ENGLISH FOR FRONT

DESK MANAGEMENT
Chapter 1
What is front desk ?
• Definition of front desk
• The desk in a building where visitors are greeted
• A desk near the entrance to a hotel, office building, etc. where people go when
they arrive and where they can get information, etc.

• Is front desk same as front office?

• However, a front desk manager works primarily in the hospitality industry, while a front
office manager may work in almost any industry.
What is Front Office Department?
• It is the one of the many departments of the hotel business which directly interacts with the
customers when they first arrive at the hotel. The staff of this department is very visible to the
guests.
• Front office staff handles the transactions between the hotel and its guests. The staff receives
the guests, handles their requests, and strikes the first impression about the hotel into their
minds.

• Front office department includes −

• Front Desk
• Uniformed services
• Concierges
• Front Office Accounting System
• Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a private telephone network used within an organization
 Basic Responsibilities of Front Office Department

Following are the most basic responsibilities a front office can handle.
• Creating guest database
• Handling guest accounts
• Coordinating guest service
• Trying to sell a service
• Ensuring guest satisfaction
• Handling in-house communication through PBX(Private Branch
Exchange)
Front Office Operations
These operations are visible to the guests of the hotel. The guests can interact
and see these operations, hence, the name Front-House operations. Few of
these operations include −
• Interacting with the guests to handle request for an accommodation.
• Checking accommodation availability and assigning it to the guest.
• Collecting detail information while guest registration.
• Creating a guest’s account with the FO accounting system.
• Issuing accommodation keys to the guest.
• Settling guest payment at the time of check-out.
Greeting/Welcoming Guest
1. Dress to impress
• Since first impressions are so important, it’s important to make sure your staff is
dressed to impress. One way to do this is by providing uniforms for staff so that customers
can quickly identify who they need to go to for help.
• If the style and brand of your property is very informal and a traditional uniform doesn’t make
sense, make sure staff have a clear, visible name tag or something else that immediately
identifies them.
• 2. Ask questions
• Questions are a great way to connect with guests quickly. People love to talk about themselves
so giving them a chance to do so will help guests feel at home right away. Since there’s typically
a lot of paperwork to take care of upon arrival (well, there doesn’t need to be if you’re with
Mews), asking questions can make the process more pleasant by asking questions about
their journey and what plans they have while they’re visiting; this way you can also
capitalize on opportunities to upsell your services, tours and amenities.
3. A smile goes a long way
• The saying goes “when I smile, the world smiles back at me.” Incorporate
this way of life into your welcome greeting. There’s nothing better than
being greeted after a long trip with a warm smile and someone asking
genuinely how you are doing. A smile is also a great icebreaker.
4. Offer to help
• Offering to help someone can also go a long way, even if many times your
offer will be politely declined. See if they need help with their baggage or if
they want to be shown around the premises. Helping your guests is a great
way to go above and beyond and leave a lasting impression.
5. Make guests feel special
• There’s always enough time to make your guests feel special.
Consult the booking to find out if there’s a birthday or special
occasion they are celebrating. If so, acknowledge the special
occasion upon check-in. This will go a long way.
6. Indicate points of interest within the hotel
• Make a guest feel at home when they check in by providing information about
important points of interest within the hotel like the bathroom, restaurant, pool
and other services and amenities you offer.
7. Anticipate the questions guests will ask and answer them before they
do
• Everyone loves the feeling that you read their mind. Tourists all have similar
doubts and questions so make sure to answer the most common doubts when
you’re welcoming new arrivals.
8. Provide accurate wait times
• You may be busy, but you should never be too busy to let the customer know
how long you need before you can attend to them. By providing accurate wait
times, guests will not get frustrated by having to wait and they can even get a
more realistic picture if they have time to do other things such as get
information from the concierge or go to the bathroom while they wait for help.
