“ If you use the strategy to make more money , you usually get out of character .”
Special RepoRt : Upselling
“ If you use the strategy to make more money , you usually get out of character .”
– Jimmy Taylor , iHG asset protection . You want them to price it because that is the value .”
Properties with a broad range of room types obviously have more flexibility to engage in upselling than hotels offering a choice between a king or two queens . Still , any billable amenity or package promotion can be upsold . Pitching prepaid breakfast as an upsell offering has proven highly successful for Fairmont Raffles , Senior says , spurring the company to introduce its “ Packages on the Fly ” concept , which allows guests to enhance any reservation from a wide slate of add-on options .
Although guest satisfaction should be the primary driver of any upsell program , revenue concerns also must be considered . Liberal complimentary upgrade policies can undermine upsell programs by limiting the ability to differentiate tiered room values and achieve corresponding rate premiums . Complimentary upgrades are sometimes appropriate to show appreciation for loyal guests or to improve available rooms mix , but the more common it is , the harder it is to generate that incremental revenue .
To be sure , savvy hotel managers know their prime upsell targets before they even walk in the door . Jimmy Taylor , vice president of hotel sales support for IHG in the Americas , instructs managers to examine arrivals lists several days out . The aim is not only to identify guests who might be receptive to upsells , but also to know what the room mix will look like to avoid “ upgrading yourself into trouble ,” as he puts it . “ If you give away all your upgraded rooms on Tuesday , but you ’ ve got a VIP guest coming in on Wednesday … now we have a problem ,” Taylor says .
The conversaTion
Effective upselling strategies focus on enhancing guest satisfaction by engaging customers to understand their needs during a given stay . It may seem obvious , but striking up a friendly , natural conversation with guests is perhaps the most important step in the upsell process . Besides building trust between the front-desk agent and the guest , the information gleaned is critical to determining what type of upsell attempt , if any , would be appropriate .
Direct observations — such as size of the party , guests ’ apparent relationships with one another and their present demeanor — are all relevant considerations in determining whether the room type booked is optimal and whether an upsell offer would be well received . For an offer to be successful , front-desk agents need to be knowledgeable about the hotel ’ s various room types so they can clearly and convincingly explain the value proposition .
Assume any given guest is unaware of all the upsell options and what makes a particular room type special , says Jim Mostad , director of sales for The Breakers , a 540-key luxury resort in Palm Beach , Florida .
Some hotel managers have put soft guidelines in place to help staff determine the types of guests to focus on upselling to , although there is a school of thought that says to presume all guests are upsell candidates until proven otherwise . “ We ’ ve found upselling is more successful when you don ’ t limit or restrict your line of questioning by employing preconceived notions of who is more or less likely to want a certain type product or service ,” Fairmont Raffles ’ Senior says .
22 HOTELS April 2014 www . hotelsmag . com