nsforming uiries
Sales
By Kyle Buehner
The role of the reservations agent is still essential , but it needs to change . It seems to have been disregarded for many years , as hotels and vacation rentals shifted their focus to digital marketing and web bookings . Reservations agents have been tucked away in the basement answering “ inquiries ,” while group sales managers have been upstairs handling lucrative “ sales leads .” The necessary evolution of the reservations agent is to become a sales person .
Transient leisure travel is up and expected to reach record levels in 2016 and 2017 , “ Bleisure ” is more common , and many corporate travelers and groups are going around their corporate booking mechanisms to book directly . The point is : the reservations that funnel through agents are a giant piece of the pie and should be treated accordingly .
To do so , properties must transition to a new culture , a sales culture . One where reservations agents are treated as sales people , where they are inspired and incentivized to close business . This is a culture where inquiries , whether via phone or email , are treated as sales leads .
When we shift from looking at phone calls and emails as inquiries — with the agent as the receiver , the order taker — to looking at inquiries as leads , the agent ’ s role becomes proactive . She or he queries and gathers information to make a sale . Just learning to ask the prospective guest for the reservation , a sales skill , increases close rates from 30-50 %. To make this shift requires rethinking compensation with commissions and incentives ( which are more than covered by incremental booking revenue , so there is no hit to the bottom line ) as well as revamping company culture to support it . If the proof is in the pudding , look at Vacation Myrtle Beach ’ s call center , called Shine Studios , which was designed to inspire , train , and reward reservations agents . In just one year of outbound sales , in which reservation agents follow up with guests who have inquired but gone un-booked , the team generated $ 1,000,000 in incremental revenue .
This is to say that the results are substantial when this shift in thinking is embraced . Conversions on existing demand increase , nightly rate grows , and outbound sales programs bring in revenue that was completely untapped before . All the while reservations agents have less downtime and are more productive with their calls . In our experience , topline revenue generated by reservations teams increases 30 % when the culture shifts to support them as sales people .
For more a more detailed look at how a sales culture pays off and tips on how to make the transition , download NAVIS ’ latest ebook , Transforming Reservation Inquiries into Profitable Sales at www . thenavisway . com / library . Inside you ’ ll find sample call scripts , interview questions , and more .
About the author Kyle Buehner is CEO at NAVIS , the # 1 reservation sales and marketing platform for the hospitality industry . Because we believe technology should make you money , not cost you money , we developed our gamechanging Revenue Performance Platform™ to transform teams into revenue makers , enabling them to drive , capture and convert more direct bookings . We deliver actionable guest insights so departments can seamlessly sell and market together . The result is always a dramatic increase in direct sales and profit . We guarantee it . Founded in 1987 , NAVIS is a privately held company with headquarters in Bend , Oregon and a growing East Coast office in Orlando , Florida . The company has been awarded Top Workplaces by The Oregonian for four consecutive years and named one of the 2016 Top 100 Workplaces in Central Florida . To learn more visit www . thenavisway . com
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