Common types of complaints
• 1. Service Related Complaints- Are usually associated with
the hotel service. The guest may experience a problem with hotel services
and may get dissatisfied. It can be of wide-ranging and about such things
as long waiting time for service, lack of assistance with luggage, untidy
room, missed wake up call, cold or ill-prepared food or ignored request for
additional supplies. The front office generally receives more service-related
complaints when the hotel is operating at or near full occupancy.
Examples of guest complaints due to service-related issues:
• Ignore any request made by the guest for any special amenities.
• The service is too slow!
• I've been waiting for 30 minutes to speak to someone.
• Why there is no one at the bell desk.
• 2. Attitudinal Complaints
• Attitudinal problems are often associated with the attitudes and behaviour of the
hotel staff. All hotel's whether it is big or small does come across instances when
guest complaints about impolite, unprofessional and indifferent behaviour of staff
members of the hotel.
• The moment an employee disagrees with the guest, his conflict with the guest
begins which leads to guest complaints. Guest may express attitudinal complaint
when they feel insulted by rude or tactless hotel staff members or sometimes guest
overhears staff conversations or who receive complaints from hotel staff members.
• Examples of guest complaints due to staff attitude:
• No one smiles around here.
• What a rude waitress.
• The front desk clerk was not very friendly.
• Staff showing a lack of skill and sensitivity in dealing with guests.
• Guests feel insulted by rude hotel staff members.
• 3. Mechanical Complaints
• Mechanical complaints deal with equipment problems within the hotel. Most guest
complaints related to hotel equipment malfunctions. It is usually concerned with
problems with air conditioning, lighting, electricity, room furnishing, vending
machines, ice machines, door keys, plumbing, television and so on. Effective use of
a front office log book and maintenance work orders may help to reduce the
frequency of mechanical complaints.
• Examples of guest complaints due to mechanical reasons:
• Air conditioner.
• The vending machine.
• The lights are not working.
• TV not working.
• 4. Unusual Complaints
• Unusual problems are those that the hotel has no control over such as the weather,
traffic, or transportation. Guest sometimes expects the front office staff to resolve
or at least listen such kind of complaints which are unusual and the hotel cannot do
anything about them. Sometimes guests demand something that simply is
unwarranted or impossible to deliver such as they may complain about the absence
of a swimming pool, lack of public transportation, bad weather and so on.
• Examples of guest complaints due to unusual reasons:
• The traffic around here is crazy!
• It's so hot and humid in this area.
• The traffic in this town is ridiculous.
• The pre-paid taxi counter at the airport had a long queue.
• 5. Room Related Complaints
• Any guest complaints related to the room is categorised into complaints related to
rooms. This issue can occur due to room category booked vs assigned, old
mattresses, poor view, noisy room, poor linen, or even bad lighting in the room.
Nowadays due to most of the bookings are generated online guest expects that the
picture is shown while reservation should match with the room they have been
assigned.
• Examples of guest complaints related to rooms:
• Noisy room.
• View not good.
• Booked vs assigned room.
• 6. Complaints Due to Food and Beverage
• Even with very good accommodation facilities, the guest can complain about the
hotel due to the reason of food and beverage not up to their exception. Even if
your hotel provides an exceptional culinary experience to the guests, but despite
your best efforts, there’s no way to please everyone and that leads to the
occasional customer complaint.
• Examples of guest complaints related to food:
• Untidiness.
• Edibleness.
• Dirty cutlery and crockery.
• Stale food served.
Handling Complaints of Customers

• 1. Listen with concern and empathy.

• 2. Isolate the guest if possible, so that other guests won't overhear.
• 3. Stay calm. Don't argue with the guest.
• 4. Be aware of the guest's self-esteem. Show a personal interest in
the problem. Try to use the guest name frequently.
• 5. Give the guest your undivided attention. Concentrate on the
problem, not on placing blame. Do NOT Insult the guest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3x9RJ-kRDg
• 6. Take notes. Writing down the key facts saves time if someone
else must get involved. Also, Guest tends to slow down when they
see the front desk agent trying to write down the issue.
