Blogs, Insights
Christmas is undoubtedly the busiest and most lucrative period for hospitality businesses. With consumers spending more than ever on festive celebrations and corporate parties, the stakes have never been higher. Yet many establishments are unknowingly sabotaging their success with poorly managed booking processes that drive customers straight into their competitors' arms.
Our Christmas Consumer Report 2024 provides notable insight into how people approach Christmas dining and celebrations. Significantly, 74% of consumers will celebrate Christmas by going out and are more eager than ever to celebrate the Christmas period with festive experiences.
Perhaps even more telling, is that 81% of consumers would choose a venue based on a recommendation - a significant 13% increase from Christmas 2023. This means word-of-mouth has become even more pertinent, making every single booking interaction a potential make-or-break moment for your business.
The Christmas period presents unique challenges that can derail even well-intentioned booking processes. Large group bookings, particularly corporate Christmas parties, require a different approach than standard reservations. These enquiries often involve:
Complex group requirements – Diners today have a wider range of dietary restrictions than ever (a reported 59% of consumers). Incorporate these requirements into a large group enquiry – without sufficient staff knowledge – and your potential diners will quickly lose confidence in your offering.
Budget considerations – Naturally, budgets between groups will vary. While the average spend for a Christmas booking sits at £21-£40 per person, this typically doesn’t take account for additional spend, such as drinks – a caveat that should be clarified at enquiry stage.
Pre-ordering preferences – Does your venue require large groups to pre-order food? Another element of your Christmas offering that needs to be made clear. Similarly, while smaller groups may not need to, they could have a preference to - if they can, let them know!
When staff aren't properly equipped to handle these nuanced conversations and adapt to varying requirements, three critical failures occur:
The Confidence Crisis: Staff who lack comprehensive knowledge about Christmas offerings, pricing structures, and availability create uncertainty. A hesitant response to a £2,000 corporate booking enquiry can instantly undermine confidence and send that business elsewhere.
The Information Vacuum: Complex group bookings require detailed information about dietary accommodations, space configurations, and menu options. When staff can't provide immediate, confident answers, potential customers lose patience and look elsewhere.
Corporate Christmas parties and large group bookings aren't just regular reservations -they're potential goldmines. For some venues, a single company booking for 50 people can generate revenue equivalent to several weeks of regular covers. When handled and delivered successfully, these bookings often lead to:
Future corporate business throughout the year
Individual return visits from impressed guests
Powerful word-of-mouth recommendations that drive additional bookings
With 74% of satisfied guests likely to return in January and February if they have a great experience, the ripple effect of properly handled Christmas enquiries extends well beyond the festive period.
The most insidious aspect of poor booking processes?
Their invisibility.
Unlike a dissatisfied diner who might leave a negative review, a potential customer who receives poor service during the booking process usually disappears without a trace.
They book elsewhere, often with competitors, leaving you completely unaware of the lost opportunity.
Consider these scenarios that play out daily during the Christmas booking window:
A corporate events manager calls three venues for quotes. The first two provide detailed information immediately, while the third promises to "call back later" but never does.
A customer with specific dietary requirements calls to book for 12 people. Staff seem unsure about accommodations, so the customer books with a venue that confidently addresses their needs.
A large group enquiry comes in via email but sits unanswered for 48 hours while competitors respond within the hour.
Each of these represents not just a lost booking, but potentially lost relationships worth thousands of pounds in future business.
If we revisit our statistic of 81% of consumers relying on recommendations to find venues, every poorly handled enquiry has a multiplier effect. A disappointed potential customer doesn't just book elsewhere - they potentially influence others to do the same.
The financial impact of this is staggering:
For a venue that might normally handle 20 large group bookings over the Christmas period, losing just 25% due to poor booking processes could mean tens of thousands in lost revenue.
The challenge for hospitality businesses is knowing whether their booking process is actually working. Internal assessments often miss critical flaws because staff behave differently when they know they're being evaluated by management.
This is where HGEM's Mystery Guest Audits become invaluable. When we assign vetted and fully briefed Mystery Guests to pose as genuine customers, businesses can discover exactly what real customers experience when making Christmas booking enquiries.
The window for Christmas preparation is narrow, making immediate action essential. Successful venues are already:
Training staff comprehensively on all Christmas offerings, ensuring they can confidently answer questions about menus, pricing, dietary accommodations, and availability without hesitation.
Streamlining booking systems to handle the increased volume of enquiries while maintaining personalised service for high-value group bookings.
Creating follow-up protocols that ensure no enquiry falls through the cracks, particularly for large corporate bookings that require multiple touchpoints.
While many hospitality businesses focus on their festive menus and decorations, the savviest operators recognise that booking excellence is their secret weapon.
At a time of year when every other venue is vying for bookings, your team need to be on their A-game from the beginning. By providing an exceptional booking experience, you’re creating a sustainable competitive advantage.
Venues that invest in perfecting their booking processes don't just capture more Christmas business - they build lasting relationships that generate revenue throughout the year. They become the venues that corporate event managers trust and that satisfied customers both recommend and return to.
The Christmas booking season is already underway, and every day of delay represents potential lost revenue. The venues that will thrive this festive season are those taking proactive steps to ensure their booking processes are flawless.
HGEM's Audits provide the objective insight needed to identify and fix booking process weaknesses before they cost you business. By testing your Christmas booking process in real-time, you can ensure that every enquiry - whether it's a small family gathering or a large corporate celebration - receives the professional, confident service that converts prospects into customers.
Don't let poorly handled Christmas enquiries become your competitors' gain. The time to act is now, while there's still opportunity to perfect your processes and capture your share of this lucrative season.
Preparing for Christmas can be tricky - if you’d like to do this with insight, our team can talk you though how Mystery Enquiry Audits can optimise this process, and set you up for festive success.
Get started here.
