Essential Strategies to Increase Hotel Room Sales
Providing our guests with a comfortable place to stay is one of the most important responsibilities as a hotel employee. In order to improve hotel business, we need to sell hotel rooms. Hotel room sales strategies should reflect our commitment to the guest experience while emphasizing the importance of booking as many rooms as possible at any given time. Whether it’s the peak season or the off-season, we want to develop hotel room sales techniques that are designed to increase hotel room sales.
Hotel Direct Booking Sales Strategy
With this sales strategy, the priority is to earn direct bookings online from as many guests as possible. Direct bookings are the most beneficial booking for hotel operators because these bookings generate the most revenue. There are no agents or other distribution partners that must be paid a commission when a guest books directly online.
In order to implement a direct booking strategy, hotel managers should invest in an online booking system that syncs with their existing website and property management system.
Guest Rewards Sales Strategy
Many travellers today, value the opportunity to earn rewards with the companies that they do business with. Hotels, in particular, have great success with rewards programs. In a guest rewards sales strategy, the manager or operator should develop a system that rewards guests for staying frequently, for purchasing upgrades, and for referring friends and family members. A rewards sales strategy often generates repeat bookings, which are particularly lucrative for hotel operators.
Revenue Management Sales Strategy
This type of sales strategy aims to maximize the number of rooms booked at any point in the year, regardless of the typical travel traffic at that particular point in time. Typically, a revenue management plan requires hotel operators to drop room rates during the low season in order to encourage bookings, while raising rates during high traffic times. During these moments, guests are going to be willing to pay higher rates to get a room, so it’s worthwhile raising rates to generate more revenue per available room.