Shh… Don’t give away your availability

Think back to when you were on holiday – you are out walking along the beach front… looking for a nice restaurant to have dinner.

You find two restaurants side-by-side.

One that is very busy, lots of people dining, a nice buzz …but the second one is nearly empty, no apparent atmosphere.

Which one will you choose?

I know I would head straight for the busy one…. in my mind I will be thinking the food must be good, serving lots of diners. I too want to experience that hospitality.

This is how you want your new client to think when they are looking at your venue.

They do not need to know that you have plenty of availability, or that your event space diary is looking somewhat empty.

A newly engaged couple, who ask you for dates in the summer months, are more likely to want to view your property if you state that you have only a few dates left. It eliminates the need to provisionally hold lots of dates and encourages them to make a decision quickly.

FOMO !

Think of the popular acronym FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) we want to create the image that our venues are busy and popular. We want to generate a desire for our clients to book our venue space sooner rather than later.

Similarly, the analogy of the restaurant abroad, favours them choose the busiest hotel / venue.

For a client looking to hold a 2-day conference in September, the same principle applies – give them a couple of date options; explaining that September is usually very busy ….you have a lot of repeat clients from the past couple of years taking key dates that month.

This in turns informs your new client that your venue must be good with limited availability and many returning clients.

It is worth mentioning, when you are holding available dates on provisional, to make sure that you inform your clients that you are happy to hold said dates for a limited amount of time only.

Explain that it is a popular date and that you are likely to get other clients chasing the same date. This in turn will create the desire to confirm the space held.

Win, win all round!

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