Hotel staff must learn, 6 keys to front office management
01
Staff face management
The front office is the first image window of the hotel. The employees’ image, business ability, service quality, etc. will directly affect the hotel’s revenue and reputation. Therefore, the first priority of front office management is “people”.
1. Develop reasonable service standards
In any hotel, standardized service procedures are the key to guaranteeing service quality. We often see that guests complain about the poor attitude of the front desk staff, complaints are ignored, etc., often because of service procedures.
The hotel should develop a front office service SOP, such as—
The front desk should take the initiative to say hello to customers, use polite language, answer the phone within 10 seconds, use both hands when delivering items, and don’t play and chat in front of guests.
It is strictly forbidden to make personal phone calls and do things unrelated to work during working hours; change meals strictly according to the prescribed time, and do not eat during the on-duty period except during meal time.
After formulating the service standards, the hotel must strictly implement it, formulate a reasonable reward and punishment system, and conduct regular quality inspections to ensure that there will be no problems with the standardized services of the front office.
2. Improve the personal quality of employees
Front office staff, as the face of the hotel, must set strict recruitment standards from the recruitment stage. The front desk staff themselves need to have a strong sense of service, be enthusiastic, meticulous, thoughtful, and have good language and expression skills.
For new employees, we should increase investment in training and help employees practice basic skills. After working for a period of time, it is necessary to ensure the continuing education of employees, and at the same time stimulate employees’ individual subjective initiative through rewards.
3. Establish a staff emotional management mechanism
The front office staff face all kinds of guests every day, and the work intensity and pressure are high. The hotel should establish a staff emotion management mechanism, and the manager should pay attention to the physical and mental health of the staff to help rationally dispel negative emotions. Regular staff team building activities can be carried out to develop individual Commendation to ensure harmony and stability within the team.
02
room sales management
In addition to receiving all kinds of reservations, the front office will also receive inquiries from individual customers such as stores and telephones. Excellent front office personnel must not only know how to welcome guests, but also learn to use different sales strategies to achieve sales goals. As a hotel manager, at least from these three aspects, to improve the sales performance of front office staff.
1. The front office needs to be familiar with hotel products
Front office staff should have a clear grasp of the hotel’s room volume, room type, room price, service items and other basic information, and be familiar with facilities and services; in addition, the hotel location, local traffic strategies, tourist attractions and food, driving and bus guides, etc. familiar with the heart.
Let the front office staff understand the product sales policies of the hotel’s various channels, including prices, discounts, activities, etc., and can make reasonable quotations to the guests.
2. Let the front office have sales momentum
The hotel needs to establish a clear incentive system to let employees know the relationship between the hotel’s operating performance and their own vital interests.
For example, some hotels will formulate front office sales incentive policies to encourage employees by selecting outstanding employees every month, rewarding cash, issuing honorary certificates, verbal praise, and performance promotion.
3. Master front office sales skills
In the weekly departmental meeting of the front office, the hotel can also incorporate sales skills into the training, and promote hotel marketing activities and speaking skills.
For example, front office staff should negotiate with guests to make the guests feel that the hotel is selling products that are worth the money. In the process of negotiating the price, the front office staff should guide the guests and help them make choices.
When quoting to guests, different prices can be proposed according to the characteristics of the guests. When guests are hesitant to make choices, employees can ask questions to understand the characteristics and preferences of the guests, analyze their psychology, introduce them patiently and in a targeted manner, eliminate the doubts of the guests, and use sales skills to help the guests make choices. Even if the sale is unsuccessful, thank the guests for coming and welcome them again.
Excellent front office employees should rely on daily training and training, use a large number of case and situational teaching methods, guide and exercise employees’ insight, and enhance their abilities in practice.
03
booking management
The front office of many hotels will undertake the function of booking. For the front office staff, the hotel should do a good job in the training of the reservation process to ensure the fast booking and check-in of the guests.
1. Receive reservations
When the front desk receives the reservation, the hotel management system is required first. If there is any room available, please fill in the reservation form immediately, and indicate the guest’s name, date and time of arrival and departure, room type, price, settlement method, standard type of meal, special requirements, etc.
2. Confirm the reservation
After receiving the guest’s reservation request, it is necessary to compare the guest’s reservation with the usage of the hotel room to determine whether the guest’s reservation can be accepted. If it is acceptable, the reservation confirmation notice should be returned in time.