• 7. Tell the guest what can be the best done. Offer choices. Don't promise
the impossible, and don't exceed your authority.
• 8. Set an approximate time for completion of corrective actions. Be
specific, but do not underestimate the amount of time it will take to
resolve the problem.
• 9. Monitor the progress of the corrective action.
• 10. Follow up. Even if the complaint was resolved by someone else,
contact the guest to ensure that the problem was resolved satisfactory.
 • Radisson Hotels- Case Study
Introduction:
• A company founded by Curtis L. Carlson in 1938 was formally known as Carlson Companies Inc. in 1962;
• The company is comprised of four different groups known as Carlson Wagonlit, Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, Carlson Marketing Group
and Carlson Leisure Group.
• The basic formula of running a hotel chain was based on “growth at any cost” and they were opening hotels at about 1 hotel in 7 days.
• As a result of growth at any cost strategy, the focus of the hotel was diverted from customers to growth strategy.
• In addition to that, the company started facing challenges of low employee satisfaction and service in-consistencies. The company got
into deep trouble because the management was not proceeding in a clear direction. Furthermore, the company was not focused on
building a brand image to build customer loyalty.
• After analyzing the whole situation, the President and Vice President of the company realized an urgent need for designing operational
strategies to make it more customer-centric.
• To do so, the firm has made five broader strategies which include: customer focus, offering marketing services on an individual basis,
leverage the Carlson Companies Advantage, development of hotels in main locations of the city and fortifying global brand presence.
 Customer Satisfaction and Employee Excellence:

• Radisson executed a technique named as "complaint card" that was utilized to gather visitor criticism at
the end of their stay in the hotel. This project was unsuccessful because numerous visitors did not even
finish them; as a result the organization was required to take some different measures.
• Radisson could enhance the experience of customers by giving membership benefits and discount
programs. Customers who visited on a continuous basis may get a steeper discount than consistent inn
rates.
• Guests who fill out the card completely or take a review over the Internet may get a ten percent rebate off
their following visit.
• With these set-up measures, satisfaction of employees and customers remain predictable and continue
to progress constantly.
• Management of Radisson also applied IT techniques to incorporate the information related to
their guests backed by marketing infrastructure.
• The main focus of the hotel became the training of employees to create a network that could be
globally accessed by all the Radisson Hotels globally.
• This helped the company to build a uniform database structure all over the world. The primary
motive behind these designs was to ensure reliable and consistent relationships with all guests
and customers of Radisson Hotels.
• With the help of new systems, the hotel management would be able to plan better marketing
strategies to attract customers. Along with that, it will help the company to build strong and
long-term relationship with its guests by providing facilities that they do not get anywhere else.
 customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and
organizational success:
• According to many researches done by scholars, it has been identified that good and satisfactory service provided by
employees will lead to customer satisfaction. In addition to that, it has been observed that when an employee is
satisfied with the management of the company, they finally give better services to customers and good customer
service is the essence of the Hotel Industry. Loyalty with customers is also linked with the performance of employees.
If an employee is greeting well, this customers will increase customer loyalty towards the brand. Satisfaction of
employees had an impact on employees’ perception about the company.
• The management needs to implement several programs that will ensure the satisfaction of employees so that
efficiency and performance of the organization can be enhanced. The efficiency and performance will increase that
will reinforce customer service. The management of the company needs to understand that employee should better
understand the Radisson’s vision and mission to be aligned with the firm. Radisson can do that by motivating its
employees through Rewards and Incentives which in turn will present a chance for advancement.
