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After a long preparation time, we launch one of this year’s main improvements of our booking engine: upselling of rooms (or apartments, if that is your case).
It is a tool:
- Developed internally by our technical team
- That works by itself and without maintenance on your part
- At no additional cost to you
- That can only improve your reservations, no risks involved
There are many advantages to an upselling system:
- It increases your revenues (more specifically your average reservation value)
- It improves the satisfaction of your customers and therefore the possibility of them returning to your hotel
- It frees up cheaper rooms that, in case of being closed, gives you greater price competitiveness on peak dates
- By doing it in your direct channel, it improves your value proposition and its differentiation versus the intermediation
We have written a more detailed article on the many advantages of upselling.
What does it consist of
A better room : by email, we will offer the customer the type of superior room that you have preconfigured, if it is available and we have been able to calculate the price.
Shortly before arrival : a few days before the customer’s arrival we will send the email offering the upselling, which is when they will be most willing to accept an improvement in the upcoming stay since they are probably looking forward to it.
100 % automatic and simple: You don’t have to worry about anything: we will launch the invitation to the upselling, determine the price based on what you have on offer at that moment and we will modify the reservation.
It is also very simple for the customer: they receive the email with a clear, direct and visual message and they only have to accept or ignore it.
This is how it works. The five steps of the process
1.- You configure it once in the extranet (very straightforward) : you just have to mark which superior room to offer for each type of room that is reserved … and activate the upselling.
2.- We will send an EMAIL to each reservation to which we can offer the upselling.
3.- The customer confirms the action on a PAGE that they are directed to by clicking on the email, if interested. We will provide that page (or you can tell us the address if outsourced).
4.- A reservation MODIFICATION is generated: Like any other modification, the guest will receive an email with the changes and so will the hotel.
Only the room type and the total amount of the reservation will have changed.
5.- You must charge the price difference directly at the hotel. You always have to be prepared to handle this charge. Even in the case of a fully prepaid reservation at the time it was made, the difference must be paid at the hotel. The customer will be informed.
Should you activate the Mirai upselling in your specific case?
Our recommendation is that you do, as long as you meet these requirements:
- You have superior room types. Obviously, it would not make sense if you only have one type of room or if the differences between the two do not add any value (for example it would not make sense to offer a “Double” and a “Double with extra bed”).
- You are able to charge the difference. We avoid the obstacle that would entail charging again for the price difference: it would require re-entering the payment method. Instead, the customer will pay you directly. You just have to be aware and prepared. We will send the modification of each reservation, with the new total amount, both to the channel manager and by email.
- You are able to manage reservation modifications. Not all channel managers and PMS are efficient when it comes to sending you reservation modifications. In some cases there are fields that can be problematic such as the prepaid amount. Make sure you have no operational problems in this regard.
- You understand and accept the upselling price, which we will have calculated. Depending on the reservation, this calculation could be straightforward and obvious or it could be complicated and difficult to decipher. We cannot give you details of what each calculation will have been. You will have to trust us.
How do we calculate the price to offer the upselling?
Unlike other upselling systems available on the market, we have the advantage of having access to your room prices, complete and always updated: it is all we need to calculate the upselling price.
Upselling Price = Difference in price currently for sale of the two types of rooms. The upselling price will be the difference of the sale price between the two types of rooms: the lower and the higher type. We will see what price they have loaded, we extract it and calculate the difference… that simple.
Comparing prices… when? If both prices are available at the time of encouraging the upselling, great! That will be the price to pay for the upselling, based on that difference that day.
In the event that the lower rate is no longer available (which is common a few days prior to the arrival), we will compare the higher room at that time with the original room at the price at which it was reserved. It is not that precise but it will be better than giving up on offering upselling.
What rate-occupancy-board do you compare? We will always compare the same: that is, between the two types of room, we will use the same board, the same occupancy and the same rate-offer (preferably the reserved one; and if it is no longer available, another common one, available in both rooms).
In the rare cases when we cannot calculate the price or the result is negative, we will rule out offering upselling.
What do I have to do now?
Contact your account manager. They will explain what you have to take into account in your specific case and, if everything is clear, they can activate it almost instantly.
More about Mirai’s upselling system:
