
recently explained how it tripled
online bookings, and doubled
room nights and revenue with The
Channel Manager. And Lagoon Beach
Hotel in South Africa experienced
100% growth in online bookings by
incorporating The Channel Manager
with TheBookingButton. Winning!

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 u … is for USER-FRIENDLY
TECHNOLOGY
We think the key to mastering any
technology effectively is understanding
how to navigate it and make the most
of the features it offers.
That’s why our cloud-based platforms
are simple and easy to manage with no
software or installations needed. One
of our customers, Hostal El Levante,
says that SiteMinder’s simplicity and
user-friendly design are two of the
best features, as hotel manager, Diego
Lobón describes: “Even a child could
use it, and it’s so convenient. I can use
it at home on my tablet and watch the
bookings come in, and I can instantly
modify prices according to demand.”

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 v … is for VERY HELPFUL
SUPPORT TEAMS
SiteMinder’s support teams are a big part of our
success story.
Hoteliers can call us, ask us questions, and we’ll help
solve enquiries as quickly as possible. In fact, our support
teams all over the world are a competitive bunch, and
regularly battle it out to clear their support queues
the fastest...every week there’s a new personal best
somewhere in our global offices! Ultimately, it means a
fast and attentive support service for our customers,
as Bespoke Hospitality Management in Asia explains:
“What we like about working with SiteMinder is their
user-friendly, cloud-based technology combined with
their cost-effective with commission-free model. Their
local presence in Bangkok also benefits us in terms of
instant technical support.”

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 W … is for WEBSITE CREATOR

Just when you thought SiteMinder couldn’t offer you any

more wonderful innovations... along came Canvas. It’s a
brilliant and intuitive website creator built with hoteliers (just
like you) in mind. It helps your website become your most
profitable channel – with minimal effort and resources. And
if you don’t have any design or coding experience, then don’t
stress because with Canvas you don’t need any. You can
read more about Canvas in our Product section – and check
out this blog which explores how one rural hotelier took back
control of her website – delivering increased bookings and
boosted search engine rankings too!

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 x … is for X-RAY VISION
Okay, bear with us...X was a difficult letter! You’re probably wondering
what x-ray vision has to do with selling hotel rooms online?
Think of it this way, x-ray vision is the ability to see through physical
objects, and is most definitely, one of the coolest superpowers EVER!
By giving you complete control over your distribution strategy
combined with a deep look into your data and insights, you’ll fast
become your hotel’s resident superhero! See, we told you there was
a link between the two!

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 y … is for YIELD MANAGEMENT
How do you know which channels are the right
ones for your hotel? And how do you get the mix
right when it comes to selling your rooms at the
right prices, at the right times, to the right people.
Yield management is the answer. There is a growing
demand for hotels to yield rates as an essential part
of an effective revenue management strategy. The
goal of yield management is not just to increase
room rates or occupancy; rather, it’s to maximise
your hotel’s average nightly room revenue by
forecasting your room supply and demand across
a variety of key factors. SiteMinder has two great
blogs – split into part 1 and part 2 – that delve
deep into yield management.

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 z
Another tricky letter, but we think we’ve cracked it! After running through letters A to Y,
it’s pretty obvious that by partnering with SiteMinder and using our brilliant products
you will calm the chaos that can be managing your hotel’s distribution strategy.
... is for ZEN Implementing our easy-to-use technology, and knowing you have our great support
teams available to you all over the world, will bring you peace of mind, and of course, zen!
You may even free up so much time that you can FINALLY book a holiday of your very own.
Now, wouldn’t that be great?!

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 Sign up for your
free trial today
You can start your 14-day free trial today by clicking on
the button below – as the letter N explained there are no
contracts and no obligation with SiteMinder! When we
say it, we really mean it.
Thanks for reading – we can’t wait to have you on board!

START YOUR FREE TRIAL