 Facilities-Hotel Facilities
• Spa
• Semi open & outdoor restaurant
• Poolside bar
• Car parking
• Swimming pool/ Jacuzzi
• Public computer
• Interconnecting rooms
• 24 Hour security
• Outside catering service
• Restaurant
• Outdoor terrace
• Seating conference room
• Seating private air-conditioning dining room
• Water purification system
• Sunset boat trip
• Gift shop
 Guest Service
• 24-Hour room service
• Free wireless internet access
• Complimentary use of hotel bicycle
• Laundry service
• Tour & excursions
• 24 Hour concierge
• Meeting facilities
• E-Bike & horse cart rental
• Airport transfers
• Babysitting on request
• 24-Hour doctor on call
 Case Study-2-How two hotels in Greece managed to increase their
profitability in the midst of a pandemic and the steps that led to this
success.

• Atrium Ambiance Hotel and Nostos Beach Boutique Hotel are two luxury hotels in Crete, a popular island
destination in Greece, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world every year. The first resort is
located in Rethymnon city, while the second is at a popular seaside village called Bali. Both
are large hotels, equipped with modern facilities, targeting a wide range of travelers, while their peak
period is during the summer months.
• The sales strategy for both properties is managed by Loguers Hospitality, hotel management and
consulting company which helps hotels to increase their revenues and target direct bookings. As odd as
it may sound, a few marketing tricks and a customer-centric sales approach were enough to boost sales
even higher than in previous years.
 Steps taken to manage situations during pandemic
• 1 – Flexible and customer-centric-booking-cancellation policy
• In unpredictable times like a pandemic, and when new measures are announced daily to tackle the spread of the virus,
countries shut their borders to protect themselves and sudden outbreaks can occur literally anywhere. With this approach,
travelers booked in advance without having to worry about any sudden cancellations, which created a relationship of trust
with the hotel.
• 2 – Appropriate price adjustment for easy management of possible cancellations
• All non-refundable prices had been adjusted to make them refundable. Therefore, all travelers could cancel their booking
even a few days before their arrival. The recently adjusted prices were also included in the flexible price lists (flex). Of
course, the most effective way to counter travelers’ doubts is to offer them the flexibility to cancel and refund. This flexibility
highlights a customer-centric accommodation policy and eliminates any ‘second thoughts’ that potential guests may have
when booking.
• 3 – Elimination of the requirement of full prepayment and flexibility in changing the total days of stay
• The requirement to prepay the full amount of the reservation was removed, which further enabled more flexibility to the
entire stay of a traveler in the accommodation. More specifically, the down payment and the minimum stay, which are
applied by many hotels, are vital requirements that must be set aside so as to become more profitable.
• 4 – Implementation of a discount policy for early bookings and early next year’s availability
• Adjusting prices and applying a discount policy are just as important as all the actions that a property
can take. Knowing the difficulties that most travelers had to face, the discount for early booking was
extended and this contributed to the gradual increase of direct bookings.
• 5 – Properly inform customers about all measures taken against the spread of the virus and upkeep
constant communication with visitors
• 6-Additional marketing campaigns increase hotel exposure online, attracting more targeted audiences
• 7-Mobile offers and country-specific targeting attracted more travelers to complete a booking
• 8-Flash Sale campaigns which were created for the hotels’ target countries, such as Germany and
France, contributed significantly to all direct bookings
Consultation and problem solving
• Bad First Impression of Your Office and Processes
• First impressions matter. The scenario written about above isn’t going to endear
anyone to your company.
• Solution: Instead of confronting a paper log, visitors walk up to a touchscreen video
screen or check in directly via their smartphone, enter their information, retrieve their
visitor pass, and are on their way.
• Those who drop by regularly will be recognized instantly and receive information such
as Wi-Fi information, meeting agenda, and a list of other attendees directly on their
phones.
• Unsecure Facilities
• Most of what is done for the sake of visitor management today is done in the name of security.
However, that is not very secure. Especially if your office is still using a paper-based logbook and
pen.
• Solution: A visitor management system provides an entirely new level of security to your office
building. Should an emergency occur, your company can instantly account for everyone presently in
the office, including visitors. If an evacuation is necessary, everyone in the office will have access to
evacuation directions and instructions to ensure everyone understands how to safely exit the
building.
