Selling rooms over the phone should be easy, right? People call in and ask about your room rate. You provide the price, and they either accept or decline. If your hotel operates this way, then there might be some major improvements needed.
Online bookings platforms are excellent for business, simplifying the comparison of prices, rooms, and stay options. It’s quick, easy and accessable for customers around the world. According to the Global Trends Survey, 80% of surveyed global travelers believe it’s important to book their trips entirely online.
Online booking options can be great for guests, but they leave hoteliers with many unknowns. Upselling, proposing value, and overcoming resistance is harder, if not impossible online. Let’s face it, online buyers are mostly looking for the cheapest option. Not to mention the commissions you must pay to third-party booking sites.
That is why it is crucial to fine-tune your hotel room selling techniques over the phone to maximize your potential revenue and craft the best possible customer experience. We have more control over the information, options, and pricing we propose to convert sales.
Let's think about the financial numbers from upselling alone.
per upgrade
x
night stay
x
per day
=
$65,700
Promoting upgraded room options over the phone for a modest upsell rate of $30 per night for an average of two nights per stay, three times per day, will equal $65,700 per year in additional revenue. That’s a number to pay attention to; this is a very modest estimate.
Upselling is great, but we also get to manage minimum lengths of stay, overcome buyer resistance, and encourage flexibility when availability is low. Not to mention how we moderate how we compare to our competition. The financial benefits of improving hotel room selling techniques are incredibly high!
Simple hotel room selling techniques.
In this lesson, we will discuss eight simple but revenue-generating hotel room selling techniques that you can implement with your reservations and front desk teams today!
Tone
Conversation
Qualifying
Connection
Promoting Features
Upselling
Overcoming Buyer Resistance
Gratitude
Tone
Start with Tone!
I know this is one of the basic hotel room selling techniques, but it all starts with tone. It’s not just about what you say but how you say it. There are so many times when I call hotels, and the agents sound like they would rather be anywhere but there.
What about the agents who speak so quickly that you get the sense that they only have a minute to help? That’s not sending the right message.
Teaching your agents the importance of tone and attitude should be the foundation of your hotel room selling techniques. There are some simple tips they can implement right away to get started:
- Smile before picking up a call!
- Think positive and look forward to speaking to guests!Who will want to buy from someone who’s not interested in selling? Not me!
- Ask other coworkers to help if multitasking and needing help handling the queues.
- Take a break after dealing with a problematic caller.
Conversation
Does this sound like your agents?
Guest: “How much is a room on the 14th?
Agent: “How many people?”
Guest: “Two.”
Agent: “What type of room would you like?”
Guest: “I don’t know. Whatever the cheapest is for a king-sized bed.”
Agent: “It’s $259.”
Do your reservation calls sound like scripts and prompts from an AI bot? Many hotels do! If you want to convert more sales, you must move away from the transactional (think drive-through) and into a conversation. A conversational approach makes the customer feel engaged and connected, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.
Why bother calling if your agent’s questioning and reaction are similar to a bot’s? Guests can book online, which means exposing our customers to third-party booking sites like Expedia, Booking.com, etc.
The easiest way to start a conversation is to jump in when your callers give you a clue. If they crack a joke, make a comment, or ask a question, it’s your time to react and transform the call from transactional to conversational.
What if the caller isn’t engaging?
If your caller does not offer any tidbits to grab ahold of, why not ask where they are calling from? It’s a non-intrusive question that most people don’t mind answering, and it can be the launching board for a deeper conversation.
Qualifying
Qualifying.
Almost all hotels ask what dates a caller might need, the number of people staying, and what type of room the caller is thinking of. These are great hotel room selling techniques for our system to spit out those rates, but they don’t tell us about the guest, their needs, wants, and what we can offer to build an experience for their stay.
We need to start considering our reservation sales team as a sales team because that’s what they are. They are not just taking orders; they are crafting an experience and providing expert, personalized information to our callers. To do that effectively, they need to qualify the callers.
- What is their scenario?
- What are their basic needs?
- What are their wants and wishes?
- Are they price-conscious or feature-focused?
- What do they know about the hotel and area already?
Of course, we can’t just blurt out those questions. We need to approach our questioning with finesse and professionalism, making the customer feel valued and respected.
“Before I start searching for options, Mr. Harmen, is this your first time staying with us?”
That sounds better, right? This polite and non-intrusive question can help us uncover a guest’s specific needs and general scenario, which allows us to better connect our callers with the best options that will work for their stay needs.
"Before I start searching for options, Mr. Harmen, is this your first time staying with us?"
That sounds better, right? This polite and non-intrusive question can help us uncover a guest’s specific needs and general scenario, which allows us to better connect our callers with the best options that will work for their stay needs.
Connection
Connection .
Let’s talk about those calls that sound robotic and scripted! You have to build a relationship and attempt to connect with your callers. It should be the foundation of every reservation call.
Showing genuine interest in a guest, making personalized recommendations, and finding commonalities can elevate a standard sales interaction into a friendly conversation. It’s easy!
"Thanks for calling! Where are you calling from?"
When a caller feels that the agent is genuinely interested in their needs, preferences, or general well-being, it creates a sense of rapport and connection. It can be as easy as finding something in common with a caller!
