hotel management

Chapter 9 Front Office Service Management Methods (2)
(1) Hotel reservation procedures: including the operating procedures for reservations, the number of reservations accepted, the time limit, the ratio of groups to individual guests, the ratio of overbooking, etc.

(2) Specify the confirmation of reservation: including the object to be confirmed, the time of confirmation, the method of confirmation, etc.

(3) Provisions on the collection of deposits: including the object of collection of deposits, the amount of deposits, the method of collection within a time limit or in stages, etc.

(4) Provisions for the cancellation of reservations: including the time limit for notifying the cancellation of reservations, the method of refunding the deposit, etc.

(5) Responsibilities of the hotel to the booking guests: regulations on the handling of breach of contract due to work errors, overbooking and other hotel reasons.

(6) Responsibilities of the booking guest: regulations on the handling of breach of contract due to guest reasons such as overdue arrival, failure to come as scheduled, late notification of cancellation of booking, etc.

Fifth (Section) How to Manage Daily Services

[-]. Inquiry service

In order to meet the needs of guests inquiring about the daily services of the hotel, the hotel has set up an inquiry office in the front office. Its main responsibilities include: answering all questions about hotel services from relevant departments of guests and transportation, tourism, entertainment, shopping, community activities outside the hotel, etc. Inquiry about content; liaison with clients (mainly referring to service items such as airports, stations, wharfs, tourist spots, etc.); safekeeping keys and valuables for clients; handling guest letters, messages, telexes, telegrams, faxes, e-mails, etc.

1. Guest information
The provision of guest information is the most basic and relatively large part of the hotel inquiry business. When providing guest information, pay attention to:
(1) After asking about the identity of the guests staying in the hotel, answer the information they inquired accordingly;
(2) Without the guest's consent, the guest's room number cannot be told to the visitor;

(3) When only knowing the room number and inquiring the name of the guest, they should refuse to answer except in special circumstances;
(4) When there is a guest with the same name, you must master the detailed personal information to avoid mistakes;
(5) Keep confidentiality for guests.

The internal information of the hotel that the inquirer should master includes:

(1) Explain in detail the service items, business hours and charging standards provided in the hotel;
(2) Familiarize yourself with reservations for special banquets, conferences, exhibitions, etc. every day;
(3) Receive mail, classify and transfer to guests and various departments of the hotel.

2. Hotel external information
The external information of the hotel that the inquirer should master includes:

(1) The main tourist spots and traffic conditions of the city where the hotel is located;
(2) The location and traffic conditions of the main entertainment venues, commercial districts, commercial institutions, government departments, colleges and universities and related enterprises in the city where the hotel is located;
(3) Basic information about large-scale commercial, cultural and sports activities in the near future;

(4) Domestic and international flights;
(5) The main customs, specialties and customs of the city where the hotel is located.

[-]. Concierge service

The concierge service department of the front office is also called the hall service department. Its main duties are: pick up and drop off outside the store such as airport stations; open and close the door of the car store, welcome and greet the arriving guests; assist, manage and command the entrance of the lobby To ensure smooth and safe communication; to load and unload luggage on behalf of customers; to accompany guests into the room and introduce hotel facilities and service items; to move luggage for guests; to provide luggage storage services; Department notices; rent umbrellas, find people in public departments; contact vehicles on behalf of customers, see off guests; be responsible for other entrusted matters entrusted by guests.The concierge department can also provide "golden key" service to meet the various requirements of guests.

([-]) Reception service

1. Greet and see off guests

The greeter is a professional person who greets and sees off guests at the gate on behalf of the hotel. It is the "face" of the hotel and also reflects the image of the hotel.Therefore, the greeter must be neatly dressed, well-groomed, and full of energy.When the guests arrive, the greeter should take the initiative to greet them, open the door, greet the guests warmly, and express their welcome.Help guests get off the car and unload their luggage, remind guests to check their luggage, greet the porter in the front hall, and guide guests into the store.When the guest leaves the store, the greeter should help call the guest to use the car, assist the porter to load the guest's luggage on the car, and ask the guest to check the luggage before getting on the car, greet the guest and say goodbye, and welcome the guest to come again.For the welcome and send-off of important guests, we should pay attention to the specifications and specifications of the service, and make various preparations according to the relevant notices.

2. Command the traffic in front of the door to ensure the smooth flow of the lane

Greeters should correctly command the traffic in front of the hotel, guide and evacuate vehicles, and ensure smooth traffic in front of the gate.

3. Maintain order around the hotel to ensure safety

The greeter is also responsible for maintaining the order in the hotel gate area, and refuses to enter suspicious persons or disheveled persons to ensure the safety of the hotel.

4. Answer guest inquiries
When guests ask questions to the greeter, the greeter should respond enthusiastically and give correct answers.

([-]) Baggage service

The hotel's luggage service can be roughly divided into two parts: luggage handling and luggage storage.

