How to: Make room for higher paying customers
Do you know when your highest paying customers book your hotel?
Very often it feels like everyone books into a hotel at the last minute. If you chat to hoteliers the most common lead time for all bookings is in the last two weeks " everyone books in the last two weeks"
But with more booking channels and a tighter string around purses many consumers are making more informed choices about the hotels they book. Some consumers realise that by committing to a booking very early they get a better deal, if they book late - a busy hotel is likely to be more expensive. So how can you manage your bookers so that you can build some base business a few months before arrival, and take advantage of later booking guests willing to pay a higher price?
Build a picture of your bookers
Do you have a big wedding market? When do they book? Probably up to a year or more in advance. How about Coach tours - when do they book? Typically four to six months out. And large meetings? Let's say three months out. How about your corporate clients? More than likely these will be the ones that make up the majority of your last minute bookers..
Get to know how much money they're wiling to pay
Typically market segments that book way in advance get different rates from those that book closer to the day of arrival. A coach tour contracted rate is typically lower than a public corporate rate. Make sure you the rooms to sell to your higher payers.
Finally work out how many rooms you can afford to give them
You do need to keep tabs on the booking window for each of these groups. If the coach tours that book six months out don't materialise, then that's it - they're not coming - time to refocus your strategy. Giving too many rooms to your early bookers at a low rate may leave you with no more rooms to sell at the last minute to someone willing to pay a lot more for their room
Remember its all about selling the right room to the right customer at the right time for the right price.
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