From dogs to hot tubs and semi-nude butlers, some self-caterers offer a riot of extras to tempt guests and maximise their profits – and SuperControl is on a crusade to get the rest of the market to switch on to the opportunity of upselling.
Offer something extra
We have recently developed a host of new settings for options and extras to further tempt your guests and maximise your upselling opportunities.
Some examples of extras traditionally offered to guests include: baby cots, welcome hampers and pets. All these can be listed on your website and offered at the time of booking. Pets are incredibly big business. One SuperControl property manager, Cornwalls Cottages, made a significant profit last year, just by allowing guests to bring their pets on holiday with them.
Jenna Robbins from Cornwalls Cottages said: “The main extra we offer is dogs – 40% of the people who visit our website do a search for ‘pet-friendly properties’ and half of our properties are pet-friendly. A lot of that is probably down to our location and the fact Cornwall is so dog-friendly.
“Some of our owners also have boats to hire and food hampers. People return to our properties year after year and buy these extras again and again.”
Tailor your offering
Tailored extras make your offering more attractive by making your property stand out and appeal to a wider range of guests. Hoe Grange is a great example of a self-catering business that appeals to many different markets thanks to the extras it offers. Based in the Peak District, Hoe Grange offers family holidays, eco-friendly holidays and has won significant recognition for providing high-quality wheelchair accessible holidays. Although they don’t charge for any of the specialist disabled equipment provided, it’s a major selling point to guests.
Felicity Brown from Hoe Grange said: “The Peak District is a very competitive market for self-catering holidays. If you offer something different and distinctive, you stand out more from the crowd, and give guests a reason to choose you over your competitors. It also strengthens your brand and gives you something to shout about on social media, blog and in the news.
“We work with a small number of other local businesses to offer a few other extras such as ready meals and outside catering, cocktail barman, pizza party etc. The guest deals directly with the supplier so no effort or outlay required by us. It’s all about providing the guest with experiences which will also encourage them to return. Our proportion of returning guests in 2014 was a healthy 29%.”
Be creative
Once a guest has booked, you can use automated emails and social media to engage with them, inspire them and upsell to them prior to arrival. Some SuperControl property managers have been very successful and innovative with the extras they offer.
Brighton Holiday Homes, for example, almost doubled its income last year from the optional extras it offered guests. Its extras include Tarot card reading, Thriller dance lessons and bare bum butlers.
The beauty of most of the extras mentioned above is that they are outsourced. Therefore, there is no additional work for you to do. Contracts will be made between guests and external companies, not you.
To be successful, it is crucial that you find out what your guests want in order to capitalise on each booking. You can filter enquiries and bookings taken through SuperControl to identify groups of guests by selected criteria (log in to your SuperControl account and go to Database > Filter). By profiling guests, it is easier to tailor offers that might appeal to them.
Collaborate
Another way to boost earnings would be to join forces with local businesses and sell their tickets and vouchers to guests. You might then have the opportunity to earn commission on each sale. This could be done either before or during a guest’s stay.
Some schemes on offer from some of our property managers include tickets for local safari parks, castles, festivals and spas. Spa and beauty treatments seem to be highly popular. A quick internet search reveals there are a number of companies who will travel to properties and provide spa packages. Again, this is a service property managers could offer and earn commission from at no real cost to themselves, in terms of time or money.
Encourage guest loyalty
Finally, it’s important not to forget about your guests after they depart. Their relationship with your property and brand should continue long after their holiday ends. You can maintain this relationship via automated follow-up emails and by inviting reviews, by being active on social media or by sending voucher codes to encourage guests to book repeat stays.
Get started
It’s easy to add options and extras to your property offering; just log in to your SuperControl account and go to Properties > Booking options and fill in the fields in Add new option.
