Ideas for Reservation Managers
Although the webcasts that TNS/Track so generously sponsor usually focus on sales training tips directly for the frontline reservations staff, this month I took a little different approach and focused on train-the-trainer ideas for managers. The format was sort of a “challenge/solution,” and here are some highlights of what I shared during the live webcast.
Challenge: Reservations agents may see inquiries as interruptions!
When you stop to look at the daily task list of most reservations agents, you will quickly recognize that the most important task of all – selling! – is probably what they spend the least amount of time on. This varies by the size of the team and the nature of the lodging operation. For smaller companies, it is likely that those covering reservations are also assisting to some degree with operations. At medium size companies, agents spend much of their day processing (or at least reviewing) OTA bookings, fielding questions that come in the form of IM’s within apps like Booking, Expedia, VRBO or even AirBnB, or responding to email inquiries. Those working at resorts also have to deal with rooming lists and bookings from wholesale tour operators. Even at call centers where reservations are a dedicated, full-time job, agents receive many “service” calls are after booking, but prior to arrival.
Solution: Train your team to see Inquiries as opportunities.
Make it fun by borrowing a theme we at KTN use during our on-site training workshops and private webcam training which is to tell agents that whenever they hear the phones go “Ring, ring!” they need to always think “Cha-ching!” First, calculate your “average revenue per booking” opportunity on a year-round basis by dividing the total revenue received for a 12-month period by the total number of bookings made. Then ask them to calculate the potential revenue they can generate if each gets just 1 more booking per workday. (Average revenue per booking x 250 workdays per year.) Finally, multiply this by the number of agents. (Okay, if you are highly seasonal, then cut the revenue in half or even by 1/3.) The point is that there is a huge potential for the team to generate additional revenue.
Finally, discuss that another word for money is “currency,” which is also a word for electrical current. Explain that the “currency” they bring in provides the energy that powers your resort or VR company. Ask them to think about where that currency flows. Payroll for their co-workers in operations. Pays for insurance, the mortgage on the resort – or flows to the vacation home owners to pay their own mortgages. Part of the currency funds the local and regional taxes, which support the community services. In the end, the handful of agents who work in reservations are responsible for the currency that powers the entire business and community.
To be continued
Doug Kennedy is President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading provider of hotel sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training programs and telephone mystery shopping services for the lodging and hospitality industry. Doug continues to be a fixture on the industry’s conference circuit for hotel companies, brands and associations, as he been for over two decades. Since 1996, Doug’s monthly training articles have been published worldwide, making him one of the most widely read hospitality industry authorities. Visit KTN at www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com or email him directly doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com
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