Optimizing hotel revenue and readapting a business strategy is more challenging than ever before. There is no question about that. Furthermore, hotel managers face difficulties they are unprepared for, and that can lead to confusion and despair.
At Hotelway we want to give you a hand. Our mission is to help business owners to build revenue even in the most challenging times. For this reason, we share with you our top 7 strategies to help increase your hotel revenue.
1) Prepare for the best, plan for the worst.
Be optimistic but realistic.
Travelers are as fed up with the world’s disruption as they are concerned about it. They want to resume their travel habits in the safest possible way, meaning we can let some optimism to kick in.
Make your hotel prepared and available. You do not want to be in a situation where you cannot cater guests who are knocking your door, so they go somewhere else. Make sure that you are ready and have enough resources when the opportunity presents!
While there are reasons for optimism, businesses still must plan for the worst.
Therefore, hotels must aim to increase their liquidity in the short term to ensure that operations can be run in the months to come. However, incrementing your firm’s liquidity is not an easy task, and that is why managers need to welcome innovation into their business models.
The aim is to save operational costs where you can without endangering your brand’s quality. And the only option for that is to embrace digital solutions, like hospitality chatbots. A good bot can easily boost sales through direct bookings and decrease operational expenses by 30%. Reluctancy to the unknow is totally natural but we must bear in mind that, after all that just happened, business as usual is no longer an option.
2) Adjust your pricing plan.
NO. You don’t have to drop your ADR’s and start giving discounts right away. Your occupancy rates are alarmingly low? Remain calm, take a deep breath, and look how to hack your pricing plan.
Rescan your current market share, benchmark yourself against your direct competition and rebuild your customer segmentation. Interesting enough is to look at the domestic travelers more than ever. Why not create a dynamic package for “staycationers”?
Business managers must get creative and strive more than ever for understanding customer behavior. After all, the way we travel and go in a holiday has drastically changed.
3) Leverage your multichannel presence.
Many revenue managers seem to have declared war to OTA’s and distribution platforms. To have a presence across different channels is crucial for your brand’s exposure but, at what cost?
There is no question that distribution partners are vital for the digital ecosystem your business lives in. Nonetheless, they are costly investments that can take up to 20% of commission. This means that they often turn out to be an overpriced operational expense. As a counterstrategy, hoteliers must invest in new channels that bring a greater ROI.
Chatbots are proven to increase revenue through direct sales. And they are far greater investments as opposed to other costly channels.
A chatbot will help your hotel instigate direct bookings with the proper incentives, to the right person and at a perfect timing. This digital solution will, most certainly, make your guests see the value of booking through your own website.
4) Generate your hotel revenue in autopilot!
Train your team to play fiercely the booking game. Or more importantly, automatize your unique direct booking strategy with a hospitality chatbot. Doing so, not only will allow you to personalize your offer to every guest, but it will succinctly encourage a sale to every single of your page visitors!
Automation is your ally! It allows you to sell 24/7 in as many languages as needed. Remember that your guests may need you even when you are not there. Make sure they get the service they deserve!
5) Be natural when welcoming people.
Talk to your guests through your channels. Tell them they are welcome into your hotel, whether it is for lunch or an overnight stay. Many consumers don’t know how safe your hotel is. Just tell them!
Being transparent about safety and hygiene is a must. However, remember to do it naturally. Overstating how clean your hotel is can lead to mistrust. It is important to transmit that guests are staying in a hotel, and not in a hospital room. Therefore, we recommend being crystal clear but succinct when it comes to disclosing your cleaning strategy.
6) Promote the destination, not only the hotel.
Remember that your guests are traveling to a location, and they chose you to take care of them while they are at it.
Marketing your hotel is as important and relevant as promoting the destination. Suggest your guests what they can do or what attractions they should visit before their departure. And if this is a daunting and time-consuming task, let a hospitality chatbot do that job for you!
7) Get our FREE "Profitable guest communication" guide
As a hotel manager you need all the help you can get. Why not to start with our FREE handbook?
We share with you our up-to-date insights and strategies to boost sales and revenue. After all, we all are together in this new normality.
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People behind digital solutions
We are Hotelway, an agile team of industry professionals with years of experience in hospitality, technology, and customer care. Our company specializes in AI based chatbots, making hotel guest communication simple, meaningful, and profitable.
Contact us by the channel that suits you most. We are always willing to help.