The ‘Open Door’ Revenue Model: How to Double Meeting Room Sales from External Traffic

For many coworking spaces, meeting rooms are underutilized assets that sit empty during off-peak hours. While your primary focus is serving your internal community, there is a massive, untapped market of “external” customers local freelancers, corporate teams, and entrepreneurs—looking for professional spaces to meet.

By 2026, the most profitable spaces are those adopting an “Open Door” revenue model. This strategy involves opening your meeting room inventory to the public without adding a single hour of manual administrative work. Using Spacebring’s External Booking features, you can turn your empty rooms into high-margin revenue streams.

Convert Your Web Portal into a Sales Machine

Most coworking websites have a “Contact Us” form for meeting rooms—this is where sales go to die. In 2026, external customers expect instant gratification, not a 24-hour response time.

Branded Web Booking: Integrate a real-time booking calendar directly into your public-facing website. This allows drop-in customers to see availability and book a room in seconds.

On-the-Go App Access: Provide external users with your white-label mobile app. By allowing non-members to book via the app, you create a frictionless path to purchase that mirrors the ease of booking a hotel or a ride-share.

Dynamic Pricing: Members vs. The Public

The “Open Door” model doesn’t mean you sacrifice the value of membership. Instead, you use tiered pricing to maximize revenue from outsiders while rewarding your community.

Tiered Membership Plans: Automatically apply different rates for members and non-members. You can offer discounted or free hours to residents while charging premium “market rates” to external traffic.

Automated Payments and Receipts: External bookings are “pre-paid” at the time of scheduling. The system collects payment via credit card and sends an automated receipt, ensuring you get paid upfront without any invoice chasing.

The “Hands-Off” Operations Ecosystem

The fear of opening doors to the public is usually tied to the logistical headache of management. Automation solves this by creating a self-sufficient ecosystem.

Automated Access Control: Integrate with systems like Kisi or SALTO KS. When an external guest books a room, they automatically receive a digital key or PIN code valid only for the duration of their booking.

Abandoned Booking Protection: Use Smart Room Displays to maximize inventory. If an external guest doesn’t “check-in” to their room within 15 minutes, the system can automatically release the booking, making it available for sale again.

Sync with Global Aggregators: Expand your reach by synchronizing your calendar with aggregators like LiquidSpace. This puts your rooms in front of a global audience while preventing double bookings through a two-way sync.

Turning One-Time Guests into Long-Term Leads

External booking is the ultimate “top-of-funnel” strategy. Every person who books a meeting room is a potential future member.

Capture Customer Data: Every external booking captures the user’s name, email, and company details, feeding your CRM with high-quality leads.

Tailored Follow-Ups: Use Zapier integrations to trigger automated follow-up emails. After their meeting, send them a “thank you” with a discount code for their first month of membership or a free day pass.

FAQs

Do I need staff on-site to handle external bookings?
No. With automated access control (digital keys) and self-serve payment systems, external guests can book, enter, and use the space without any staff intervention.

How do I prevent external guests from overstaying their booking?
Smart Room Displays outside each room show real-time availability. Additionally, you can set “preparation and cleanup” buffers between bookings to ensure the room is always ready for the next guest.

Can I vet external bookings before they are confirmed?
Yes. You can configure “Booking Permissions” that require administrator verification for certain rooms or user groups, allowing you to maintain control over who uses your premium spaces.

Conclusion

Meeting rooms are your highest-margin products. By adopting an “Open Door” model, you stop viewing your walls as boundaries and start seeing them as revenue opportunities. With the right automation in place, you can double your meeting room sales by capturing local demand all while your community manager focuses on building the culture inside the space.