7 Creative upselling techniques to enhance hotel business
We have come up with some creative upselling techniques which you can use to enhance your hotel business.
But before that first under what upselling is.
It is the practice of providing relevant extras to your customers in order to enhance their stay or event.
Upselling entails convincing a customer to spend more money on their current product after adding some more add-ons.
For instance, upgrading their room.
Whereas cross-selling entails selling ancillary products or services on top of their room, such as a spa treatment or a local tour.
Aside from increased revenue, upselling has a number of advantages.
There are seven 7 creative upselling techniques, which can enhance your hotel business
Determine the best customers for creative upselling
Examine your Sales and Catering CRM as well as your Property Management System to determine your most likely upselling targets.
Customers who have previously made additional purchases are a good place to start.
Do you have wedding parties that like to book extra rooms before the big day?
Or, when couples stay in a hotel for their anniversary, do they frequently order a bottle of wine or champagne from room service?
Identifying existing trends can help you decide which products to recommend to which customers.
Offering more rooms to wedding parties, or the ability to purchase a bottle of champagne when booking a room for a special occasion can be both convenient and beneficial to your guests.
It can be difficult to determine when to incorporate upselling into your hotel’s sales cycle.
Because the goal of upselling is to enhance the guest’s experience. It can be used at any point in the sales cycle as long as the value is obvious.
Enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty through service personalization and value addition
The essence of hospitality is to provide guests with an unforgettable experience, both online and in person.
As a result, personalizing the website experience and providing your visitors with the wow factor they require is an absolute must.
Personalization is important when attempting to upsell online.
Because it allows you to identify how to communicate your upsells to the right guests at the right time.
Carefully creating special and personalized offers for a specific audience and making them aware of it.
It will make them feel valuable and special, creating an opportunity for you to demonstrate your upsell amenities and services.
Once you captivate your visitors with personalized messages, take it a step further by creating personalized offers.
It will increase the average booking value for these guests and possibly even push for a higher number of nights or a more expensive room category.
Increased profitability as a result of increased guest spending
When it comes to upselling, knowing who to prioritize is critical.
Different guests will have varying levels of interest in staying at your hotel.
So make sure you know which guests or potential guests show a greater intent to book and engage with your hotel than others.
It is possible to determine this using a system or algorithm that helps you identify your users’ level of purchase intent, thanks to today’s new technologies.
Create exclusive deals and add-ons to coincide with special dates
Focusing on an upcoming holiday or occasion is a good upselling strategy to use.
Consider Summer Vacation: with this holiday, you can tailor your offers to a specific demographic and provide something extra for guests looking for a cool and soothing ambiance.
Take advantage of the opportunity presented by this holiday.
With this offer, guests who were only planning to stay for a few nights are now encouraged to stay a little bit more.
Promote gift cards and vouchers as a creative upselling
If you want to take it a step further, using vouchers and gift cards is a simple yet extremely effective cross-selling technique.
Around these special holidays, you could create special vouchers tailored to these dates and provide guests with a one-of-a-kind experience.
Promoting vouchers and gift cards is not only a great way to market out your additional events but also a sound cross-selling tactic in and of itself.
For instance, For Valentine’s Day, there are numerous ways to create various promotions at your hotel.
The options are entirely up to you, whether it’s a romantic dinner, a special room-for-two service, or a purchasable package of champagne bottles and chocolates.
However, keep in mind that almost every holiday has its own theme.
For Halloween, you could match the spooky season with a haunted house event and so on.
Encourage more room nights by providing special weekend deals
Offering special weekend packages is another approach that has proven to be effective in thousands of hotels around the world when attempting to upsell.
You can increase the average booking value of short stays while ensuring guests get the most out of their stay.
By carefully creating packages aimed at people looking to spend a weekend at your property.
In today’s climate, it’s likely that the majority of people looking for weekend outings are locals, so tailor your weekend packages accordingly.
Include relevant amenities like free parking, a discounted rate for an extra night, or late check-out, and target these to local visitors looking for stays between Thursday and Sunday.
Display relevant offers will help you capture the attention of your local visitors and increase reservations.
Furthermore, if your hotel is in a convenient location, seize the opportunity and create special weekend packages around city events.
By implementing this strategy, you will be able to provide more personalized and relevant packages.
As well as reaching a larger audience and providing small touches that will contribute to a memorable stay.
Collaborate with local businesses and tourist attractions for creative upselling
Without a doubt, your hotel exists to provide guests with an unforgettable experience.
However, it’s also important to understand that the location of your hotel and its surrounding attractions is frequently the primary motivator for a booking.
With this in mind, you can form alliances with local businesses and use them to your advantage when looking to upsell a service or amenity.
If your hotel is near a well-known local restaurant known for its excellent local dishes.
You can offer guests a food and beverage package that includes a reservation at that restaurant.
If your city has a well-known tour association, offer guests a special tour opportunity.
It is equally important in these deals and promotions to create packages that include additional amenities in your property itself.
Assume you’re promoting a local restaurant and a dish as part of a package.
In this package, you could also include special after-dinner drinks at your hotel bar to generate additional revenue.
Use social media to promote cross-selling as a creative upselling techniques
Once you’ve built a solid portfolio of cross-sells to offer your guests.
It’s critical to figure out the best way to market these options and engage with the appropriate target audience.
As the world becomes more digital, it is likely that the majority of your guests will be accessing one or more social media accounts.
So, don’t forget to include social media in the mix and promote your various cross-selling initiatives there.
Finally, upselling and cross-selling have demonstrated in today’s hospitality industry that the opportunities are limitless, versatile, and profitable.
Conclusion
We hope that these few tips, examples, and strategies inspire you.
As you plan future campaigns at your hotel to drive additional revenue while improving the all-important guest experience!
Please share views in the comment box.
If you want to learn about the functionality of QloApps then you can visit this link: QLO Reservation System – Free Open-Source Hotel Booking & Reservation System
In case of any query, issue, or requirement please feel free to raise it on QloApps Forum