Taking the booking.
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Hospitality textbooks tell you to answer the telephone within three rings which is fine if you are by the phone; if you are gardening and have to leg it across half an acre, up the stairs, dodging the dog, then you are probably lucky to get there before they hang up. You should always have a friendly recorded message telling them to leave their number and you will get back to them.
If you do make it in time up those stairs then you offer the usual greeeting of Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, name of the property, ‘Chris {appropriate name of course} speaking, how can I help you?’ This dialogue gives the enquirer the information that they have rung the correct number, a greeting and your first name to allow a personal interaction.
Good start, now is the time to look for selling clues. A lot of people ring your establishment asking for the tariff, type of accommodation, proximity to key areas, freeway etc. and it is easy to never hear from them again. The problem is that you provide plenty of information describing the accommodation in a positive light, the swimming pool, local walks and facilities, whether you are pet friendly etc., but then fail to take the booking; a mistake I have made several times. People often need a bit of prompting.
Here are some suggestions to get the enquirer to commit:
Can I take your booking now?
Can I make a temporary reservation for you now whilst you discuss it with your partner and you can confirm later?
Is there any more information that you need before you make a booking?
The dates you are requesting are free and seeing it is for several weeks you would be entitled to our special weekly rate.
We are fully booked for the dates you request but we sometimes get cancellations and if that happens and you leave a contact number I can get back to you.
Yes we do offer a special weekly/monthly rate.
Seeing that you are local, why not come round and have a look at the accommodation, that way you will know if it is suitable for your mother-in-law.
Yes I can organise car hire, wine tour etc.
Remember that once they are gone off the phone they are probably gone for good, and their next call is quite possibly to book in somewhere else!