• Data security challenges
• The question of security is not a new one. While data security methods have
advanced considerably, but so have been the possibilities of data leaks and virus
attacks. Threats of digital data theft and confidential data leaks are a matter of concern
for hoteliers globally.
• Solution
• First step to take towards secure data is to ensure proper data storage. Stop dealing
with excel sheets and registers. Incorporate a secure hotel technology that prevents
your data leaks. Technology today is PCI-DSS compliant as well as HTTPS secure,
leading to better data encryption. This way you build your hotel’s credibility to bring in
more guests.
• Lack of Communication
• Step away from your desk for just a moment and you might never know a guest has arrived. In the
meantime, your visitors are left waiting at the front desk until someone has the time to track you down.
• Solution: Do not depend on the front desk staff to alert you when your visitors have arrived. A Visitor
Management solution automatically sends an email or text message directly to your phone the moment
your visitor checks in.
• Lack of Visitor Independence
• From the moment they arrive until the moment they walk out the front door, visitors often require a high
level of hand holding from front desk employees to ensure they check in properly, have all the
information they need for their meeting, track down the meeting host, make their way through an
unfamiliar office, and find the correct meeting room.
• Solution: When the entire check-in experience is automated, visitors do not need to rely on anyone to
help them check in, find the meeting room, and get any additional information they need to prepare for
the meeting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh1vZX3GKOk&feature=emb_imp_woyt
• Loyalty programs. “Front desk associates are responsible for ensuring that guests with loyalty
status receive the appropriate perk or providing additional perks to resolve a guest’s problem.
The perks and resolutions range from room upgrades and welcome gifts to additional loyalty
points,”
• Guest room issues. “If something is wrong with the guest’s room, or if the guest has questions
about the room, the first point-of-contact is the front desk associate. Generally, the front desk
associate has the responsibility of coordinating guests’ comments and complaints to the
correct personnel in other departments to address issues and manage service recovery.
• Billing questions. “As guests’ check-out, questions about charges to their bill are handled by
the front desk associates. Guests will sometimes have questions about state and local taxes,
resort charges, restaurant and bar charges, and technology charges,”. “Front desk associates
will verify the accuracy of the charges and explain anything that is unfamiliar to the guest.”
Accepting praises
• Smile
• Give simple reply
• Stay humble
• Show your appreciation
• Comment on task/ project -appreciate
• Acknowledge others
• Example 1
• Manager: "Hey! Great job on those reports last week. The detail was excellent, it must have taken you hours."
• Response: "Thank you! I worked hard on those and I appreciate the acknowledgment."
• Example 2
• Manager: "Your work on that marketing project was excellent. We should hopefully see an increase of clients thanks
to your hard work."
• Response: "Thank you! I couldn't have done it without my team. I appreciate being allowed to lead them. I'll let
them know you liked it."
Accepting criticisms
• Pause before reacting
When you're given criticism, the first thing you should do is pause. Pausing for a brief moment
can help you process what you are being told and allows you to prevent any reflex reaction or
defensiveness. This also gives you a chance to remain calm and cognizant of your facial
expressions.
• Stop Your First Reaction
If your first reaction is to lash back at the person giving the criticism, or to become defensive, take
a minute before reacting at all. Take a deep breath, and give it a little thought.
• Keep an open mind
Remember that the person offering criticism is likely doing so because they have identified what
they see as a gap in your work and want to help you improve. Try to keep an open mind while
they are talking to truly hear their message and do your best to see the situation from the other
person's point of view.
• Stay calm.
It is natural to feel defensive when you are being criticized, but allowing yourself to get upset and show your
emotions will not help the situation. Keep in mind that we all make mistakes when we are learning a new skill, so
criticism is inevitable and if you deal with it in a constructive way you may learn something valuable as a result.
