Hey Guys, I don't post here much but I try to help where I can. If people would like to post more questions in the marketing section of the forum we could get a good discussion going! I'm the founder of a hotel booking and marketing startup and I would love your opinions on some things
Anyways.. I would like to know what kind of things would make your change from your current software like reskey or resnexus?
I realise that some people will be stick to what's working and the "if it aint broke dont fix it" kind of thinking and that's fine
I would really like to hear from people who are the explorer type who want to fix things that aren't broken to make them even better!
So I gather that most people using software are happy with it, but what about marketing?
Do these tools help you sell your rooms? upsell rooms? What about email marketing?
If I spell out a few things we are working on and maybe you can tell me if its a bust or something that is interesting that would be awesome!
1. After booking room upsells - After a guest has made a booking they are presented with an upsell to a higher grade room for a discount (Many hotels have told us that guests tend to book the lowest cost room types, with many hotels giving free upgrades so they can sell more of these lower cost rooms instead of losing sales)
This helps you keep the cheaper rooms available to sell as guests will take up the offer on a 50% off room upgrade offer.
2. After booking local attraction offers - Team up with local restaurants and attractions popular in your area and send an offer with your pre arrival welcome message, any offers sold there will be a small commission back for you. And the guest gets a great deal.
3. Membership system - Have a membership section where its easy for guests to sign up and see prices that are for members only, this helps you give a cheaper price and attract direct bookings without breaking that price parity contract.
4. Email Marketing - By collecting email addresses from the membership section and other ways you will soon have a big list, if you create a special offer you are able to set up a new email, include the offer and sent it to your email list. This helps you sell those low occupancy periods. You can even segment your list by distance so you only send last minute deals to people living within an hour of your property.
5. Geo location prices - Have different discounts available to people depending on where they are connecting from: Example: The nearby big city may be happy to pay the full price but the small town down the road you may want to give a small discount as they are less affluent.
6. Price Check: Show the prices of your rooms from the big OTA's on your booking engine so you can prove your website is the best place to book
7. Hosted website: Have your website hosted by the software company, this allows the booking engine to be built into the website without sending the guest to another place. Also means you don't have to worry about the security and updates.
What you think?
Anyways.. I would like to know what kind of things would make your change from your current software like reskey or resnexus?
I realise that some people will be stick to what's working and the "if it aint broke dont fix it" kind of thinking and that's fine
I would really like to hear from people who are the explorer type who want to fix things that aren't broken to make them even better!
So I gather that most people using software are happy with it, but what about marketing?
Do these tools help you sell your rooms? upsell rooms? What about email marketing?
If I spell out a few things we are working on and maybe you can tell me if its a bust or something that is interesting that would be awesome!
1. After booking room upsells - After a guest has made a booking they are presented with an upsell to a higher grade room for a discount (Many hotels have told us that guests tend to book the lowest cost room types, with many hotels giving free upgrades so they can sell more of these lower cost rooms instead of losing sales)
This helps you keep the cheaper rooms available to sell as guests will take up the offer on a 50% off room upgrade offer.
2. After booking local attraction offers - Team up with local restaurants and attractions popular in your area and send an offer with your pre arrival welcome message, any offers sold there will be a small commission back for you. And the guest gets a great deal.
3. Membership system - Have a membership section where its easy for guests to sign up and see prices that are for members only, this helps you give a cheaper price and attract direct bookings without breaking that price parity contract.
4. Email Marketing - By collecting email addresses from the membership section and other ways you will soon have a big list, if you create a special offer you are able to set up a new email, include the offer and sent it to your email list. This helps you sell those low occupancy periods. You can even segment your list by distance so you only send last minute deals to people living within an hour of your property.
5. Geo location prices - Have different discounts available to people depending on where they are connecting from: Example: The nearby big city may be happy to pay the full price but the small town down the road you may want to give a small discount as they are less affluent.
6. Price Check: Show the prices of your rooms from the big OTA's on your booking engine so you can prove your website is the best place to book
7. Hosted website: Have your website hosted by the software company, this allows the booking engine to be built into the website without sending the guest to another place. Also means you don't have to worry about the security and updates.
What you think?