The hotel expectations of today’s guests are higher than ever. With so many offers and choices in the palm of their hand, the time they are willing to spend on finding the right hotel is stretching as they scroll through various websites, researching and filtering. It is taking longer for guests to find the hotel that ticks all of their boxes and therefore, the space of time between when they book and when they check-in is narrowing.
To put it simply, much to the regret of the revenue manager, paths-to-purchase are increasing whilst lead times are decreasing, making it difficult to effectively forecast and plan. Keep reading to learn how to combat shortening lead times.
Cut Down the Path to Purchase
As paths to purchase and lead times come hand in hand, the first thing to focus on is decreasing your guest’s path to purchase. How can you do this? Firstly, let your potential guest know that booking direct is best. Reassure them that by booking through your hotel they are guaranteed the best price and deal, and in turn they will be less inclined to stray towards OTA websites and get distracted by other hotel deals.
Ensure that when users attempt to abandon your website without booking, that you give your hotel- and your guests- a second chance! At Net Affinity, our built in booking abandonment features means that you can create an on-screen pop up or send an automated follow up email by re-marketing to put a stop to the humming and hawing and entice them to jump straight into the booking!
Lastly, as obvious as it may seem, ensure the booking process is as simple and hassle-free as possible to make a seamless booking experience. The more options and steps there are to the booking engine, the more complicated and off-putting it seems for your potential guest, leading to doubts and hesitation.