• Listen to understand
Listen closely to the criticism without interrupting, and when the other person finishes speaking, repeat back what
you heard them say. This will reassure them that you understood the feedback or give them an opportunity to
address any misunderstandings.
• Express appreciation
After confirming that you fully understand the feedback you're being given, the next step you should take is to
express appreciation by saying thank you.
• Respond when you're ready.
Some types of criticism might be too harsh or complicated to respond to right away. If possible, wait until you are
calm, collected, and can have some time to think about the criticism before replying. Sometimes you need to
respond to criticism right away, but it is better if you can give it time.
• Close the issue or ask to follow up later
After you identify a solution and acknowledge what you're going to do differently in the future, you can thank
them again for bringing it to your attention and close the issue. If it's a larger issue or something that was
brought to your attention by your manager, you should suggest meeting again in one or two weeks to follow up
and evaluate your performance.
• Apologize for your mistakes, if needed.
If the criticism came because you made a mistake or someone got hurt, it's important to
apologize for what happened right away.
• Acknowledge where they're right.
Once you are ready to verbally respond to criticism, start by acknowledging what part of their
criticisms are right. Hearing this will make them feel better and let them know that you have really
thought about what they said
• Talk about how you plan to change.
Tell them how you plan to implement their advice or deal with the issue they criticized. This will
reassure them that you're taking care of the problem. Taking criticism in this way, fully
acknowledging it and responding to it, makes you come across as mature.
• Ask for their advice.
If they did not already recommend a better way of going about the problem, ask them how they
would do things differently. If they did already give some advice, you can still ask for more,
however. Getting advice gives you a way to learn, but it also makes the person who gave you the
advice feel better.
 Using criticisms to improve yourself
• Make a plan. Now that you’ve decided what parts of the advice are important to you, you’ll have to make a plan
for how you’re going to implement the changes that you want to make. Having a plan, especially one that you
write out, will make it easier for you to follow through and make the changes. You’ll also be more likely to take
action
• Never give up on trying to be better. Be persistent when trying to implement criticism. Criticism often takes you
in a direction completely different than what is normal for you or what you believe is the right way.
• Don’t take it personally
Remember that they’re criticizing your work, not you as a person. Never take negative feedback about your work as a
criticism of you as a person.
• See criticism as help
Remember that all constructive feedback (including negative feedback) is a sign of interest and a sign that people want to
help you do better. It would be far worse for people to notice you doing bad work and not say a word.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself
Remember that everyone makes mistakes and has things to learn. Yes, that includes you. There’s nothing wrong with making
mistakes, but making the same mistakes over and over because you refuse to listen to criticism and learn is just stupid.
Apologising
• Be truly sorry
• If you aren’t genuinely sorry for at least some part of the problem, then don’t apologize. Instead, ask
questions and listen again to make sure you truly understand the situation.
• Validate your customer’s feelings
• You don’t have to agree with everything a customer has said, but they do need to know that you have
heard them and that you acknowledge how they feel.
• Explain what happened
• Write a full explanation of the situation as you understand it, making sure to address all the points the
customer has raised. You can probably provide information that the customer may not have access to
that explains where things broke down and what the consequences were.
• Admit to your mistakes
• Whether it was your personal mistake or the mistake of the company, service, or product, explicitly
admit to it. Be specific about what you’re apologizing for, and use the same phrases and words that
your customer used. It should be a genuine and specific admission.
• How not to apologize
There are a few things that you should not include in an apology:
• Don’t make promises you can’t keep (e.g., don’t say “This will never
happen again” if you can’t 100% control that.)
• Don’t trivialize or ignore the customer’s feelings (e.g., “Our other
customers don’t have any problem with this.”)
• Don’t defend yourself by blaming someone else or minimizing the
problem (e.g., don’t throw third party vendors under the bus.)
• Don’t over-apologize (the word “sorry” will lose all meaning if you say it
too often.)