Hotels offer room upgrades for customers. Source: LateRooms.com
How to upsell hotel products - 3 things to consider
1. Upsell with Deals and Steals (and… technology!)
For some hotels, the staff often offer deals and exclusive vouchers to guests when the booking is confirmed. The hotels could recommend spa deals or restaurant discounts when the guests use the services. Upselling can also happen when guests are in the booking process. When the booking is confirmed, the hotels can display some options for the accompanied services for the customers to choose from. From these products, the website shows the comparisons between the products before and after upgrading. Then, it will make it easier for the guests to analyze the benefits of getting an upgrade.
Some deals and vouchers offered by hotels. Image source: Hoteljob.vn
Besides, some brands focus on the integration of technology to upsell their products (as most of the upselling process tends to occur online). Some hotels have integrated email marketing to provide guests with links to the vouchers, push notifications when customers open their email. Some hotels even design applications so the guest might receive the notifications from the app directly, without bombarding the guest emails.
According to Guillet (2020), hotels utilize technologically advanced systems at the center of their decision-making processes, and consumers are increasingly embracing computer technology to reserve hotel accommodation. Some PMS companies have started to also integrate POS functionality and/or create their own POS functions in their check-in system to enhance guests’ experience such as AirHost or Oaky. Other applications such as Easy Way Smart Upselling also helps reach out to guests with the right offer on their favorite messaging applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat, or even iMessage.
2. Collaborations with other brands
This strategy has been no stranger to various brands. Brands might decide to aggregate, and then promote their products through collaborations with related services. If the hotel is not a full scale hotel, they could work with close by business and provide more services to guests. Travellers might have the urge to sign up for tours, and thus hotels can aggregate with tour companies to organize the tours for these travellers. The hotels then group up the number of guests joining the tour package. After that, the hotels and the tour company can divide the profits according to their contract.
Brand collaboration at The Mark Hotel. Source: A Table For One.
Following the article by Wang and Goldfarb (2017), the research reveals that there has been an increase in the number of customers using both online and offline channels when they are shopping, since these channels complement each other. Therefore, while promoting the products online can be manageable and cost-effective, businesses can also apply offline methods to gain more consumers. Some instances of brand collaborations between hospitality businesses can also be found here, where we dedicated an article on brand collaborations.
3. Loyalty program
Loyalty Program has been one of the effective strategies to create customer relationships with the brand. When the connection is established, the customers will associate more with the brands, and will be more likely to use the products more. By maintaining the point systems, various brands have fostered relationships with customers efficiently and helped the companies earn substantial revenue and outreach.
Maintaining customers loyalty program. Source: Always 5 Star
This phenomenon might rely on the consumer culture, where the guests might buy more to achieve a prize from the business. Marriott, for instance, has been promoting points redemption to receive for a better suite, or the guests can receive a complimentary night when you redeem for five consecutive nights. If the resorts have golf courses, the hotels are able to push their products for a round of golf game.
For any service they use at the golf resort, these points can be added to the loyalty program, or the guests could use points to purchase souvenirs from E-gift shops. Besides some prominent hotels, online travel agencies such as Traveloka also promote loyalty points redemption for customers by booking hotels and flights.
These are some of the strategies that hotels could adopt to upsell their products based on their size and budget. The incorporation of technology in upselling is important, yet it is also crucial to combine offline selling techniques. Finally, hotel room pricings are highly competitive, and upselling may create more revenue than purely selling rooms if done correctly.
Written by: AirHost Marketing Team.