In any hotel, the first interaction of a potential guest with a hotel representative is with the reservations or the front desk department, either via telephone, or email. Thus, a good first contact and a knowledgeable response are essential, both for convincing the potential guest to book with the hotel, or even up-sell certain additional services, and for a lasting positive impression which would translate into good reviews and friendly recommendations. Here is where a professionally trained Reservations Department’s role becomes vital.
It is, nevertheless, a real team job to look after individual travelers and group bookings, to oversee the special requests coming from different types of guests, or to quality check incoming bookings via all types of booking channels, and all these imply a close collaboration with all other hotel divisions.
At Spark Hospitality, we offer both the training to engage your team in handling all reservation matters, and the possibility to externalize your Reservations Department to our specialized reservations agents.
Our Spark team will help you:
- Operate all bookings (telephone, email, OTAs) in the reservations system and handle all guest communication regarding booking details, hotel facilities, payment issues
- Build the yearly revenue strategy together with the Revenue Manager
- Maximize revenue by increasing the number of rooms sold and upselling to superior room types
- Prepare and check daily reservation reports (daily pickup, reservation made yesterday, commissions, cancellations report, no shows, discount reports)
- Reservations system management (such as Fidelio, Opera OnQ R&I) and training for team members
- Check and resolve discrepancies between various on-site systems
- Manage third party sites and agents to establish rates, negotiate prices, ensure proper implementation of reservations procedures, and maximize conversion
- Work with the Sales and Events Teams to maximize corporate and group rates
- Supervise the in-house reservation team and process to ensure quality procedures are respected.
The benefits of a specialized Reservations Center
An efficient reservations strategy can positively impact the hotel’s overall business strategy and will help you:
- Understand the market and implement approaches to ensure the hotel stays ahead in the competition set
- Maintain a good relationship with the hotel’s bookers
- Increase bookings and consolidate guest loyalty
- Elaborate and develop efficient methods of selling, according to the strategy of maximizing sales and revenue.
