Hotel call center: how to turn it into a revenue engine

Most commercial teams look at their hotel call center as overhead: a room full of agents, a payroll line and a phone system to maintain. Yet calls still bring in a real share of revenue, and in the experience of two contact center leaders the agents on those calls often sell at a higher rate than the website. So how do you run the phone as a sales channel instead of a cost?

Anita Travis, vice president of the global contact center at Outrigger Hospitality Group, and Megan Becker, who has worked in the reservations team at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts for about fourteen years, discussed exactly this on HSMAI Studio. The host, who once set up a call center for managed hotels himself, noted that calls still account for between five and seven, sometimes 10%, of the revenue coming into properties. Below are their lessons, written for any hotel.

Why a hotel call center is a revenue channel, not a cost

Contact centers were traditionally seen as cost centers because serving guests by phone takes a lot of labor, Travis explains. Over time, organizations started to treat the phone as a channel that complements the website instead of competing with it. Online, much of the volume now runs through OTAs and a hotel booking API. To Becker the impact on revenue was obvious from day one: agents paint a picture, explain why a different room type is the right fit, or why a certain package suits the purpose of a visit.

That advice is where the money is. Travis says her team consistently drives a higher ADR than the rate shown on the website, because agents consult the guest instead of reading out a price.

“I think it goes back to telling that story, really truly consulting the guests and trying to understand what experience they're looking for and being able to match the experience that's going to meet their expectations.”

Anita Travis, 24:18

The call is also the first moment of the stay itself. Becker puts it plainly:

“We might be the first or only opportunity a guest has to interact with our properties, especially if that call doesn't go well.”

Megan Becker, 4:20

Align the contact center with revenue management

In both leaders' experience, the strongest results come when the contact center and revenue management talk constantly. In Travis's organization the contact center reports directly to the senior revenue leader for commercial strategy, and the two sides meet on a fixed cadence. What they exchange is concrete:

• Revenue shares what each property needs: specific room types and need periods.
• The contact center shares the voice of the customer: what guests ask for and what matters to them.
• Together they shape packages that fit those guests and that agents believe in and can explain without hesitation.
• Revenue explains its restrictions, so agents understand why a minimum length of stay exists.

Becker stresses that it works both ways. When revenue management flags dates that are struggling, the contact center can respond, for example with an incentive or a friendly competition within the team. She also advises bringing marketing and sales into the loop. A promotion launched without warning raises call volume and the abandon rate, and the guest experience suffers. Ask what a launch does to the phones before you announce it.

Which metrics to share with agents and commercial teams

Travis's team works with defined KPIs for revenue and efficiency, in line with the business objectives. Every week agents see their production from the previous week, and every month they get a report with a couple dozen metrics per agent, which they review with their coach. Call statistics are visible to the minute.

Becker's team puts guest service first and avoids heavy competition around the numbers. Still, each agent receives weekly, monthly and quarterly updates from a coaching manager, and everyone can see conversion reports for the team and for themselves. With revenue management the team discusses conversion and revenue per lead call. Travis publishes a full dashboard and likes to translate contact center metrics into terms other teams already use: website traffic and call volume, for example, follow very similar trends.

Hire for will, train for skill

Systems and room types can be taught, passion for hospitality cannot, both leaders argue. Travis looks for people who care about guest experience and travel, and recruits well beyond contact center or hospitality backgrounds. Becker has hired former bartenders, teachers and nurses, and often hears candidates say they have no customer service experience. Her answer: they absolutely do. Anyone who can help a patient understand something and put a smile on their face can do this job. Her team calls it skill versus will.

Training then centers on the brand promise. New agents learn the culture from day one and get to know the properties, in Travis's case through on-property site visits. Becker asks agents to think back on their own experiences as travelers and diners: keep what felt good, and avoid what they never want to experience again as a guest. Every family of four is different, she says, so ask what this guest is looking for and never give cookie cutter recommendations.

Pre-arrival and ancillary revenue: the untapped money

Asked where the missed opportunities are, Travis names ancillary and pre-arrival revenue: getting the stay set up and capturing that revenue in advance. Becker gives examples from her own travels, such as craft kits for children, pre-purchased meals, activity wristbands, or excursions booked ahead the way cruise guests do. Once something is booked, a guest is less likely to cancel it. Leave the decision until arrival and the cost suddenly feels more real.

“I think the more opportunities that teams can create for their contact centers to do that, I think the more successful everyone will be and the better the guest experience too.”

Megan Becker, 35:31

Travis adds the cost side of the equation. Let technology handle transactional requests at a low cost, so the time of your hotel call center agents goes to the conversations that earn revenue and build loyalty.

The hotel call center in the age of AI

Becker expects more guests to plan entire stays online, increasingly with AI, and to call with quick questions or to confirm that the AI did not hallucinate. She also expects a generation raised on text messages to crave a real conversation about their vacation. Travis sees brands looking for the sweet spot between technology and humans: technology for the transactional tasks, people to give certainty about the room, the view and the experience on arrival. It is the same balance behind artificial intelligence in hotels that frees staff for guests.

That certainty matters most when the news is uncertain. After flooding in Hawaii, Travis's agents spent much of their time explaining the real situation and the flexible options, while still encouraging guests to travel. Her closing advice for commercial leaders is one word: orchestration, aligning people, processes and technology to serve the guest. To hear both leaders in their own words, watch the full conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Is a hotel call center a cost center or a revenue center?

In the view of the contact center leaders quoted here, it is a revenue center. Calls still bring in a real share of property revenue, agents consistently sell at a higher ADR than the website shows, and they add packages and ancillary revenue through personal advice. The labor cost is real, which is why transactional requests are best handled by technology.

How should the contact center work with revenue management?

Meet on a fixed cadence and let information flow both ways. Revenue management shares need periods, room types and restrictions such as minimum length of stay. The contact center shares what guests ask for, so both teams can shape packages that agents believe in and can explain. Involve marketing and sales before launching promotions that will raise call volume.

What makes a good hotel reservations agent?

Both leaders hire for passion before experience. Systems, room types and booking steps can be taught, but the will to serve guests cannot. Former bartenders, teachers and nurses can make strong agents because they already know how to help people. Training then adds the brand promise, knowledge of the properties and, ideally, a visit to them.