Specialised accommodation in a Regional Area
Answered the phone yesterday from a guy asking about accommodation, it went a little bit like this.
Hi, just wandering if you have rooms available?
Me: yes we do, what room type are you looking for,
Caller: just a price, we have a job in the area coming up,
Me: do you require meals?, we do all meals
Caller: oh yeah that could be handy, how much?
Me: we have several options on room type and wether all meals or just dinner…
Caller: (butting in) just give me your rack rate, just what is the basic rate?
Me: with all meals ensuite room $175, and that includes early breakfast and….
Caller: (butting in again) ok yep sounds great I’ll get back to you, bye
I put the phone down and said yep he won’t call back and just felt I blew any chance of making that booking. Where did I go wrong?
I should have been right up front with the answer to his price, here is an example,
Caller, Hi, just wandering if you have rooms available?
Me: yes we do, what room type and how many are you looking for,
Caller: just a price, we have a job in the area coming up,
Me: Price starts from $30 twin share to the executive room with all 3 meals for $175 and options in between depending on your requirements or budget. Then await response.
I feel that only offering the highest price I scared him off, but was he just ringing around for the cheapest price. That I will not know.
Having specialised accommodation you need to get that message across in the first sentence and offer the cheapest price first to get their attention. Once you have that you can assess whether they are genuine or a price chaser.
We are getting a lot of price inquiries lately followed up by “is that the best price you can do”
We don’t have a problem giving a cheaper option as long as they are prepared to lose a few extra’s. Certainly won’t lose any quality, food and a basic room will always be presented at best.
Having said that, if the caller states straight up their intentions then a top of the line offer comes first with as many benefits without dictating.
As for a rack rate well we don’t have one as every customer is different and being a low population area we don’t have the luxury of being fully booked and can turn guests away. Therefore we need to be flexible to suit individual company needs.
