Christmas party bookings, without the spreadsheet

Christmas is the month that pays for January. It's also the month of the 12-person office party, the three set menu choices, the deposit nobody paid, and the table of 10 that turns up as 6. In this video, I'll show you how to set up Christmas bookings properly now so December runs itself. First, timing. Office parties are usually booked in October and early November, and the best Friday and Saturday nights go first so get your festive menu, prices and booking link out by the middle of October leave it until late November and the big groups have already gone somewhere else second, set Christmas up as an event not ordinary tables give it a name like Christmas party nights, your dates and times, how many covers you can take and a price per head. On the busiest nights you can close normal table bookings so the party menu takes over the whole place. Third, pre-orders. The kitchen needs to know it's 14 turkeys and 6 salmon before the night, not at 8 o'clock. Attach your festive set menu and big groups get a link to choose their dishes online before they arrive. The kitchen screen shows the totals. No more chasing the organiser for a list on a napkin. Fourth, deposits. A no-show table of 12 on a December Saturday is a few hundred pounds you won't get back. For bigger groups, take a deposit when they book, or a card hold when nothing is charged unless they don't turn up. With Tablez Pro, the money goes straight into your own Stripe account. Protect your kitchen. set a maximum number of covers per sitting and a cap every 15 minutes so 40 people don't all sit down at half seven. On the busiest nights two sittings often take more money than one long one. Sixth, cut no-shows. The simplest fix is a reminder the day before with an easy link to cancel or change. Most no-shows are people who forgot or felt awkward about ringing to cancel. Make cancelling easier than not turning up, and the table goes straight back on sale. Table sends reminders automatically on every plan, even the free one. Seventh, get your team ready. Make sure every member of staff can see the bookings on their phone so whoever answers a question at the bar knows who's coming, how many, and what they've ordered. On the busiest nights, a text reminder a few hours before can catch the last few stragglers. Text credits are paid as you go on the paid plans and don't forget to tell people. Put your Christmas booking link on your Google business profile, pin it on Instagram and Facebook, add it to your website and pop a QR code poster on the bar and in the window. Every regular who sees it in October is a party book by november finally decide now about christmas day and new year's eve are you open how many sittings what if you're closed block the dates so nobody books them by mistake

Gift vouchers are a great earner for pubs and restaurants, especially at Christmas. With Tablez Pro, you can sell them right from your booking page. In Gift Vouchers, open the settings, pick your amounts, whether people can choose their own and how long they last. Then add your Stripe key or your PayPal keys, the money goes straight to you. We never touch it and we don't take a cut. Your customers see a gift vouchers link on your booking page. They pick an amount, add a name and a message, and choose whether it's emailed to them or straight to the lucky person. They pay by card or PayPal, and the voucher arrives by email straight away with a code and a page they can print. When someone pays with one, type the code into gift vouchers or scan the QR code with your phone. Take off the whole amount or just part of it. Whatever's left stays on the voucher for next time. You can see what you've sold and what's still to be spent and if you sell one over the bar, add it here too so it gets a code like the rest.