At BookingSync, our teams work 100% remotely. This is a choice we’ve made in compliance with our values:

“The world is full of talents, this is why we have chosen to collaborate remotely to work with the best people, no matter where they are. It brings all of us flexibility, happier lives and better reactivity across time zones.”

So, for the second year in a row, -almost- the whole team gathered for a team retreat week. After meeting up on the Greek island of Sivota in 2017, we arranged to meet in Névache, in the French Alps, at BookingSync’s headquarters.

1. What’s a team retreat?

A team retreat allows the members of a same company to gather in a chosen location, at the same time, for a few hours or days.

It helps create a team spirit, which is even more true when everybody works remotely. It also helps ease off on the pressure and take a step back. It’s a great occasion for each person to be implied in all the company’s projects.

A lot of companies set up such events, such as Buffer, a social media management platform, Youth Ki Awaaz, an youth-focused Indian information website or Stanford Women’s Gymnastics, an American university sports team.

On our side, this week is also an occasion for each of us to exchange ideas and knowledge, and the time to get to know each other better.

2. The BookingSync Team

   a. Our team

BookingSync is more than a French startup, it is above all the meeting of digital nomads coming from all over the world: France, Russia, Poland, Netherlands, Spain, Macedonia, Morocco, Australia, Canada, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Chile, USA, Czech Republic.

Whether they live in their home country or on the other side of the world, some members of our team traveled up to 36 hours to reach Névache. A total of 29 co-workers on 34 were able to travel to the Alps.

    b. Creating a team spirit

Working remotely offers a lot of advantages, such as being able to work from any place -as long as you have a wifi connection!-, choosing your work hours and own rhythm, and also having the chance to better enjoy your family.

But even though we all interact each day, using tools such as Slack, Skype, Intercom or Zendesk, we don’t have the occasion to meet up personally. This is why we enjoy so much spending time together each year, for a week.

   c. Our week in Névache: workshops, reorganisation, meetups and team building

This 2018 session has been punctuated by several events and meetings:

• An introductory game, during which each of us had the occasion to introduce themselves, a treasure hunt/hint game in the city of Briançon, a hike and picnic in the Vallée de la Clarée and a concert night

• Group and individual photo sessions

• Several workshops allowing team to collaborate and exchange ideas (development, marketing, support, management…)

• A complete work reorganisation, which lead to the creation of new teams and the implementation of a new support tool (stay tuned!)

• Meeting the people who made the BookingSync adventure possible: our loyal investors, some of them living in Névache. We had the opportunity to share an afternoon, dinner and night with them

• More generally speaking, as the 29 BookingSync co-workers were accommodated at the same place, we’ve all had the occasion, each day, to share moments outside working hours: spa, dinners, breakfasts, walks...

3.The BookingSync vision

Team spirit, sharing, tolerance and fighting prejudice: here are some of our core values, which guide us through our vision of a positive company, helping each one feel happy and accomplished. Sébastien Grosjean, our CEO, says:

“Regularly organising team retreats is very important to me. Every year, we aim at gathering our co-workers for a unique occasion of sharing and exchanges, which helps creating a team spirit. Organising this week in Névache, our headquarters, needed several months of preparation, but this was worth it. Today, we’re leaving Névache more motivated than ever, decided to reach our goals!”

See you next year for another destination!

You can see more pictures of us in Névache on our official Facebook page.

This is something we’re being asked a lot: can you automatically send SMS notifications to your guests via email, using BookingSync?

We’ve been looking for solutions and found 2 great products for you, depending on your needs: discover Wishbox and TextMagic.

Wishbox pre-scheduled automated email-to-SMS

Wishbox, as an official partner app, allows you to configure automatic messages and their rules. Their offer is fully synced with BookingSync.

Create a message, pre-schedule it and edit the information available.

Wishbox allows you to:

• Choose some or all the booking sources (Airbnb, Booking.Com, HomeAway, etc.)

• Choose the condition under which you would like to send an automatic SMS (completing a pre-check in/out, receiving a rating, etc.)

• Set up triggers that will send the message before, during or after the event

• Personalise the text message using for example the guest’s name or the property booked

The whole SMS set up process is explained in the Wishbox blog.

Direct sending from BookingSync with TextMagic

The solution offered by TextMagic is pretty simple: create your account on TextMagic’s side using the email address of your choice and you’re all set up!

For clients to receive your email as an SMS, simply send your message to {client’sphonenumber}@textmagic.com, from the BookingSync Notifications app. Your guests can also reply to the SMS and you’ll receive the answer as a regular email.

Note, though, that the email you send should be sent as a normal text message and cannot be styled, so don’t use any HTML within it.

Here’s what TextMagic does for you:

• Get detailed SMS reports, highlighting your sent message history and delivery rates

• Booking confirmations, marketing & promotions, alerts & notifications…

• Each SMS sent costs 8 cents

• And much more! You can check all of the TextMagic features on their website directly

Note that the email address used with TextMagic should be the same as the one used in your BookingSync account.

Staying in contact with your guests via SMS is the easiest way to reach them.

Know another great email-to-SMS solution? Share it in the comments!

June isn’t over yet and we’re already introducing you to our 4th partnership of 2018: Doinn, a specialised cleaning, laundry & check-in/out service for your vacation rentals.

What’s Doinn?

As Doinn defines itself, it is a “technology bridge between short-term rental properties and hotel services vendors”. Their mission is to bring the hotel cleaning professional companies one click away from the vacation rental managers, automating the cleaning and laundry services with the booking reservations and offering a unified customer support, independently of the number of vendors you work with or in how many cities.

• Cleaning with Doinn: By bringing professional housekeeping hotel providers to the vacation rental industry, they bring their experience in hospitality, and more important, their legal, insured and trained employees able to follow the well defined Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

• Laundry with Doinn: Doinn launders your own linen or allows you to rent, launder & sanitize hotel-quality linen, at no extra cost.

• Check-ins/outs with Doinn: Doinn works with well-trusted and trained welcomers, providing your guests with helpful tips about your property and its surroundings.

Their platform is tailor-made done for managing and booking the services needed for vacation rentals, from API synchronization, uploading of group of properties in bulk, to online payments for the services. The software they have for the service providers helps them to optimize their operations and team of cleaners.

Already a BookingSync client?

Create a user profile at https://Doinn.co/ and activate the Bookingsync integration at the Integrations tab. Sync all your listings and bookings, which will then be imported in Doinn. You can now seamlessly schedule the cleaning and laundry services you need, according to your reservations, and get access to the best local cleaning providers.

For now, Doinn is available in several countries: France (Paris), Portugal (Lisbon, Porto, Almada, Ericeira, Setùbal, Sintra, Albufeira, Aljezur, Almada, Castro Marim, Faro, Lagoa, Lagos, Loulé, Olhão, Portimão, Silves, Sintra, Tavira, Vila do Bispo, Vila Real de Santo António and Spain (Madrid, Barcelona). If you are willing to grow nationally or internationally, Doinn will save you plenty of time to get established in a new city.

Getting started with Doinn

Read our manual to know how to install and use the app.
Already a BookingSync client? Install the Doinn app in our App Center right now and watch our live webinar on June, 14th at 4pm CEST!