There are differences in the way of booking confirmation for different channels, but the general principle is that the faster the confirmation, the better to avoid losing customers.
3. Refuse to book
If the hotel cannot accept the guest’s reservation, the front office will decline the reservation and offer a series of suggestions for the guest to choose, such as suggesting that the guest change the room type. Note that some orders cannot be rejected, such as reserved room orders on the OTA platform, which should be processed according to the original order.
4. Check the reservation
In order to improve the accuracy of the reservation and the room availability of the hotel, before the guest arrives at the hotel, it is necessary to check with the guest several times in advance, and ask whether the guest can arrive at the hotel as scheduled, the number of occupants, time and requirements, etc. have changed. To do 3 times.
5. Cancellation of reservation
For various reasons, guests may cancel the reservation prior to the arrival of the reservation. When accepting cancellation of a reservation, you cannot express your unhappiness over the phone.
Even if the guest cancels, the front office should let the other party feel that no matter when they come to the hotel in the future, they will still be welcomed. Correctly handling cancellations is of great significance for enhancing customer loyalty.
6. Change of reservation
Reservation change means that the guest temporarily changes the expected date, number of people, requirements, time limit, name and means of transportation before arrival. After the reservation is changed, the front office should make changes in the system in time. In case of shifts, make good handovers with colleagues.
04
Complaint Management
Complaint management in the front office includes two levels: one is to accept complaints, and the other is to handle complaints. The way the front office staff handles them has a key impact on the reputation of the hotel.
1. Accept complaints
When accepting complaints, keep calm, if necessary and possible, invite the complaining guests to a proper place, and patiently listen to the opinions of the guests with a sincere, friendly and modest attitude;
Don’t show boredom or interrupt the guest’s statement during listening; don’t argue with or criticize the guest, but let the guest’s emotions calm down as soon as possible; tell the guest in a kind tone, and try to show sympathy and respect for the guest.
2. Handling complaints
When handling complaints, you should ask the relevant personnel to understand what happened and why, and you should not listen to one side of the story. If it is a mistake in the hotel’s work, it is necessary to sincerely apologize to the guests and admit the mistake, saying that it will definitely improve, and give the guests certain discounts to make up for the mistake.
For customer complaints that cannot be resolved within my authority, I must first apologize to the guests, thank the guests for their complaints, and report them level by level immediately. The hotel will notify the guests in time after the processing results are issued. If it cannot be solved, it will apologize to the guests again to seek the understanding of the guests.
05
Environmental management
A certain amount of natural light should be introduced into the front hall, and different lights should be appropriately matched to ensure a good lighting effect.
The floor, walls, chandeliers, etc. of the main activity area of the guests in the lobby should be dominated by warm colors to create a luxurious and warm atmosphere.
The service environment of the front hall and the rest area of the guests should be cooler in color, giving people a quiet and peaceful state of mind, creating a unique quiet and relaxing atmosphere in the front hall.
The front hall should have proper temperature, good ventilation, moderate fresh air, reduce all kinds of noise, beautify the environment of the front hall with soft and comfortable background music, and warm the mood of employees and customers.
06
hall management
The front hall door is usually composed of the main door and the side door. The appearance of the door should be novel and distinctive, and it can have a strong attraction to the guests.
The main entrance of the hotel is mostly made of glass revolving doors. The quality of the revolving doors should be reliable and the screws should be firm to prevent guests from being pinched. For safety reasons, the hotel’s main entrance should be closed at night, leaving only the side doors.
In front of the gate of the hotel, there should be space for guests to get on and off the bus, return lane, and parking lot, so that guests can enter and exit easily and safely.
There should also be a ramp for disabled guests to enter and exit the store beside the steps in front of the main entrance, so as to facilitate the disabled guests to enter and exit the store.
Usually, a carpet is also laid at the gate for guests to enter the front hall after cleaning the soles of their shoes, so as to maintain the cleanliness of the front hall and prevent the water droplets brought into the front hall from wet shoes from slipping and slipping the guests.
The work in the front office of the hotel is heavy, and it is easy to generate emotions, but you must not have emotions. You must be able to endure a moment of anger, and then you can eliminate a hundred days of worries.
The hotel must pass relevant training, improve the quality of employees, establish a good sense of service, have good language skills and a good attitude, in order to become an excellent employee in the front office.
The hotel must create a good environment for the staff in the front office, so that the staff will have a good mood. When employees are in a good mood, the hotel will have a good image and high-quality service.