A waiting list for full classes and workshops

The last place in your Tuesday evening pottery class has just sold and someone else wants in: put that guest on a free waiting list, in the order people sign up. When a place opens up, offer it to the first one with a fixed deadline to pay. Whoever does not pay in that time makes room for the next.

When should you open a waiting list?

For small groups on a fixed date. Think of a workshop with eight places, a course of six evenings or a surf lesson with four boards per instructor. In a group like that someone nearly always cancels, often in the last week. With a waiting list you already have a name ready and the place rarely stays empty.

It makes less sense for activities where you easily add room. If you open an extra time slot or bring in a second teacher when it gets busy, offer the guest that other date straight away. A date that does not go ahead gets no waiting list either: there is nothing to wait for.

How do you hand out a place that opened up fairly?

With one rule that is fixed beforehand and that the guest can read. Three rules are the most common:

Rule	Fits	Watch out
First come, first served	most classes and workshops	give each guest a deadline, or the place stays empty for days
First to reply	a place that opens up close to the start	you email everyone at once; whoever reads it later misses out
The group that fits	a list with couples and small groups	ask the first person whether they want to split up before you skip them

First come, first served feels fairest to guests. It works well with a deadline of two or three days: long enough to pay, short enough to still ask the next person. When the start is less than a week away, shorten the deadline to one day and pick up the phone as well.

If you give priority, for example to guests whose lesson you cancelled earlier, put that next to the rule on your site. An exception everyone can read does not feel like favouritism to anyone.

What do you tell a guest on the waiting list?

There are three moments when the guest hears from you.

1. When they sign up. Their position on the list and that it costs nothing and commits them to nothing. Also tell them how you will get in touch when room opens up.
2. When a place opens up. What the place costs, until when they can pay and what happens if they do not reply. Send the payment link right away.
3. When nothing opened up. Let them know as soon as the course starts. Mention the next date in the same message, because this guest already wanted to come.

Should a guest on the waiting list pay already?

No, let the guest pay once they have a place. Money taken for the waiting list has to go back to everyone whose turn never comes. That is work for you and confusing for the guest, who thinks they have already bought something.

As soon as the guest gets a place, it is an ordinary booking: the same price, the same way of paying and the same terms as for everyone else. Read more about cancelling and cooling-off periods in cancellation policy for workshops and lessons.

How does the waiting list work in Superota?

You turn the waiting list on per activity, with a switch among the other settings. A full date can then still be chosen and shows on the booking page as full, with the waiting list open. A guest can join the waiting list when the date is full for the number of people in their booking. They fill in their details and agree to the terms, just as for a booking. On the last step they see a button for the waiting list in place of the payment button. The same button is on the page that appears when someone else just booked the last place. The guest then sees their position on the list and their reference. Joining costs nothing and the guest pays nothing. When the switch is off, a guest cannot choose a full date.

The office gets a notification behind the bell icon in the backoffice and, when an office address is set, an email. The entry shows in the bookings with the status Waiting list and takes no seat. In the planning you see per edition how many people are waiting and on the edition itself which number each guest has. You can change that number. A guest who calls, you put on the list yourself: when you enter a new booking on a full edition, you choose the waiting list over overbooking. A booking over several weeks cannot go on the waiting list.

You decide who gets a free place. You turn the waiting booking into a real booking and see its number and how many places the date has left. When the date is still full, Superota warns you that you are overbooking; you can still go ahead. Everyone behind the guest moves up one number. The booking then waits for payment and holds a seat for 72 hours. A booking paid by invoice becomes a request that holds the freed place until you decide. The message about the free place comes from you: you send a payment link from the booking or you call the guest. A waiting booking that is no longer needed, you cancel.

What does a long waiting list tell you?

That demand is bigger than your room. At the end of each season, look at which courses had people waiting at every edition. That is where an extra evening fits, or a bigger room. When there is still space in the room, raise the capacity of the edition in Superota and move the waiting guests up in order. Whoever waited longest is then first at the wheel.