The Contact Centers Role in Commercial Strategy

The HSMAI Contact Center Special Interest Group (SIG) met to explore how contact centers consistently drive substantial annual revenue while showcasing a high standard of hospitality. To appreciate the contact center’s impact, it is important to understand the shifting trends in the last several years. Two of the most identifiable causes for these shifts are the pandemic and the emergence of AI and other technologies that have changed guest behavior.

Guests are now researching online, and often reserving online, and then calling the contact center to ensure everything they’ve booked themselves is accurate, or to get more information about the property or general area. Additionally, guests are asking far different questions than they used to, a result of becoming accustomed to having so much information available at our fingertips.

To assist these guests, contact center representatives need to have even more information than properties’ websites boast. As one member pointed out, it’s important for leaders to identify commonly asked questions and communicate with hotel properties to get additional information that can be shared with the contact center. Leaders also need to manage their educational resources for their teams and update those resources frequently.

One way to accomplish this is to have hotel partners join a “stand-up” or to require them to send a daily update with relevant details to help the contact center team. These updates could include rates and availability for early check-ins or late departures, so contact center agents know what they are able to sell that day.

Despite the shift to online environments, contact centers are still uniquely equipped to deliver excellent guest service and increased revenue. As one member highlighted, on-site agents (front desk, operators, etc.) are often juggling many tasks and can be distracted by trying to support on-site guests, whereas contact center agents are completely focused on the guest experience. Another member added that contact center team members are “sellers” who are incentivized and motivated to secure the reservation, which leads to increased conversion.

Further illustrating the effectiveness of contact center teams, one participant identified success in redirecting in-room dining calls to a centralized and specialized team, noting a 12% year-over-year increase in in-room dining sales.

For participants who track average spend by phone and average spend for online bookings, the average spend for phone sales is consistently higher. In fact, phone interactions can increase reservation value by up to 60% through upselling and cross-selling. Members highlighted successes with the ability to offer services, personalized recommendations, special features like “executive floors,” dining, spa, and golf via the voice channel.

In short, contact centers see higher conversion rates than digital channels, with a higher average booking value. Including them in the commercial strategy is not only a wise decision, but a profitable one.