Many hotels hesitate to consider a reservations call center due to fears of service degradation. However, it is essential to note that this fear is not entirely unfounded.
Native multilingual call centers have staff who can optimally attend to hotel guests. In addition to being familiar with the nuances of hospitality, these agents can bridge communication gaps with foreign callers.
Convenience
A quality outsourcing company specializing in reservations has a wealth of staff from the hospitality industry who know what customers want and need without sounding pushy. They also know how to identify and exploit up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, ensuring the hotel’s bottom line is boosted.
A reservation call center is ground zero for a brand’s image, and if it’s not performing, it can reflect negatively in online reviews, social media, and word of mouth. It is a function that should not be left to front-of-house staff with enough issues, complaints, and demands on their time. When guests call to book, they must be assisted promptly and courteously. With the right technology in place, agents can record crucial contact information and details of the reservation.
Availability
A central reservation system (CRS) allows you to manage all the different platforms travelers use to find accommodation. It includes OTAs, travel agencies, metasearch sites, and the global distribution systems (GDS).
It gives you more options to promote your hotel’s room offerings to prospective guests, increasing revenue opportunities. It also makes it easier to offer upgrades, extra services, and meal packages like half board or entire board – all of which can be sold via the booking website without having your staff spend time selling them individually.
A reservations call center with multilingual agents can also provide the service your international guests seek. It can help to bridge the communication gaps caused by cultural differences, foreign accents, and unfamiliar colloquialisms.
Savings
Many hotels need help to keep their in-house staff dedicated to customer service. After all, they’re already busy fulfilling guest requests, managing social media, and responding to online reviews.
It can lead to burnout in your hotel call center and an increasing number of negative customer experiences. These harmful interactions are now broadcast to the entire world on social media, making it hard for you to maintain a positive image of your brand.
Using a virtual call center to handle your bookings, you can rest assured that incoming calls will not go unanswered, regardless of how busy the lobby is. You can also save on commission fees to OTAs and benefit from adding upsell products (like breakfast, tours, and late checkout) to increase your revenue streams and profit per room.
Convenience for your staff
Every call that goes unanswered in the hotel business disappoints a potential customer. Your team must focus on providing the best possible customer service while maximizing bookings.
A dedicated virtual call center specializing in hospitality can help you achieve these goals. They understand the industry’s nuances and know how to upsell customers without appearing pushy.
They can also offer a variety of packages and add-ons that are more attractive to prospective guests. It helps to boost revenue and create loyalty among your guests, in addition to the fact that a reservation sales solution can be integrated with your PMS and CRM, giving agents easy access to guest data. It makes them more efficient and effective at their jobs.
Automation
When done well, automation is an effective tool to grow your hotel’s revenue and increase guest satisfaction. However, it’s important to remember that automation is just a tool, not a replacement for human service.
Automation will free up your staff’s time to engage with guests personally and help them get the most out of their stay. They can also proactively use data to reach guests with relevant and personalized offers, further driving upsells.
The best way to leverage your hotel’s automation is by setting up a trial run with one of the many apps and services available today. You can even opt for a software-as-a-service solution, which will allow you to avoid upfront costs and minimize risk.