Learn how to check in a group, from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden:Hi, everyone. Braden here. |
| Ann: Ann here. Suggestive Selling and Upselling. In this lesson, you’ll learn suggestive selling and upselling in a hotel bar or lounge. |
| Braden:This conversation takes place at the hotel bar in the evening. |
| Ann:The conversation is between the guest and the bartender. |
| Braden:One of the speakers is a bartender, and the other is a guest, so they will be speaking professionally. |
| Ann:Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ann:In lesson 6, you learned that certain topics, such as religion, politics, and a person’s health, should be avoided. |
| Braden:You also learned about engaging the guest in small talk by asking questions. Questions are very useful in small talk, but they need to be open-ended questions. |
| Ann:Open-ended questions are questions that give the person responding freedom to answer how they want to. For example, “How did you come to hear about our hotel, sir?” |
| Braden:A response to this question could be as simple as “The Internet” or much more complex, such as a story about how an aunt stay at that hotel months ago and enjoyed it, and so on. |
| Ann:Sometimes, yes/no questions can also be useful here, but they need to be asked in an open-ended way. |
| Braden:That’s right. For example, suppose you and the guest were talking about the sunny weather, you could say “Isn’t this weather amazing?” |
| Ann:Again, this is a yes/no question because the guest can simply reply, “Yes.” or “No.” but it’s also open because they could easily comment about the weather, or even compare it to the weather in some other place. Alright, now let's move on to the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Ann:Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Braden:The first phrase is “What can I get for you?” |
| Ann:This phrase is very common, and hotel staff will repeat it many times every day. |
| Braden:Let’s take a look at the pronunciation and intonation for this phrase. First, let’s hear it one time slowly... |
| Ann:“What can I get for you?” |
| Braden:The most emphasized part of this phrase is the “get”. “What can I get for you?” |
| Ann:The other important pronunciation point is the transition from “can” to “I.” The two words connect and become “ca-nye.” Let’s hear the whole phrase one time slowly |
| Braden:“What can I get for you?” |
| Ann:and broken down by syllable |
| Braden:“What ca-nye get for you?” |
| Ann:and one time fast. |
| Braden:“What can I get for you?” |
| Ann:Next, we’ll look at the phrase “for ages.” |
| Braden:The phrase “for ages” means “for a long time.” The English word “age” usually refers to how old a person or thing is. |
| Ann:However, in this case, it is used here to mean “a long period of time.” The idea being “for many long periods of time” or “for a long time.” |
| Braden:This is usually used for things that haven’t been done for a long time, such as, in the dialog, the guest says, |
| Ann:“I haven't had a caipirinha for ages.” |
| Braden:Alright, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Ann:The focus of this lesson is suggestive selling and upselling in a hotel bar or lounge. |
| Braden:In the dialog we heard the phrase, “Might I suggest a caipirinha?” |
| Ann:This is an example of Suggestive selling. In our dialog, the guest was unsure what to order, so the bartender suggested something, a caipirinha. |
| Braden:A caipirinha is a Brazilian alchoholic beverage commonly made at hotel bars, restaurants, and parties, for those of you who don’t know. |
| Ann:Something else we need to talk about is Upselling. Upselling is similar to suggestive selling except that, in upselling, you sell more to the customer than they had intended. |
| Braden:In other words, the number of things they purchased goes up. In the dialog, the bartender was able to upsell the guest on a side dish of calamari. |
| Ann:So, how do you use suggestive selling? Well, in order to be effective at suggestive selling, you need to be knowledgeable about what you’re selling. In a hotel, that means you need to be thoroughly aware of the amenities at your hotel, as well as local attractions and entertainment. |
| Braden:If you work in a restaurant, you need to know the menu very well and have a clear feeling about what dishes go well together. |
| Ann:It’s also important to know what the guests needs. For example, families have very different needs from a single man travelling for business when staying at a hotel. |
| Braden:Also, at a restaurant, sometimes the guest could be stressed and just want a drink to relax. Other times, they could be very hungry and want a large meal. |
| Ann:So, our main technique is to suggest opposites, or near opposites. At a hotel, for example, you could suggest a large room with many amenities or a small room with basic amenities. |
| Braden:Doing this will allow you to see the guest’s reactions to your suggestion. Their reaction will guide you to suggest a room or service the guest will find appealing. |
| Ann:For example, “We have many options at Hotel Innovative, including Preferred Suites with one queen-size bed to our Premier Suites with two king-size beds, a couch, and a dining area.” |
| Braden:Make appropriate suggestions based on how the guest reacts to these offers. |
| Ann:This technique also works at restaurants, with one modification. At a restaurant, it’s usually best to offer the options one at a time. For example, you could say, “May I suggest the calamari platter to start things out tonight?” |
| Braden:Supposing they agree to that suggestion, you could then suggest something that goes well with calamari that’s on your menu. |
| Ann:For example, “And for your main entrée, would a chicken alfredo be acceptable?” |
| Braden:Now, upselling and suggestive selling are very similar and everything we’ve talked about so far applies to upselling as well. |
| Ann:One technique that works exceptionally well for upselling is to suggest the unusual. When you’re suggestively selling, it's almost always best to suggest beverages and foods that naturally go together. And most people will know what those are. |
| Braden:However, for the upsale, suggesting something unusual that also goes well with whatever has been previously ordered is an excellent way to get an extra sale. |
| Ann:So, for example, in the dialog, the bartender suggested a caipirinha, and then did an upsale with calamari, because he knew they would go well together. Most people don’t know that. |
| Braden:In a hotel, upselling can be done with any of the many services and amenities the hotel sells. For example, if your hotel charges for certain types of transportation, you could suggest that to the guests that might need it. |
Outro |
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| Braden:Okay, everyone. That's it for this lesson. |
| Ann:Thank you for listening. See you next time! |
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