The answer is simple – your Front Desk team
For the majority of hotels, the only way to achieve a higher RevPAR next year is going to be to achieve a higher ADR.
If you are like most hoteliers, chances are that this time of year you have just about completed your budget for 2016. If your owner representatives are like most investors, chances are also that despite having experienced several years of record growth, they are looking for you to increase RevPAR once again in 2016. Most market areas have already experienced a leveling off in occupancy growth here in 2015 and if your area is forecasting a growth in demand next year you can count your blessings.
Your front desk and reservations team can be your best resource for increasing ADR. To get ahead of the game, now is a wonderful time to start getting them up to speed and on board with the marketing and revenue plan.
Start by having a departmental meeting with the front desk colleagues to set forth the goals for next year. Share the marketing plan and how it breaks down for each segment being targeted. Explain how their performance during each shift will have a significant impact.
Here are some topic areas and corresponding training tips from our KTN workshops and webinars for you to review during such a meeting.
– Upselling at registration. Now more than ever the best chance to upsell is typically at registration for a few reasons. For one, most branded call centers quote only one room category – the lowest – or if they do quote others, they do not convey value by offering detailed room descriptions. Also, most online third party channels tend to market only the lowest rated room category in their initial display. So guests might not have been made aware of other options beyond the lowest.
Additionally, many guests use pre-paid booking options at OTA’s and also at many hotel direct websites, so that the upsell only requires a relatively small additional cost when they check-in. Finally, guests’ needs change on the way to the hotel. For example, after a long road trip the family who intended to all stay together in one room might want a larger suite or connecting room. At the front desk we can guarantee a specific room location or view, whereas in advance it can only be “requested.”
