Increase Occupancy By Never Saying “No”

When someone calls you to make a reservation and you don’t have availability during the time they are requesting, don’t tell them “no” (unless you have the freedom to say no to that specific booking). This is a common mistake made by many hoteliers or their staff because it is natural to answer a persons request with a direct answer.

Rather than just saying you don’t have availability, a better approach is to provide them with alternative dates or rooms and a reason why these alternative dates work better. This is best accomplished by asking them the purpose for their visit before you tell them you don’t have availability.

Once you find out why they are making these travel plans in the first place, you can tell them you don’t have availability for that time period and suggest a new date. Along with the new date give them a reason why that new date would be better.

Examples:

• If they are booking for an anniversary, suggest another date for their visit and tell them it will be slower so they will have more privacy.

• If they are looking for a cheap getaway, suggest a new date during the slow part of the week and give them a discount on a better room.

• If they are asking for a specific room that is already booked, ask them why they want that specific room. Then provide them with alternative rooms that can meet their same needs/desires. (If this keeps happening for the same room and not other rooms, it can be an indication that you need to improve the marketing on your web site for the weaker rooms.)

• If they are looking for a group retreat and you don’t have as many rooms as they need, suggest a new date and tell them those dates are better because they can have their pick of rooms because you are not booked up yet during that time period.

Offering alternatives takes some getting used to but eventually it will be second nature to you or your staff.  Of course it will not work for the majority of bookings but even if you save 1 out of 10, it was worth the extra 15 seconds it took to suggest a new date.