1. Baggage handling service
The porter should carefully read and analyze the list of arrival and departure guests sent by the reservation office and the reception desk, and grasp the daily passenger flow in and out of the store, so as to arrange manpower.

(1) Baggage handling service for individual passengers.When the guests enter the store, the porter should greet the guests, express their welcome, and take the initiative to help them with their luggage.When the guest checks in, the porter should stand behind the guest and help take care of the luggage.After the guests have completed the check-in procedures, guide the guests into the room and send the luggage to the guests.When the bellman returns to the luggage area, he should fill in the work diary, specify the service time, guest name, room number, number of luggage and sign.

When receiving the request of departing guests, the porter shall provide the service at the designated time.Check the number of luggage with guests, record and ask guests to verify.After loading the car, bid farewell to the guests and leave the guest room quickly.After confirming that the guest has completed check-out procedures, the guest's luggage will be loaded onto the bus and the guest will be reminded to check.

(2) Group baggage handling service.After receiving the team reception notice, you should further confirm the information of the team guests and make preparations for the reception.When the team's luggage arrives, check the number of luggage and sign for receipt.The porter will attach a luggage tag to each piece of luggage, mark the room number on the luggage tag according to the room allocation table, ship it to the luggage trolley by floor, deliver it to the guest room as soon as possible, and make a record.

Before the team leaves the store, the baggage office should confirm the room number of the group guests, the time of picking up and transporting the luggage, and make a good division of labor.Collect luggage in groups to avoid mistakes.When the bellman collects the luggage, he must check the luggage tag, verify the name of the team and the name of the guest, verify the number of luggage, and fill in the record form according to the room number.After the luggage is collected, the luggage record sheet should be summarized, checked and the total calculated, and the driver or escort who loaded the luggage should be asked to check and sign.

2. Luggage storage and pick-up service

Luggage storage services should be carried out in strict accordance with the system and procedures for receiving and claiming luggage storage to avoid mistakes.

[-]. Switchboard service
The operator of the hotel telephone service is the general computer room of the front office, and its main responsibilities are as follows.

1. Forward calls
Responsible for transferring calls within the hotel, within the city, as well as domestic and international long-distance calls.

2. Telephone inquiry and message service
For the telephone inquiries of guests, the operator should answer at any time, such as inquiries about finding guests, meetings, and telephone numbers, and provide message service.

3. Wake-up call
Wake-up service is a project that cleverly uses the telephone to serve guests. Generally, there are two methods of manual wake-up and automatic wake-up.When a guest makes a request, the operator should make detailed records so that the night shift staff can provide wake-up service on time and ensure that the service is accurate and punctual.

4. DND service
Some guests do not want to be disturbed and ask the switchboard to provide information to prevent incoming calls from entering the guest room. The operator should carefully ask the time and scope of the guest's request to be free from interference, and implement it carefully according to the guest's request.

5. Paging telephone service
The switchboards in large hotels manage the pager transmitters.The operator should be familiar with the call number and working hours of the pager carrier, provide paging service in time, and make a record.

[-]. Business center service

All kinds of business services required by business guests are provided by the business center, such as providing business services such as copying, typing, telex, long-distance calls and the Internet; providing translation (multiple languages), dictation/meeting minutes, transcription and document verification, agency services Mail, meeting room rental, document arrangement and binding services; secretarial, messenger, consignment, business information inquiry and meeting arrangement services.

[-]. Handling of Guest Complaints

Complaints refer to the comments made by guests who are dissatisfied with the service work of the hotel.The front office is the "representative of the hotel" in the minds of guests, so the front office is often the place where guests complain.In the face of guest complaints, the hotel should treat them with a positive attitude instead of being afraid and avoiding them.

([-]) Prevention first

In the actual work, the hotel must minimize the complaints of the guests, and the complaints of the guests should be based on prevention.

1. Strengthen communication with guests

Enhance the staff's awareness of communication with guests, and improve the communication skills between staff and guests.And establish a perfect system through the constraints of business forms and work procedures, and communicate with guests in multiple directions and channels.Through timely communication with guests, we can maximize the degree of satisfaction of guests in a timely manner, reduce the development of guest complaints, and enhance the initiative to improve work.

2. Control service quality
Establish a scientific and perfect quality management system, and strengthen the quality control of daily work.Pay attention to the ideological quality education, business and skills training of employees, enhance the sense of responsibility for work, and improve work efficiency and service quality.

3. Strengthen the management and maintenance of facilities and equipment
According to statistics, most of the guest complaints are related to the operation and maintenance of the equipment. Therefore, the hotel should establish a comprehensive facility and equipment management system, and formulate specific work and work plans for the management, maintenance and other aspects of the facilities and equipment.

4. Create guest files and complaint files

Establish guest files and guest complaint files, and organize them regularly by special personnel, timely carry out information sorting, feedback, summary and reflection work, and prevent such complaints from happening again.

([-]) Principles for Handling Complaints
1. Fully understand the guests
When handling complaints, you should put yourself in the position of the guests, fully understand the mood and requirements of the guests, and actively solve the problems for the guests, instead of shirking responsibility or shifting the target.

