Higher Reservation Conversion – Part 3: Just Ask
June 10th, 2011For this tactic, we look outside the leisure travel industry to the retail industry. Why? Because they’ve figured it out. Their finding: if you don’t ask for the sale you won’t get it. Take Best Buy, for example. The latest statistic I heard at a sales and marketing seminar was that they sell 1 in 5 of their visitors an extended warranty. Whether you agree with extended warranties or not, you have to agree those are pretty impressive figures. This 20% success rate should come as no surprise considering the power of suggestion. Renowned marketer Jay Abraham is famous for saying: “People are silently begging to be led.” Over and over again we see this to be true, in every industry, in every aspect of human nature. Suggestion is powerful.
So how do you expect to book a reservation if you don’t ask? By the way, I’m confident most of your reservationists are NOT asking for the sale. They just aren’t. The concept seems simple in theory, but we find it quite difficult in the real world. This is because in the end it’s really about more than just asking. It’s about structuring the whole call to make asking for the reservation comfortable and natural. In order to know how your team is structuring calls you need to record their calls and coach them to higher conversion. Coaching and training is a no brainer but it is most effective when you have recorded conversations to base your discussion on. At the very least, have this conversation with your team and challenge them to start asking for the reservation. I think you’ll be amazed by the results.
This is the 3rd and final installment on Higher Reservation Conversion. Hope you enjoyed them and I especially hope they help you to be more successful.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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