Hi, I'm Gonzalo 👋
Today I share an opinion that might surprise you, leave you a prompt for those tough moments in the sale, introduce a new channel and —this one has me very excited— invite you to the launch of my podcast. Let's go!
🔥 Unfiltered opinion: you chase new guests and neglect the ones you already have
I'm going to tell you something I see all the time. Hotels pour almost all their energy and budget into getting new guests: ads, OTA commissions, promotions to attract someone who has never heard of them. And that's fine — it's necessary. But meanwhile, they forget the most valuable asset they already have: the guests who have already stayed.
Think about it for a moment. That person already knows your hotel, already trusted your hotel once, already knows what staying with you is like. Anyone who has ever run ads knows that attracting a stranger costs time and money; welcoming back someone who already had a good experience, on the other hand, is much easier and cheaper. And even so, most hotels never write to them again. Not a message, not an invitation to come back, nothing.
Your past-guest database is a gold mine that is probably gathering dust. And building loyalty doesn't mean setting up a complicated points program: it's something far simpler and more human. It's remembering the person and giving them a reason to come back: a birthday greeting, an offer for the season they love, a «we'd love to have you back».
I'm not suggesting you stop looking for new guests. I'm suggesting that, before investing in the next stranger, you look at the list of those who already chose you once. There, most likely, are your next most profitable bookings.
⚡ Today's prompt: turn a «that's too expensive» into a booking
We all know those moments that stall a sale: the «that's too expensive», the «I saw it cheaper somewhere else», the «I have to check and I'll let you know». Answering them well is an art, and this prompt gives you several ways to do it without sounding like a pushy salesperson. Copy it and use it whenever a conversation stalls:
«You are a hotel sales expert with years of experience closing bookings over WhatsApp. I'm going to give you a real objection from a guest and I want you to give me three different ways to answer it. Each reply must be brief, warm and human, acknowledge what the guest is feeling and move them closer to booking without pressuring them. Explain in one line why each one works. The objection is: [paste the objection, for example 'that's too expensive' or 'I saw it cheaper somewhere else']»
The valuable part is that it doesn't give you one single canned reply, but three paths so you can choose the one that best fits your style and your hotel. Save the ones that serve you best and you'll have your own playbook for closing those conversations that slip away today.
📲 New channel: TikTok is now part of WeSpeak
More and more guests discover hotels and start their inquiry on TikTok. It's a channel that had been growing strongly for the hotel industry, but those conversations used to fall outside every management system: they had to be handled separately, by hand, or they were simply lost.
That has changed. From now on, WeSpeak integrates TikTok as one more channel: TikTok direct messages are managed in the same inbox as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, handled by the assistant, integrated into your sales funnel and logged in each contact's history.
One more channel where your hotel is present. One less conversation lost.
🎙 We launched a podcast! Mates&Management, Episode 1
I have news that excites me a lot: I launched my podcast, Mates & Management. The idea is simple: sitting down, mate in hand, to talk with people who know about hospitality and management, and share what they learn behind the scenes.
For the first episode I invited Manuel Belfer, from Grupo Pinares, and we talked about something we don't discuss enough: talent, team culture and the role of AI in the hotel industry. How you build a good team, how you sustain a culture while the business grows and how technology enters that equation without replacing the human side.
It's an honest, direct conversation, the kind that leaves you with ideas to apply. I recommend listening to it calmly (with a good mate at hand) 👇
Listen on YouTube or on Spotify
What did you think of this edition?
If you think it could help someone else, share it with them. And if you have doubts, suggestions or a question for me, I'd love to hear from you.
See you in the next edition!
Gonzalo.
