Front_Office_Operations

Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.1Basic principles of marketing continued…

–To the hotel's preferred/targeted segments: those which are most profitable for the hotel (e.g.. repeat, high-volume and full-rack rate business) and which fit its desired image. (e.g.. Package tours and groups may not fit the hotel's image, or may alienate private clients paying the full rack rate.)

–The hotel's yield management requirements (e.g.. maximising occupancy by offering special promotions for tourist business on weekends, and catering business travellers during the week)

●Strive to satisfy or delight the customer, by meeting or exceeding, their expectations, Disappointed customers represent, at best, one-off sales, Satisfied customers are more likely to represent repeat sales, high-value and/or additional sales (through positive word ofmouth promotion and recommendation),

●Develop the potential for relationship with the customer. 'Relationship marketing' is based on developing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with customers, by offering personalised service; maintaining contact with the customer after an initial sales transaction; listening to the customer, in order to provide tailored offers and improved service; and building repeat business and customer loyalty over time

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

Basic aspects of the marketing role of Front Office:

●Customer service: the interpersonal or social skills and attributes required to deal with customers in a way that is likely to enhance and maintain their satisfaction with the hotel

●Selling: the techniques required to persuade prospective customers to buy the hotel 'product', to buy more, and to buy repeatedly - all of which adds to the revenue, yield and profitability of the hotel

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.2 Customer service

It is a powerful contributing factor to guests' satisfaction with the hotel and with their stay: perhaps more so than the standard of the rooms and amenities. It is also a powerful factor in differentiating one hotel from another in the minds of prospective guests. Hotel rooms often look the same; hotels of a similar grade generally offer similar facilities. But customer service sets a hotel apart: the quality, style and consistency of service cannot be separated from the particular people employed to deliver It, how they are trained and supervised and the general 'culture' of the hotel.

Satisfying and retaining customers depends on a hotel's ability consistently to fulfill guests' expectations, and to create a positive experience at every encounter with customer service staff. A single disappointing, unsatisfactory or frustrating service encounter - and/or the hotel's subsequent poor response to handling the problem - may be sufficient to spoil guests' positive impression, lose their trust, and make them unsatisfied about the hotel (particularly in the face of marketing efforts from competing locations and establishments). It may also induce them to share their negative impressions with others, and if this means giving negative feedback to a travel agent or tour operator, or reporting the problem to a corporate travel buyer - or leaving negative comments on an online hotel review site - can cause significant damage to the hotel's reputation.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.3 The sales role of Front Office staff

The selling function has become an increasingly important part of the Front Office role - a fact that has been strongly reflected in the selecting, training, appraisal and reward of reservations and reception staff. Indeed, the success of the Front Office team is often measured according to its success in selling: on increasing the occupancy and revenue of the hotel.

More importantly, from a business point of view, the hotel will earn more revenue and profit by creating a long-term, mutually satisfying relationship with guests: having them return repeatedly, spend more while they stay, and provide 'free' promotion of the hotel to other people. This depends on making guests feel that they are receiving genuine service, hospitality and value for money. Which in turn depends on selling being done in an intelligent and guest-focused way: giving guests Information, and options, and access to additional services and facilities which are relevant to their needs and will enhance their stay.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.4 Aims and benefits of Front Office selling

The dual purpose of selling is therefore:

●To maximise room revenue, in order to support the hotel's profitability. This can be done either by increasing occupancy (bringing in more customers), or increasing guest spend (persuading guests to pay more) - and ideally, both!

●To achieve customer satisfaction.

Increased occupancy

Selling by Front Office staff may tip the balance of decision-making in favour of the hotel, Increasing occupancy by: offering extra nights; filling rooms which might otherwise have been unoccupied; offering options (e.g.. on dates or room types) to secure a reservation which might otherwise have been lost; reducing the risk of no-shows by securing deposits; and so on.

Satisfied customers are more likely to make an advance reservation (because they have a definite preference). And may also be more likely to stay for longer.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.4 Aims and benefits of Front Office selling continued…

Maximised revenue

The aim of selling is to get the maximum revenue from a limited number of rooms.

Selling a hotel room is not transferring ownership of any tangible to the customer (as with a physical product): It’s merely selling an entitlement to enjoy certain facilities and services for a certain period of time.

Services are said to be 'perishable': customers can't buy hotel rooms (or an airline reservation, or theatre tickets) and store them for their own use. They have to consume the service within a specified window of opportunity - or they've missed their chance. Similarly, a hotel has to sell a room for a given night, or the opportunity is lost, the 'sell by' date of a room is always 'tonight'! This means that:

●You have a fixed number of rooms for any given night: you can't 'produce more' rooms to match periods of increased demand, or 'produce less' rooms to match lower demand. The aim is to sell as many as possible of the rooms you have

●If you don't sell a room for a particular night, you lose the potential revenue from that room

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.4 Aims and benefits of Front Office selling continued…

●If you get more enquiries than you have rooms, you can't sell rooms twice: you will have to turn away some enquirers (or sell them a room on another night)

●The principles of yield management suggest to secure the best possible rate for a room - consistent with maximising occupancy. You may have to discount the full rack rate in order to attract customers for vacant rooms – because discounted revenue is better than no revenue at all (as long as the hotel covers the cost of letting the room, so that it makes some profit). You may have to prioritise higher paying customers than lower-paying ones competing for the same room at the same time

Customer retention and loyalty

Customers who experience a product or service which meets - or exceeds - their expectations are more likely to feel positively about the organisation providing the product or service, and more likely to use it again, when a similar need arises.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.4 Aims and benefits of Front Office selling continued…

New business

Front Office selling (and positive first impressions) may secure new business by 'converting' undecided enquirers about the hotel; asking guests for referrals to others who might be interested in the hotel's services (e.g.. through 'introduce a friend' schemes); following up on referrals and sales leads; and so on.

New business may also be secured for the hotel by the recommendations and referrals of satisfied and loyal customers. Customers tell other people about their experiences (particularly when it comes to experiences which lend themselves to 'swapping stories', like holidays). Turning out happy guests is one way of increasing occupancy by securing 'free advertising' through positive word of mouth promotion (and avoiding reputational and business damage through negative word of mouth.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The importance of Front Office roles in ‘selling’ the hotel

1.4 Aims and benefits of Front Office selling continued…

Staff satisfaction and retention

High-quality customer service and successful sales are satisfying not just for customers - but for Front Office staff! The staff gets satisfied of working for the customer and for the hotel. And would like to be acknowledged, valued and/or rewarded, since Front Office performance is directly measured by sales figures and customer satisfaction ratings. (As a side benefit, you may also have to deal with fewer unpleasant incidents and customer complaints!)

Staff who enjoy this kind of job satisfaction are more likely to stay with their employer for longer which is a benefit to the hotel: better continuity of service; better continuity of staff learning and improvement; less wasted investment in staff induction and training; less cost and disruption of hiring and training replacement staff.

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Chapter 9 – Interpersonal and selling skills

The hotel ‘product’

2.The hotel ‘product’

2.1Why customers choose a hotel

2.2Anticipating and meeting guest needs

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