"Are your dates flexible?" Are your dates flexible is not the question. The real question is "Are your dates flexible?If not, let me tell you why they should be." We have a lot of sales people say "Are your dates flexible?" To the client, this can come off a bit harsh, confusing and leads into a lot of questions. "Why? Are the days I'm asking for already booked? Do you not have availability for the length of time I need? Why would I need to be flexible for something already planned?" Odds are the sales person hasn't checked those dates yet and are trying to save themselves a trip to the books. Here's what the sales department should be saying. "Jennifer, you have selected a Wednesday arrival and Friday departure. I'm looking at my books but I need to tell you, you've just selected the single most expensive time frame you can at our location. We are a corporate mid-week hotel which means our highest occupancy happens in the middle of the week- normally on the days you are requesting. Now don't worry, because we have availability for that Wednesday but it's going to be a little more expensive. If you could consider coming in Sunday out on Tuesday, I could probably get you upgraded to a higher floor, perhaps get you access to our club level lounge and get you a voucher for promotional parking prices. How does that sound?" Notice! The sales person did not lower the rate. You may want to lower the rate, but what we're trying to demonstrate is selling flexibility and we need to offer something with it to create an incentive for the client to become flexible. This helps the client understand different options, but also protects your hotel's mid-week corporate rates and business. That is the difference between Selling and Order taking.
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