Upselling is a method of motivating guests to make a more expensive purchase than the one they initially planned. It can be by way of room upgrade or extra services: SPA services, beverages, or dinner at a hotel restaurant.
For a hotel, upselling means extra revenue and increased guest loyalty. For a guest, it means greater comfort and a way to have more fun during the stay. When guests have already decided on bookings and are about to pay, it is easier for them to pay a little extra to have a better experience.
In this blog, we list tips on how to implement upselling at your property and motivate the employees to contribute to that.
- Why does a hotel need to upsell?
- How to implement upselling at a hotel?
- How to motivate staff to upsell?
- Key takeaways: 5 tips for the effective upsell
Why does a hotel need to upsell?
Good upselling does not only help hotels earn extra money, but promotes the property online, engages staff in communication with guests, and maintains the quality of guest service. Here are the main advantages of upselling:
Upselling increases the hotel’s return on business.
Upselling boosts the hotel’s revenue and increases ADR and RevPAR as guests stay in more expensive room categories. Meanwhile, occupancy and the operational cost stay the same. In terms of one day, extra income is insignificant, but in terms of a year, the yield increase is bigger than you expect.
Upselling might increase the occupancy.
The rest of the inexpensive rooms can be easily sold on online distribution channels or to walk-in guests. To welcome more guests, promote these offers or implement the overbooking strategy.
Upselling attracts solvent guests.
This kind of guest is eager to spend more on their stay and, therefore, book add-ons.
Upselling builds guest loyalty.
Guests often simply do not know what extras your hotel has. Talk to guests about their preferences and offer something they would like, whether it is a pool pass, vegetarian breakfast, or a room upgrade. The guest will appreciate the personalization and will be more likely to write a positive review.
Upselling lets you save on commission.
In case guests book online but upgrade rooms at the front desk, you do not have to pay extra commission.
How to implement upselling at a hotel?
Upselling can be both automated and “face-to-face”. Automate the process with an online booking engine and start upselling in person at the reception desk or over the phone.
Automated upselling
Describe the benefits of all the room types and rate plans on the website.
Put descriptions where they are well-visible and add photos.
What photos to post on a hotel website →
Let guests upgrade their rooms right during the booking process.
This feature is available in TravelLine Booking Engine.
Face-to-face upselling
Meet the guest’s needs.
If guests book at the front desk or over the phone, carefully listen to their wants. They should perceive upselling as a useful acquisition — not a waste of money. To achieve this effect, find out what target market guests come under, what is the purpose of their visit, who they are staying with, what are their expectations, and whether they need add-ons.
When you know all the listed above, you can make the best possible offer that will respond to the guests’ needs. This increases the guests’ loyalty to your hotel brand and makes them feel appreciated. The trick is that in this case, guests think they only pay for essentials.
To level up the quality of communication with guests, you might need a CRM system. CRM systems allow you to see all the interactions with guests and upsell something that they are more likely to enjoy.
How to motivate staff to upsell?
Teach your staff upselling techniques.
Your employees should know at what moment to make an offer, and how to present it, and be able to describe the benefits guests will get for a little payment.
To help the staff, prepare short instructions, and presentation scripts for extras and room upgrades, and train them to handle objections.
Make sure your staff understands the financial benefits of upselling.
To motivate employees to upsell, create a clear staff incentive scheme: upselling targets, KPIs, and cash bonuses.
Not only receptionists and the sales department can upsell. All kinds of employees will be engaged in upselling if they have their reasons to do so.
For example, housekeepers can tell guests about the hotel SPA and the pool, meanwhile, a porter can share that there are cool tours to the nearby city offered at the front desk.
Decide on the price ranges for extras based on statistics.
This way, your staff will know when they can give a discount and at what point the price cannot be any lower. Reconsider the figures as you gather statistics.
Key takeaways: 5 tips for the effective upsell
- Articulate the offers
- Make settings in your booking engine to offer room upgrades and add-ons to travelers during the booking process
- Teach your staff upselling techniques
- Create a clear staff incentive scheme
- Measure the results
TravelLine Booking Engine has several features that increase ADR and the hotel’s revenue.
Learn more about TravelLine Booking Engine
