Rate Cocktail

Sell the right product, to the right customer, at the right time and at the right price! We have all heard this mantra several times, many of them without seeing its applicability. Are we the owners of a magic ball, which allows us to see when the right customer is looking for our hotel? Or do we share a keen hotel intuition to have the right product available at the right time?

The correct management of prices and availability is a constant challenge and requires consistency in the execution of the pricing strategy. For a greater impact on the results, a correct segmentation and a team of specialists are essential in the analysis of date and forecast.

Here are some tips that will make the difference.

Segment, segment and segment

Proper targeting facilitates the creation of multiple strategies to capture the type of target clients we want to book at our hotel. Let go of the idea of putting customers in watertight or non-dynamic groups.

Target by behavioral patterns such as booking window, length of stay or even type of product reserved. Attributing a value / price for buying behavior will have more possibilities to sell the right product, to the right customer at the right time.

Correct price at the tip of the tongue

With particular emphasis on direct sale, the reservations department will have the ability to consult in real time not only the availability, but also the correct price for the customer who contacts the hotel.

Clear and assertive communication with good response times and the best available price will make every call / interaction a win-win. As a reference this channel has the potential to achieve a conversion of up to 20%.

Offer the real BAR (best available rate)

A trend that seems current, but which has always been available in several PMSs and CRSs, is the allocation of the real BAR with the different tariffs (always the one that represents the best price of the day) to give the best price quotation for the customer's reservation.

Configure this tactic directly on your PMS and CRS to stay competitive in your direct distribution. Remember that several OTAs use this mix of tariffs to create disparity with the hotel's direct channel and take advantage of the moment of attracting the customer.

Control rate disparities

Not to control the price disparities in the various distributors of your hotel, only serves to cause significant business leaks. A task that is not always easy, often almost impossible.

However, we know that 80% of the business comes from 20% of the partners. Is it worth having 20/30 distributors, many of whom are the ones who make the disparities that we so badly want to eradicate? There are several ways you can advertise to your business without risking customer capture.

And keep in mind that:

We are not magicians or visionaries, but with the correct strategy implemented in existing tools it is possible to improve the competitiveness of your hotel. Be innovative when it comes to targeting, give your employees the ideal tools so they can perform excellently and review their distribution by investing in customer acquisition for their direct channel.