Playbook
Stop anti-selling
The single clearest theme of the training session: we currently sell three or four activities and actively talk guests out of the rest. That is not caution — it is margin walking out of the door.
Today the standard pattern is to tell guests that activities are non-refundable, that they will find cheaper options on the ground, and that they should decide there. Every one of those statements pushes revenue to a vendor on a beach and leaves us with the transfer margin only. Almost all of these activities are commissionable.
| Instead of saying… | Say… |
|---|---|
| “It’s non-refundable, so decide there.” | “Let’s lock the slot now — the submarine only takes ten people a departure and the helicopter fills fast.” |
| “You’ll get a better price on the ground.” | “You’ll get a licensed, insured operator and a confirmed time. On the island there are unlicensed sellers, and if something goes wrong there’s nobody to call.” |
| “You can snorkel at the hotel.” | “Your hotel’s frontage is rocky, so snorkelling there is disappointing — the lagoon at Île aux Cerfs is where you actually want to do it.” |
| “Casela entrance is included.” | “Casela entrance plus the Eco Rider — it’s an electric safari vehicle, so the animals come right up to you.” |
Five upsells that convert on almost every itinerary
- Casela activities, not just entranceEco Rider, walk with lions, big-cat feeding. The biggest single gap in our current selling.
- A second catamaran — north or westÎle aux Cerfs is already in the package; a different coast feels like a different day.
- Île aux Cerfs add-onsUndersea walk, parasailing, waterfall speedboat. The guest is already there and already in the briefing.
- Private over SIC for family and senior groupsSell it on the ability to skip a stop and set your own pickup time, not on comfort alone.
- Early check-inSmall ticket, high satisfaction, and it removes the most common day-one complaint.
A sales-call structure that works here
- Find the deal-breaker firstSand quality? Walkability? Budget? Kids? That one answer picks the coast, and the coast picks the hotel.
- Place them on a coast before naming a hotelEast for beaches, west for value and walkability, north for life, south-west for drama.
- Set the three expectations that cause complaintsThe check-in gap, what Île aux Cerfs includes, and the beach reality of the specific property. All three, every time.
- Build the days, then attach the activity to the dayGuests buy “Casela with the Eco Rider on Thursday” far more readily than “would you like to add activities?”
- Close on availability, not discountEspecially for September to December.
Every activity you decline to sell is one the guest will buy anyway — from someone standing on a beach, at a price you did not set, from an operator you cannot vouch for. Selling it properly is better for the margin and better for the guest.