In-House Sales

In-House Sales
The front office plays a vital role in the success of all departments within the hotel. When a traveler is checking-in, they are usually thinking of other things than the necessities such as food and beverages. When the front office staff informs guest about all services provided by the hotel, guest will know what can be obtained. They will know how to get it when they want to. Your guest will never buy what they do not know you have to sell. Referring guest to purchase food and other services will only increase each department’s sales.
When brainstorming, I would invite the front office staff and departments heads from most departments in the hotel. They can give insight to their products and offer solutions to presentation verbiage. Ideas for improving the point of sales office would be to review features and benefits of each department. Often, it is not enough to just tell the customer about the feature, but why then want to purchase what they are selling. I would also have some type of incentive plan for selling other departments, even if it was not financial incentives. Cross training the front office staff, even to a minimal degree, would also help to maximize each departments efforts.
The front office is responsible for many functions. The hotel’s bottom line is certainly tied to the performance of the front office. Not only would sales increase, but the guest experience would increase as well. There are times when a person will not buy anything else the hotel has to offer. I believe, this is a result of the customer not knowing what the hotel