Upselling to a guest before they reach the hotel

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You may have heard about the term upselling and wondered what it is. Have you ever visited Mac Donalds? After placing your order did they ask if you want extra fries with your order?

That is upselling. Getting people who purchase with your business to order something more.

In this video, we will look at how you can upsell to a guest, even before they arrive on the property.

One of the best ways to reach a guest to upsell before they reach your hotel is by sending them an email. This works best if you have a targeted campaign selling products based on what the guest may be looking for. You may be able to segment and target a guest based on the history of the guest at your hotel.

Let us go through a few examples of what popular upsells may look like for a city hotel guest, and then later let us look at examples for resorts or hotels in leisure destinations.

A business traveller who is travelling for work is looking to make the travel seamless. Your upsell strategy can be an airport transfer, early check-in, or late check-out for a fee. Additionally, a custom spa package or a pre-dinner cocktail offer can help increase the total spending at the hotel.

Another area a business traveller may find useful is use of the meeting rooms. By sending offers to book the space in advance, your guest may decide to conduct the business meeting right there in the hotel. this is always preferred since it can bring in additional footfall to the hotel and increase ancillary revenue.

So remember your upsell strategy before the guest reaches the hotel will need to be customised so that you can help the guest achieve the business goals for their travel.

For a resort or hotel in a leisure area, upselling becomes important. Most leisure destinations have peaks and valleys and upselling can be the solution to improving revenue per occupied room.

For leisure travellers, help them enjoy their vacation. Send them information about the location and things to do, so that they begin planning the activities. Partner with local tour operators and send offers that will help make the vacation memorable. In the emails talk about things to do, and also suggest experiences they can get at the hotel itself during their stay.

These are just some ideas that can help you upsell to guests before they reach the hotel.

Once they reach the hotel, there are some additional examples which we will cover in another video. So now that you know about upselling, go ahead and upsell some services today.