How to Improve Hotel Sales: Proven Strategies to Boost Bookings

Hotel sales is the practice or operational aspect related to selling hotel rooms and other services to customers/guests. Hotels usually have their own dedicated sales teams that focus on increasing revenues through implementation of various tactics. 

In this case, it should be mentioned that every hotel needs to implement sales strategies that work effectively to help them capture their target audience in the specific location. Let us look at a few ways through which you can improve your hotel sales numbers in the long run. 

Tactics for Boosting Hotel Sales Strategies 

Here are a few ways through which you can enhance your hotel sales figures by following some effective tactics. 

• Group sales blueprints- This is a highly effective blueprint where you can sell meeting spaces, business centres, conferencing facilities, and other services coupled with rooms to bigger business/corporate groups. You can offer bundled packages/deals for both these categories under a single platform. These kinds of sales can be highly beneficial in terms of long-term and repeat business from corporate entities, along with enabling a steady stream of revenue. 

• Direct bookings strategy- Another way to increase your hotel sales in the long run is to attempt to gain direct bookings in larger numbers. While you will naturally have to list on OTAs and other platforms, direct bookings can help you avoid paying commissions and earn more from each booking. You can do this by implementing your online booking system that syncs with your property management system (PMS) and site. Focusing on marketing and social media will also help you scale up direct bookings in turn. 

• Destination-based marketing- This strategy needs a hotel operator to collaborate with other regional tourism professionals or entities to promote the destination as a whole. Local businesses can team up together to target the biggest inbound tourism segments and gain higher traffic for the entire zone. 

• Cross-promotional hotel sales- This strategy involves identifying and assessing multiple big events that are held in the destination/region across the year. You can then team up with other hotel operators to come up with targeted promotions coinciding with the event in question. It may help you get a steady flow of bookings that you may not have obtained otherwise. Some opportunities that you can tap including upcoming expos, industry conferences, big-ticket sporting events, and so on. 

• Guest rewards and loyalty programs- Several travellers are attracted to the opportunity to gain more rewards with brands that they patronize. Hotels can earn higher revenues and repeat business by implementing various rewards and loyalty programs. The operator/manager may create a system which rewards guests for frequent stays and buying upgrades, along with referrals for family members and friends. Repeat bookings can be hugely lucrative for hotels. 

• Revenue management- It is a specific sales strategy that aims at scaling up the number of rooms that are booked at any point throughout the year, irrespective of the usual customer traffic at that time. A revenue management plan needs operators to drop room rates in the low season to get more bookings, while raising rates based on high traffic, the peak season, demand, etc. Hence, implementing a dynamic pricing strategy is the need of the hour. 

• Optimizing OTAs- Online travel agencies (OTAs) are helpful platforms for enhancing the visibility of the hotel brand and tapping a global customer base. Yet, you should always look to optimize your listings, including premium photographs, detailed descriptions, updated data about services and amenities, and so on. You should also manage your room availability and rates efficiently in a bid to boost your rankings across OTA search results. 

• Tap online reviews- A positive reputation across online channels can go a long way towards enhancing overall revenues and bookings. Encourage happy guests to post reviews on multiple platforms and respond to them promptly and professionally. Appreciate positive feedback and tackle any issues that you find in negative reviews. 

• Up-selling strategy- This is the procedure of selling a more premium/expensive version of the product/service that the customer is purchasing. The mechanisms you use for up-selling should be handled carefully, since the regularity, timing, and tone matter a lot. Don’t be pushy but instead take it as a way to enhance awareness. Make your guests know what is available, but let them make the first move instead of pushing the same. 

• Re-marketing- It is a strategy enabling you to tap potential customers who have visited the site without finalizing their hotel bookings. Many travellers will explore several sites for checking their options in the research phase of the online booking process. Re-marketing strategies help you access these customers at various points while booking online and reminding them to visit again to book with you. 

• Cross-selling or incentives- Cross-selling is the way in which you can add a supplementary or additional service/product to add to the service/product that your guest is already purchasing. You can offer more incentives to get higher confirmed bookings, including local tours, free massages, etc. 

• Building local partnerships- There should ideally be several local attractions and businesses in your area that you can build a partnership with. Co-promotions can be mutually beneficial across adventure companies, tours, rentals, theme parks, museums, eateries, etc. 

Effective Sales Strategies Are the Key Towards Enhancing Revenues

As you can see, there are several sales strategies that you can follow to boost revenues in the long run. The end-goal should be reaching out to the right customer at the right time and with the right price. It is possible once you implement advanced technological solutions like hotel booking management systems, revenue management, channel bookings, OTA management solutions, dynamic pricing, etc. 

Also make sure that bookings are easy on the website so that travellers can enjoy a smooth process. Optimize your site carefully and consider strategies like bundled deals, early check-ins or late check-outs, influencer marketing, special events, rewards, and personalized offers. Make data gathering and analytics-based insights a part of your strategy in order to customize the offerings for guests and build loyalty, while gaining higher repeat bookings.