In the early days, the company I worked for wouldn’t allow us to discuss discounts unless the guest brought it up first. It was annoying af. Hated seeing guests paying hundreds if not thousands more for a vacation than they had to, simply because they didn’t know that discounts existed. We all turned into Bob Parr from The Incredibles, when he “doesn’t” tell the little old lady how to “penetrate the bureaucracy.”
Then, one glorious day, the company said, “hey! Brilliant idea!” and the reigns came off. Holy crap did we go crazy lol. “Oh that’s a lovely package. Lemme save you some money!” There were ups and downs to it, but overall we did good by it.
But the best of those were the folks who were trying to book online, then had to call us to fix something. Those calls either meant a) a quick modification and no commission for us or b) a total redo and ALL the commission for us. That’s the one we all liked.
So how happy was I when a guy called in and said he was trying to book 3 rooms at our Polynesia-Style resort, but something went wrong and he couldn’t figure out his tickets. Booyah. Rooms turned into packages? Full redo. And three of them. *makes the cash register noise*.
So I look up his account and find the reservations and I see he’s booked them at full price. At the second-most expensive resort we offer. So, knowing I was going to have a phone call worth my time, I relaxed and chatted him up. He had a good-sized party (3 couples and a kid) coming for a family gathering. They had dining in mind, wanted to take in a show or two etc. And, of course, see all the theme parks and water parks and such.
So after looking through his account, I find a discount code. A big one. So I apply it. Now, all he wanted was the basic tickets, but I knew from our conversation he’d be spending far more with all the other stuff they wanted to do. So I took the initiative and booked it with the code, and with a few extras. I threw in our full dining plan, I put in the best tickets for all the parks and water parks, I put in a round of golf he’d mentioned he and his sons were going to play, and I put in tickets for everyone to go see the (now closed) “Cirque du Soleil” show. And even with all that, it was still HUNDREDS less across the three packages than what he was originally going to pay for JUST the rooms.
So as I’m chatting, I put all this in, do some quick math, and decide to be a little cheeky.
Me: All right, Sir, I have everything fixed for you here. I’ve also taken a few liberties that I think you’re going to like. Now, who’s your favorite person?”
Guest: Um….my wife?
My brain: Okay, well that backfired.
Me: Okay, who’s your SECOND-favorite person?
Guest: Um………you?
Me, now sounding more corny than I’d intended: Correct! Because I have managed to get you a fantastic package.
I listed everything out for him and he gave all the right “wow” and “that’s awesome” responses, then when I was done I said,
Me: “Oh, and just as an extra treat, the total’s about $300 less than your original price on the rooms.”
Guest: “Holy…really? That’s fantastic! Okay you’re currently my number two favorite then.”
Me: I understand and I appreciate that rank, Sir.
He was thrilled, talking about the souvenirs he’d be able to buy his granddaughter with the money he’d saved, and how much she was excited about the princesses etc. We got him all set and he left happy.
Epilogue: Three weeks later I found out he was so happy, he wrote a letter. My team leader read it out loud, and when she said “who’s your second favorite person” I honestly forgot what he said. She said “Youuuuuu?” and I laughed so hard I snorted my water all over me. Definitely one of my better calls.
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