Front Office and the Guests Planning for Quality

Front Office and the Guests: Planning for Quality Service Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 1

Lodging Is a Guest Service Business • Service (Hotel): The process of helping guests by addressing their wants and needs with respect and dignity in a timely manner. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 2

Developing a Quality Culture • Quality: The consistent delivery of products/services according to expected standards. • Empowerment: The act of granting authority to employees to make key decisions within the employees’ areas of responsibility. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 3

Developing a Quality Culture • Role of hotel senior managers in quality: – They must consistently “walk and talk” the philosophy of guest service – They must empower staff members – They must establish systems that allow defects to be measured Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 4

Developing a Quality Culture • Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI): Ongoing efforts within the hotel to better meet (or exceed) guests’ expectations and to find ways to perform work with better, less costly, and/or faster methods. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 5

Developing a Quality Culture • Planning tools: – Vision – Mission statement – Long-range plan – Business plan – Marketing plan – Operating budget Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 6

Developing a Quality Culture • Repeat Business: Revenues generated from guests returning to the hotel as a result of positive experiences on previous visits. • Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Informal conversations between persons as they discuss their positive or negative experiences at a hotel. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 7

Planning Guest Service Processes • Service is not the same as servility. • Helping guests requires addressing their wants and needs: – What do guests want? – What do they need? Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 8

Planning Guest Service Processes • Benchmarking: The search for best practices and an understanding about how they are achieved in efforts to determine how well a hospitality organization is doing. • Zero Defects: A goal of no guest-related complaints that is established when guest service processes are implemented. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 9

Planning Guest Service Processes • Moments of Truth: Any (and every) time a guest has an opportunity to form an impression about the hospitality organization. Moments of truth can be positive or negative and may (but do not have to) involve the property’s staff members. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 10

Guest Service Is Delivered by Employees • Accountability: An obligation created when a staff member is delegated duties/ responsibilities from higher levels of management. Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 11

Guest Service Is Delivered by Employees • Front office employees can be empowered to help guests after they: – Learn about their service mission – Receive the training and obtain the resources required to meet the needs of guests – Show ongoing interest in providing exceptional guest service Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 12

Guest Service Is Delivered by Employees • Strategies for empowerment: – Accepting the philosophy that supports empowerment – Pointing staff in the right direction – Recognizing the role of the guest – Removing the barriers that inhibit pride in work – Monitoring work to assure that standards are consistently attained Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 13

Guest Service Is Delivered by Employees • For empowering to be effective, FOMs must: – Treat employees like adults – Respect employees as individuals – Recognize that employees can make significant contributions to the department and the hotel – Ask for and utilize their employees’ suggestions – Trust their staff members – Allow employees to find pride and joy in the workplace Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 14

Guest Service Is Delivered by Employees Today’s FOMs do not wait until problems become significant before they are addressed! Woods et al. , Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved. 15