Throughout the years, five types of selling in the hospitality industry have emerged. This can be referred to as the 5C’s of the hotel industry. Most of the time, the changes were created as a reaction to the changing market and technological advancement. As the market is shifting, it is undeniable that some hotels were left behind while some embraced the changes. Taking a look at the past will let a hotel revenue manager know how to cope with the challenges of today’s economic condition.

It is a fact that each circumstance is unique from each other. Yet, from each generation, there are fundamental lessons that can be learned and implemented to boosts profitability and optimize yield management. Below are the most notable areas of hotel marketing and promotion that you can look into:

Cronyism – when sales methods were not yet sophisticated, the hotel sales personnel were personalized. Good service, while being provided, offers little or no differentiation. In addition, the rooms being offered are also mostly the same. In order to improve RevPAR, it is important to establish relationship and establish the right hotel rate.

Commodity Selling – the next method was commodity selling. This was usually seen during the 50’s and 60’s when hotels competed on price. Similar to the first problem, there was little differentiation among hotels. As a result, competition became mostly based on hotel rate distribution and prices.

Content Selling – it started on the 60’s and was popular until the 80’s. This type of selling involved the first efforts of the hotel industry to differentiate themselves from one another. Hotel marketers with the help of advertising created brand awareness about their product offerings. And this helped boost hotel sales and improve profitability.

Consultative Selling – hotel revenue managers then realized that while content selling may be better than its predecessors, it still does not completely provide for the needs of the consumers. This is because the hotel may be providing certain benefits the guests don’t want and missing opportunities for improvement. Consultative selling plugs this loophole because it aims to understand the deeper needs of the consumers.

Collaboration – this is the best approach to selling hotel room inventory so far. Its mentality approaches selling as a partnership between the hotel and the consumer. This results to better yield management, profit optimization, and satisfaction on the part of the hotel revenue manager and on the part of the hotel guests.