If you have been following my work, then you will know that one of my favourite topics is upselling and packages! I have worked with hosts that have gone 100% book direct by leveraging packages. I have seen hosts offer additional services and amenities to increase their revenue.
Very often, hosts tell me that it ‘won’t work for them’. Or they build in a preconceived idea of what guests should and shouldn’t pay for.
Do you remember when airlines started upselling? They have been doing it from the very beginning with duty free? Do you charge for wifi? How about premium wifi?
There are ways to increase your revenue as well as improve the guest experience!
There are several opportunities to upsell - you can do it pre-booking at checkout, pre-stay through email and SMS and lastly, you have great opportunities during the stay.
By leveraging this knowledge and a few key upselling strategies throughout your sales cycle, you can increase your revenue, build deeper relationships with customers, and better utilize your property’s amenities, but only if you do it well.
This week, we meet Madison Rifikin — Founder and CEO of Mount, a platform designed to help short-term rental hosts upsell to their guests. Mount improves the guest experience by enabling property managers to rent amenities already present in the home, such as bikes, scooters, and golf carts, to guests via an app at a small price.
Madison Rifkin has been an entrepreneur since she was 12 years old. Her passion started in the bike lock world as she grew up in Denver, Colorado, and was an avid biker. From there that led to her getting a patent at 15 and then heading off to Northeastern University to study entrepreneurship. It was during her time there that she was traveling, staying at Airbnbs, riding scooters around everywhere, and gaining the knowledge she'd need to evolve Mount into what it is today - a platform that opens up new revenue streams for hosts.
Ultimately, it’s about knowing your guests and their needs. Remembering to offer relevant products at the RIGHT TIME to the RIGHT GUESTS, and you’ll have effective upselling techniques for your hotel in no time!
Have a listen!
What we cover in this episode:
-How to ensure guests clearly see the value of what they’re paying extra for.
-How to improve your upsells.
-Why you should learn how to upsell.
-Ideas for cool and subtle upsells
-Which amenities to upsell
📋 Chapters!
00:00 How to Upsell Without Turning off Guests
01:15 Intro and background of Madison and her business.
03:09 What is Mount and what do they do?
05:42 Using upsell to improve the guest experience/ How can you upsell without looking greedy?
06:23 Using Mount as a management piece
08:26 Why put a price on basic items like firewood?
10:11 How to combine upsells with tech.
13:10 How to secure the amenities with smart locks.
