Attribute Based Sales
In the evolving hospitality industry, personalization is crucial for guest satisfaction and revenue growth. Attribute Based Sales (ABS) empowers guests to tailor their stay by choosing specific room features during the online check-in process, creating a unique and memorable experience. Rather than selecting only a room type, guests can enhance their stay by selecting attributes they value, like a specific view, room location, or additional amenities.
This article will explore how ABS benefits hotels and guests alike, while guiding you through the configuration and functionality of ABS within Clock PMS+. Discover how ABS at online check-in can transform guest satisfaction and unlock new revenue potential.
How does it work?
With Attribute-Based Selling (ABS) in Clock PMS+, the online check-in process offers guests the opportunity to personalize their stay by selecting specific room features within the room type they booked. These attributes can range from extra amenities and views to floor levels, with each option either free or carrying an additional cost, depending on the settings configured in the system.
To ensure flexibility, ABS options are only available if the guest’s booking is still unallocated to a particular room. When guests select a desired feature, the system dynamically updates to restrict any incompatible options. For example, if a guest selects a high floor with a sea view, other features may be disabled, as the available rooms may not have all requested features.
Once guests confirm their selection, the system automates several important steps:
- it allocates a room that matches the chosen features
- posts any related charges directly to the guest’s folio
- records the selected features in the booking
- disables room change, ensuring staff are aware that this booking should not be moved to another room.
This entire process is triggered immediately upon the confirmation of feature additions, even if the guest doesn’t complete the full online check-in. This ensures that rooms are efficiently allocated based on guest preferences, avoiding potential conflicts or double-booking of desirable features,
Configuration
To implement Attribute-Based Selling (ABS), ensure the following setup is complete:
- Online Check-In Configuration: Enable ABS within your fully configured online check-in process.
- Charge Templates: Set up charge templates for each feature. If a feature is offered free of charge, create a template with a price of 0.
- Room Features: Create and assign features to the appropriate rooms. When creating or editing each feature, link the corresponding charge template and specify whether the charge will apply per day or as a one-time fee. Furthermore, add an image for the room feature, visible during the selection step. You can also add description of the room feature from menu Settings-> All settings-> Common translations-> Room Features.
Special Offers
Special Offers can serve as another major source of revenue. If you’ve enabled the option to offer upgrades, guests will first be presented with special offerse before proceeding with the ABS process. Depending on your settings, guests may have the option to stay in the same room type but book a different rate or package. Alternatively, they can choose to upgrade to a higher room category.
It’s important to note that the system employs an algorithm to decide what, if any, special offers to present. This algorithm evaluates several factors to determine the most suitable suggestions:
- the rates added to the upgrade settings (menu Settings-> All Settings-> Guest Engagement-> Self Service Portal)
- availability of the Room type for the stay period
- any restrictions in the rates added to the upgrade settings
- the total price of the upgrade must always be higher than the price of the guest's original booking.
- how you've classified your rate and/or room types by using the Upsell Indexes. Please read more about Upgrades and their configuration.
Once guests confirm their desire to upgrade during the online check-in process, the booking will be automatically updated with the new room type and/or rate. The folio will be recalculated to reflect the new charges, and guests will receive a confirmation email detailing the successful upgrade.
If you need assistance with setting up your upgrade algorithm, particularly with utilizing the Upsell Indexes, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at clockpms@clock-hs.com.