The guest journey is typically broken up into three very distinct stages. Stage one is the period leading up to the stay, stage two comprises the stay itself and stage three of the journey is what happens after the stay.
At each of these three stages, you should have services, processes and technologies which maximise the user experience, increase convenience and sync with your hotel revenue management software to boost bookings and RevPar.
Here are a few ways you can drive up your revenue throughout the three stages of the guest journey.
Offer your best rates
Use your hotel revenue management software to check that you are pricing your rooms correctly. You’ll also want to check that your room rates are competitive when compared with similar properties in the area- guests shop around and convenience and value for money are key. Whether you choose to limit inventory available to aggregators or welcome indirect bookings, making your best rates available at a profitable margin, is an opportunity to grow your bookings.
Link your marketing efforts with your hotel revenue management software
Offering guests great value for money doesn’t have to end when a booking has been made. If your marketing and revenue management teams work closely, you can create opportunities to upsell guests as they move into the stay stage of their journey. That could mean they stay longer, purchase a more expensive accommodation type or spend more during their stay on upgrades.
Start by identifying where you can offer upgrade promotions, leverage cross-selling and promote add-ons such as in-room dining, spa treatments, excursions, attraction tickets and even car hire. Your hotel revenue management software should help you to pick up on seasonal and guest demands – this data can then be shared with your marketing team to ensure your promotional strategy reflects that insight.
Know who your most valuable guests are
Although your hotel will value all bookings, it’s undeniable that some guests are worth more than others. They may be the ones who go return often, choose the most expensive suite or spend highly on in-hotel services such as spa treatments and dining.
Your revenue management software should help you to identify who these guests are, so that you can craft appropriate offers to them at each stage of their guest journey. This could be delivered via a loyalty app or via one of your other owned distribution channels for example.
By working closely with your marketing department, your revenue management team should be able to ensure that every opportunity is taken at each stage of those valued guests journey. This should be considered at every stage of the guest journey. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to upsell when booking or promote spa treatments or upgrades at the stage of stay. Identify where post-stay opportunities exist to, in order to draw those most valued guests back to book with you directly or stay more frequently.
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