How To: Make a Reservation
There's more to making a room reservation than meets the eye. It's as different as asking for a glass of wine and being offered "Medium, Sweet or Dry", to meeting an enthusiastic and knowledgeable Sommelier. When a potential guest phones a hotel, the reservations agent needs a collection of skills to ensure that the booking is confirmed. Don't underestimate this critical role. Ensure that staff are fully trained to make the most of the opportunity.
Skills Required:
- Communication - secure, confident, must be able to visually describe a property, get the right modulation and speed
- Persuasiveness - present benefit statements, positively handle customer objections
- Competancy - demonstrate knowledge of the product/market/competition, be empowered to make decisions
- Positive Attitude - friendly, polite, accurate
- Dexterous - multitasking with headsets, computer system, talking to the client and then making the reservation in the PMS whilst the customer is still there.
5 minutes to make a difference: That's the time it takes to make the average room reservation. The time it takes to make the difference between your hotel and your competitor.
- Open the sale with a great visual description of the property
- Gather the relevant information about dates and specific requirements
- Tailor the hotel's key selling points to the requirements of the guest
- Encourage the guest to purchase the room
- Close the sale
During this time the agent should develop trust and interest in the property, using "active listening" - engaging the guest in conversation.
Avoid using words that are "fillers" that may be perceived as dismissive, and especially avoid "killer phrases" that directly contradict guest's needs - such as, "This would be difficult" or "That's not possible".
Professional reservations agents will use powerful questioning techniques to fully understand the guest's needs and suggest appropriate solutions. Open questions create the platform for trust, the first step to successfully closing the sale.
Use the alternative selling technique - providing alternatives that sell one option over another. Make the decision easier for guests by positioning your premium products first.
Phrase positively when presenting their product:
- The room you have chosen is extremely spacious
- We are the preferred hotel for conference guests
- Our restaurant is very popular with residents and locals
Time the closing carefully and present the guest options as your sales offer "Which of these rooms shall I book for you?"
Remember two extra rooms booked per day could mean an additional £70,000 per year on the bottom line. Go ahead and make that order!
You could be drinking Chateau Latour instead of house wine.
To receive hints, tips, news and IFH training dates via email, please subscribe to our newsletter.
The IFH® training academy offers a series of vocation-based training and coaching programmes specifically designed to make creation of winning teams easy.
Our programmes deliver best practice in Sales, Business Development, Revenue Management, Front Office Management, and Hotel managerial skills...
Find out more
Reservation Sales
Field Sales
Revenue Management
IFH® Essentials
