Sales leads you can use today created exclusively for your hotel. This tool can help you uncover new business, onboard a new sales team member, or plan a sales blitz.
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Hotel sales is the process of bringing new business to the hotel by selling sleeping rooms, special events, meetings, conventions, food & beverage, and special amenities such as spa services, packages, or leisure activities.
All sales activities at the hotel are managed by the Director of Sales to maximize hotel revenue. The Director of Sales oversees a sales team of sales managers, catering managers and sales coordinators.
A “perfect sell” is when each room in the hotel is 100% sold and occupied. While having a perfect sell is a great achievement, you may be surprised to know it is not the most important goal. The ultimate goal of each hotel is having the right guests, at the right rate, at the right time. Consider this example: you operate a 100-room hotel, at 100% occupancy with guests paying the rate of $50 per night. While that is certainly an accomplishment, think about having that same 100-room hotel at 50% occupancy with guests paying the rate of $129 per night. The results? More revenue and a higher RevPAR. And anytime we can drive a higher RevPAR through rate we are also more profitable.
To assist with achieving this revenue goal, the hotel’s Revenue Manager works with the sales team to identify who the “right guest” is for that hotel. Hotel pricing influences the “right rate” for that hotel and is determined by a variety of factors including location, seasonality, demand, star rating, amenities and market conditions. The “right time” is established by also considering factors such as local events, holidays, day of week and season. A perfect sell is truly made perfect when revenue management is implemented.
Increasing sales is a team effort that cannot fall on just one individual or department. The sales team is primarily responsible for finding the right guest, at the right rate, at the right time. By identifying the target market, the sales team can do a better job of promoting hotel offerings to reach specific revenue goals. Keep in mind, however, that every department sells in the hospitality industry. The sales team generates leads and finds the business, but the operations team is responsible for providing the guest service and hospitality that maintain the business. Let’s take a deeper look into the functions of sales vs. operations.
Once the sales team finds a piece of business that is the right fit for the hotel, the hotel operations team is responsible for execution of that business, starting with the reservation process. Whether taking a reservation over the phone or assisting a guest that walks in, the hospitality provided by the Front Desk staff either drives loyalty or can run guests away. They must not only provide an efficient check-in and check-out experience, they are also the front line for dealing with billing questions, rate adjustments and complaints. Usually, the first and last impression of the guest experience is made at the front desk.
Other departments in hotel operations, such as Housekeeping, Maintenance and Food & Beverage, play roles in the guest experience too! The housekeeping department is responsible for providing clean rooms for guests and all of the amenities needed for an exceptional stay. The maintenance department must perform preventative maintenance and stay up to date with room repairs. They must also oversee the electrical, plumbing and overall building operations on a day to day basis. The food and beverage department must ensure they are serving high-quality food that meets Department of Health standards is tasty! If the sales team is selling the hotel based on service and hospitality that cannot be delivered by the operations department, sales of the hotel will never increase. This is why the team effort is key to fulfilled expectations, a positive guest experience, repeat business and referrals.
Proper hotel distribution is the secret to increasing bookings at your hotel. Hotel distribution is a strategy used to sell hotel rooms through a variety of different channels. Before discussing hotel distribution in further detail, it’s important to identify your target market. Who are the guests you are trying to attract? Is there a specific demographic, geographic or, lifestyle that makes up your target market? Understanding this concept will help you to better market your hotel to the right guest.
Once you have identified your target market, begin attracting these guests through your website. Ensure your location, amenities, policies, and images are current and available for potential guests to have a clear understanding of your offerings. Furthermore, make sure your website has a visible online presence with search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. If potential guests can’t find your hotel easily online, they likely will stop looking or find your competitor. Consider these additional key areas for hotel distribution:
Here are other ways hotels increase bookings:
A successful hotel sets sales targets that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. An example of a SMART sales target would be: Achieve a $109 average daily rate in the month of June for all group accounts. Here are the steps the sales team should take in effort to achieve this goal:
RevPAR= Revenue Per Available Room. RevPar measures hotel performance and can be calculated with two different formulas.
Here’s an example of both formulas. Consider these metrics:
Total Number of Rooms: 150, Out of Order Rooms: 25
Total Number of Available Rooms: 125 (150 Total Hotel Rooms – 25 Rooms Out of Order)
Average Daily Rate: $99
Occupancy Rate: 83%
Total Room Revenue: $10,271.25 (125 rooms x $99/room x 83% occupancy)
Total Guestroom Revenue ÷ Number of Rooms Available = RevPAR
$10,271.25 ÷ 125 = $82.17
Average Daily Rate x Occupancy Rate = RevPAR
$99 x 0.83 = $82.17
Keep in mind, period of time is an additional variable that effects the calculation of RevPar. If you were to use the information above to calculate RevPar for the quarter, here’s what it would look like:
Total Room Revenue (for the 90 days) / Rooms Available x Period of Time (90 days)
$843,750/ ($125 x 90) = $843,750/$11,250 = $75.00
Now that you’ve learned the calculation for RevPAR, you can calculate the RevPAR of your hotel.