2. Fully maintain the image of the hotel
To deal with complaints, we must sincerely solve problems for guests, protect the interests of guests, and also pay attention to maintaining the image and legitimate interests of the hotel.

3. Fast processing

Complaints from guests should be dealt with as soon as possible, so as not to cause greater dissatisfaction among guests due to time delays.

([-]) Procedures for Handling Complaints
Complaint handling procedures vary for different types of complaints.

1. Rational complaints

For complaints from sensible guests, the handling procedures are:

(1) Listen carefully and record, express sympathy and understanding;

(2) Listen to guest suggestions, take action, and solve problems;
(3) Implement, supervise, check and deal with the situation and notify the guests of relevant information;

(4) Summarize and record and archive the details of the complaint.

2. Impulsive Complaints

Some guests are emotional when they make complaints, and the place of complaints is often in a public place.Such complaints should be handled very properly. If not handled properly, it will expand the adverse impact on the hotel, so the complaint handling should pay attention to:

(1) Isolation treatment. When the complaining guest is emotional, the guest should be invited to a special reception room first, and should not be dealt with in public, so as not to fall into a passive situation;

(2) Before the guests regain their senses, try to appease the guests. First of all, calm down the guests' emotions, which can be done by serving towels, drinks, tea, etc. to the guests;
(3) Follow the rational complaint procedure, and when the guest's emotions are relieved, follow the above rational complaint handling procedure.

[-]. "Golden Key" service

An extreme service driven by the passion of typical perfectionism is called the "golden key" service of the hotel. The persistent pursuit of form has solved all kinds of difficulties in the service.Service is everything is the purpose of "Golden Key".

1. The essence of the "golden key"
The symbol of "Golden Key" is two crossed golden keys. The two golden crossed golden keys represent the two main functions entrusted by the hotel: one golden key is used to open the door of the hotel's comprehensive services; A golden key is used to open the gates of the city's comprehensive services.

The professional hotel "golden key" service also refers to an international non-governmental professional service organization, and it is also a special title for the hotel concierge staff who have the membership of the international golden key organization.

The essence of the "golden key" of the hotel refers to the general term for entrusted individuals or collaborative groups that provide professional and personalized services to guests by mastering rich information and using a service network composed of common values ​​and information highways.

2. "Golden Key" service

The "Golden Key" service is the purpose of the concierge staff in the hotel (if they have the membership of the International Golden Key Organization, they can be called "Golden Key") to create greater operating benefits for the hotel. According to the unique international golden key organization The "golden key" service concept and the service method derived from it provide guests with "one-stop" personalized service. Entrustment is often the form of this kind of service, that is, the guest entrusts the hotel staff to act on behalf of the guest.Because of its high value-added, which is different from general hotel services, and its distinctive personalized features, it is considered by experts in the hotel industry to be the ultimate hotel service, so it is called "golden key" service.

3. Service items of "Golden Key"
The hotel "Golden Key" plays an individual role through the collective of the concierge.It is the responsibility of the concierge department to provide guests with one-stop service, starting from the arrival of the guests in the city where the hotel is located, including a series of services such as room reservation, meal ordering, pick-up and drop-off at the airport terminal.

(1) Baggage and communication services.The main contents of luggage and communication services include luggage delivery, receiving and sending faxes and telegrams on behalf of others.

(2) Inquiry service.In the minds of guests, the "Golden Key" should know everything about the city where it is located.Therefore, as a "golden key", it is necessary to obtain as comprehensive information as possible through multiple channels and to update the daily written information database in a timely manner, but the information database in the mind is the most basic.Moreover, it is also the duty of the "golden key" to convey important information about airports, train stations, docks, etc. to other departments of the hotel, such as front desk inquiries, assistant managers in the lobby, porters, security guards, guest room centers, and even welcome guests in the food and beverage department staff etc.

(3) Consignment and courier services.The hotel "Golden Key" should have a detailed understanding of the characteristics and requirements of each consignment company and various consignment channels, such as customs restrictions and air freight restrictions that will be encountered during international consignment. "Golden Key" should also provide one-stop package packing and consignment services.

(4) Transfer service.The pick-up service is mainly to pick up guests at the airport, or provide car rental services to guests within the city or province, and vehicles from hotels or taxi companies can be used.The group calls of hotel vehicles need to maintain close contact with the fleet, sales department, public relations department, catering department and the general manager's office to form a closely coordinated system.

(5) Reservation service. The reservation services provided by "Golden Key" include: valet reservation of hotel rooms at the next stop, meal ordering service, ticket reservation service, car reservation service, flower order service, etc.

(6) Travel consultation and arrangement.The hotel "golden key" should be familiar with the tourist attractions, customs and regional characteristics of the city where the hotel is located and the surrounding areas, as well as various travel companies, so as to recommend attractions to guests and arrange their travel itineraries.

(End of this chapter)