"New York City! I love it there. One of my favorite places to visit. I hope you will enjoy the heat here during February!"
Shared experiences or commonalities can create a sense of camaraderie, make the caller more receptive to the agent’s suggestions, and, ultimately, more inclined to make a purchase.
Connecting by tailoring recommendations based on the caller’s individual preferences and including local “insider” tips, the agent demonstrates that they are actively listening and valuing the guest’s needs and attempting to craft the best experience.
People tend to appreciate buying from individuals they like, trust, or can relate to. When a caller feels a personal connection with an agent, it builds a foundation of trust and likability, which can significantly influence their purchasing decision.
Overall, creating a friendly, conversational atmosphere during a sales interaction can lead to a successful sale and a positive, long-lasting impression of the hotel.
Promoting Features
Don't hide your greatness!
How often have I called a hotel with impressive benefits like complimentary breakfast, an infinity pool with sweeping city views, or some other unique feature but found out about it when I arrived? Sometimes, I didn’t even know until I had already checked out.
If you are investing in creating an experience for your guests, but no one is telling them to experience it, you are not pulling value from those amenities.
Of course, some guests will inquire or take the liberty on their own, but that only applies to some. As the old saying goes, if you got it, flaunt it! This applies to telling people about your excellent amenities and perks!
"Since you mentioned you are coming with your kids, we have an amazing rooftop pool! It has great views and a full bar for the parent, but all the kids really love it."
What parent doesn’t appreciate ideas for entertaining their kids? My point made!
Upselling
Tempt People With Your Options!
The first rooms that will sell in your hotel are usually the classic, traditional, or lead-in rooms with the best rates. Great! You sold all of your lead-in rooms, and now you are left with your higher categories to try and push to the rest of the callers who waited to confirm their stay. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sell the higher rooms first? You can if you upsell!
It starts with some simple suggestions. For example, if a caller is booking a room for a special occasion, consider upgrading to a suite for a more luxurious experience. Or, if they’re traveling with children, recommend a family room with more space and amenities.
Upselling should be part of the hotel room selling techniques that you encourage among your reservation sales agents and the front desk. Your guests will become familiar with and accommodated to more luxury, and we will make more money! Everyone wins when we upsell!
Dangle the carrots!
However, if you plan on upselling, you must dangle the carrots to make a buyer want to spend more.
However, if you plan on upselling, you must dangle the carrots to make a buyer want to spend more. Think of all those ads for the latest and greatest tech. Do we get sucked in by all the great new features? Do we visualize ourselves taking the best pictures with the new camera, measuring our vitals, and meeting our health goals? It's all a part of the marketing story.
Tell a story and spark an emotional response.
If you want to upsell, you have to tell a story to evoke an emotional reaction in the guests and make them want to spend more.
Is it a special occasion, like a honeymoon or a significant birthday? Why not sell an upgraded room they will never forget with their special people, which will be an excellent backdrop for social media pictures?
Do they have a big interview coming up and need to rest? The room with the soaker tub might help them unwind.
Are they always on the road and working from hotel rooms? Make them more comfortable by suggesting a room with an open workspace and a separate table for room service.
There are many hotel room selling techniques for upselling, but if you can connect the dots to why your caller is staying and their needs by dangling those experience carrots, spending the money will make a lot more sense!
Overcoming Buyer Resistance
Don't be afraid of getting a "NO!"
It would be best if you instilled confidence in your sales agents to maximize potential revenue.
When a guest says no to an offer, your team members should be confident enough to overcome their resistance and give them something else to consider. We are not speaking about training your agents to be the stereotypical cheesy used car salesperson, trying to push someone into something they don’t want or can’t afford, but agents who help callers see the bigger picture.
For example, if the caller is price-resistant, find out their expectations and let them know of the options we have that might fit. Offer discounts or even set expectations for your local area.
Or if someone is still thinking or has to check with others, encourage them to make a booking now so that they can always cancel for free later! It’s safe and locks in the rate of the day! Smart move, right?
Your team members should be able to understand why someone is saying no and provide them with a reason to make it a yes! It’s easy to do, doesn’t involve any pressure, and will ultimately generate more revenue for your hotel.
Gratitude
The Thank You!
The final thank you is one of the hotel room selling techniques that shouldn’t be overlooked. If you are playing the service game, train your team to always thank callers for considering your location.
It shows that we are grateful to be considered and showcases that service is at the forefront of everything that we do. Remember that this is also a common courtesy and an expectation that most guests will have in a hospitality setting.
The power of thank you, my pleasure, happy to be of service, we appreciate your business, or whatever catchphrase you would like to use, should always be included in every service interaction. We are thankful a guest picked us – or at least we should be.
"Thank you for calling us today! It was a pleasure to speak with you!"
These hotel room selling techniques are complex, and when we add repeat customers, personalities, queues, and experience to the mix, expert reservation training might be one of the best ways to prepare your agents and provide them with the power tools to succeed.
If you have an expert on staff who can help and motivate your team, we recommend conducting regular learning sessions and coaching. If you need some help, At Oculus, we have a full range of reservation training programs that are customized for you!
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