Best practices for Upselling and Cross-selling

Upselling and cross-selling are great strategies that hospitality providers can employ in order to elevate the guest experience and generate more revenue. By offering additional services to your guests, such as transportation, tours & activities, welcome packs, food services and more, you are able to strengthen your relationship with them and place your property at the centre of their travel experience. 

With activities being the third-largest segment of the travel industry and growing, and with 46% of travellers participate in sightseeing tours, it is becoming evident that upselling and cross-selling will be playing an increasing role in the hospitality industry.

Keep these tips in mind when developing your upselling strategy:

1. Upsell throughout the guest cycle

Guests start planning their experience long before they arrive at your property. This is why communicating the additional services you offer in the pre-arrival stage is crucial. It gives them a chance to read and plan ahead. Even if your guests end up reserving the activity during their stay, they are more likely to accept your offers if they learn about them in advance, at their early planning stages. 

Whether you are sending your guests an email with special offers prior to arrival, or offering this information in your guest app, suggesting additional services to guests 1-2 weeks before arrival will increase the likelihood of guests booking your services. 

2. Use the right technology

An easy booking experience is key to increase conversions. Make sure your guests have easy access to information about the services you offer, that they are able to easily read, view images and book the services in advance, preferably in their own native language. The ability to automate the selling processes is highly effective in increasing upsells, and an instant process is fundamental. 

3. Offer content

A great way to get guests to interact with your services is to offer valuable content and personal recommendations. Your guests are more likely to engage with your suggestions if you offer them advice and information. As their host, you are the expert on in-destination experiences and your advice can go a long way in helping them plan their trip.  

4. Be aware of pricing

In general, you should always consider the pricing of the additional services you offer and examine whether or not they fit with your own property pricing. While exceptions may apply, the products you offer should not exceed the overall reservation cost by over 20-25 percent. Services that are below that price range are more likely to convert well with your guests.

By introducing additional services to guests, hospitality providers are able to improve the guest experience and strengthen brand awareness as the guest engagement increases. In addition, upsells create new streams of revenue as well as partnerships opportunities. 

About the Author: 

Wishbox is a personalised guest experience platform for hospitality providers that allows hosts to tap the true potential of guest communication at scale. Using Wishbox's smart solutions, hosts can engage with guests from the moment the booking is confirmed, collect arrival & contact details ahead of time, scan documents, get E-signatures & more. 

Wishbox offers a branded guest app, upsell platform, review optimisation & much more. Guests gain easy access to upsell services, allowing hosts to increase revenue while improving the guest experience.