How many quotes does a receptionist create every day?
Our receptionist friends find themselves having to formulate and send estimates at certain times of the year, even dozens of times a day, taking into account many factors and always different needs expressed by the customer.
How many quotes really turn into reservations? Is there a tool that can help track it?
In the fourth installment of the Hospitality 4.0 podcast we will talk about how to create hotel travel quotes that respect the principles behind the automation of work processes in hotels.
1. How to create hotel quotes that convert
In the episode Edoardo and Marco will discuss what are the strategies for creating hotel travel quotes that convert, however, starting from the mistakes that are usually made when preparing and sending a quote.
When the receptionist prepares an offer email, he must be aware that behind every request to which he answers there is a probable customer, a traveler who is willing to stay at the structure but must be put in the condition to understand if our hotel is what he does for him and his needs.
The horrors to never be made when sending an email to a potential customer are:
- attach non-professional photos;
- referencing unclear or wrong prices (for example compared to the offers found on the site);
- very long and redundant texts;
- text characters formatted inconsistently (for example: pieces of text in Times New Roman 12 that alternates with Calibri 14 etc …)
2. Creation speed + simple interface = more conversions
For many receptionists, creating a quote is a redundant mechanism in which blocks of text are copied, simply by correcting the reference period and the price to be offered to the customer.
The advice is to use software tools that allow you with few clicks to:
- Enter the dates indicated by the customer (avoiding quotes already in “overbooking“);
- Automatically provide availability, quotation, text, images and preview of the rooms in which the customer will stay;
- Send the quote;
- Monitor open rates or any bounces;
- Send follow up to the customer if he has not replied after 2 days.
3. The four aspects of a quote that converts
In summary, what are the aspects to consider?
Marco and Edoardo during the episode will highlight 4 and are:
1.Creation speed;
2. Attractive design;
3. Data reports such as open rates;
4.Live chat.
4. A follow-up will save you!
Last but not least, it is follow-up.
The follow-up is a reminder of an action previously carried out, therefore in the hotel case the potential customer is contacted after the quote sent.
This practice is particularly important because it helps to keep the customer “hooked” as long as possible (within the limits of the GDPR of course).
Many e-commerce and travel agencies send follow-up emails after a customer has not completed the purchase, showing that they “care about the customer”.
Do you do the same thing in reception?
How many of the hotels that are your “competitors” send a follow up after sending a quote?
But above all, how many follow-ups have you done in the last week to a customer who asked you for a quote?
If the answer is few, then it’s time to change!