What's Your BEST Rate?

I heard something interesting yesterday. In a conversation with a website redesign client, I found out that they are seeing an increase in the percentage of guests who are booking their reservations on the phone. They told me the ratio up until somewhat recently, the percentage of online bookings was somewhere around 80%. Now, that number has dropped to 50%. Why?

It seems the B&B traveling world is starting to learn that by picking up the phone to book a reservation means they will typically receive the innkeeper directly. Word has gotten around that bookings are down in general, so if they haggle on the phone, they are likely to get a better rate than if they book using the online reservation system which doesn't let them make arguments like "If I don't get 20% off the online price, I'm going to book down the street at another inn".

How does this affect the innkeeper and what can you do about it?

First of all, spending time on the phone haggling with a potential guest costs you money. Let's say you are seeing twenty additional phone registrations each month, but your monthly occupancy rate is staying the same. Assuming each pone call represents 30 minutes of your time talking about the inn and haggling on a discounted price. Once you place a financial value on your time, you have to add that figure in to the discount given for the room. Example: a guest calls to book a weekend room that would normally be $200 per night. They ask for a 20% discount and they take up 30 minutes of your time. During that 30 minutes, another call comes through that you have to let go to voicemail that could have been another booking. The bottom line is, you have to determine ahead of time what you're willing to let go by taking more bookings online.
So, what can be done about it? First off, your website should be very clear that the best available rate is achieved online. Assure your site visitors that prices are monitored and updated daily to reflect specials, current pricing and any available discounts. Second, make sure you have a "Specials" page. If you offer a special preemptively, you can still give the bargain hunters a break on the price, but they still have to book online, saving you time that could be spent performing other tasks.

The online reservation systems have been built for a reason; to save you time. Take advantage of it. Make sure your online booking system is feature rich where you can set up specials and discounts that are automatically applied.

One option is to simply give a discount for all online bookings. I'm not personally a fan of this because it's a pretty strong signal the innkeeper doesn't want to hear from people on the phone. Instead, use your website to inform guests about your specials and discounts and encourage them to book online assuring them the best possible rate is through the online reservation system.

The best option is to employ a better internet presence that attracts more website visitors. Having a website that ranks well on web searches is a start, but when they arrive at the site, they should be compelled to book. We call this a conversion rate. With the numbers of inns reporting a significant increase in bookings after they overhaul their website, the number of increased bookings could well outnumber the bargain hunters that slip through the cracks.

Sacramento Photographer, William Foster