We discuss how you can introduce upselling to your vacation rental business with a brand new panel. (This webinar was aired in the AU/UK timezone)
Thanks for joining our panellists, Andy, and Hazel for our webinar “Guest Upsells – how to wow guests and increase revenues”
We’ve added a recording of the event in case you missed it or want to revisit some of the points we discussed. We’ve also also picked out some of the key ideas and thoughts from our panellists, along with the webinar highlights and their timings.
Key takeaways:
75% of my bookings are for a package, so I’m upselling from the get-go. The info is there for them to see, and at the time of booking, I also give them a whole list of things to add on – I call that the upsell on the upsell. In the last 18 months more than 50% of bookings were for an experience. Guests wanted to feel nurtured – they wanted someone else to take the hassle away from deciding what to do during their short break. – Hazel
Upselling is about smoothing the journey for the guest. It’s about not ‘where can we upsell something to them’, but ‘where can we make their stay more comfortable or more memorable’. For example, to arrive to an empty fridge after a long journey, to a remote place or in a ski resort with weather conditions to consider, offering a fridge fill smooths the journey – Elaine
It’s not just about swapping a bottle of wine for some extra income, it’s about experience, like combining the wine with a vineyard experience, and a rural tour. We’re all about adding value to that stay. It’s 90% inspiration and 10% execution – it costs nothing to ask guests a little about themselves. My kids still remember the origami elephant and fairy that were waiting for them in one hotel because someone bothered to ask me a little about who I was travelling with after I booked. – Nick
The opportunity isn’t in the upsell, it’s in the demand for experiences. Packages are a way to present upsells when priced well and appealing effectively to a target market. Operators who aren’t recognising this will lose out to the operators who understand how to personalise and add value for guests. Upsells are an opportunity to create strong partnerships with other local businesses and give you something to talk about from a marketing perspective. – Bart
Webinar highlights:
- 05:08 How to use packages as a tool for upselling.
- 08:22 The technical know-how needed (or not) to create guest packages
- 09:35 Taking the guest experience from great to amazing, through those extra touches
- 14:18 Putting the guest’s experience at the centre of upsells
- 16:17 The value of creativity when crafting upsells
- 18:28 Baking the upsell into the nightly price in order to provide a luxury experience
- 21:45 The opportunities to be found in the emerging guest demand for experiences
- 24:55 Opportunities to partner with local businesses and become a centre point of the community
- 27:23 The effort of creating experiences vs. the return they provide – is it worth it?
- 31:27 How to monetise relationships with other local businesses
- 32:48 The ease with which these local partnerships can be curated
- 35:18 Upselling to those guests who are on a budget
- 41:53 Creating memories for guests in self-catering properties
- 47:26 Getting started – how to get your upselling off the ground
- 52:37 Andy’s recap