Let me share an example of one of the finest hotels in India.Lemon Tree is one of the fastest growing hotel chains in India. In order to optimise hotel front workplace operations it is quite essential that you should invest in technological aspects like PMS (incorporated with channel manager), track record management software application, and earnings management system.Although there are a lot of other software readily available in the market, these 3 are adequate for your hotels front office operations.6. Talking about the front office operations in hotels, they had to discover different techniques to avoid any physical contact with guests. Guests were presented with paper types for score a hotels services, and now we have examining websites like TripAdvisor.With every update you embrace for your hotel, it is essential to make changes in SOPs likewise.9. Thats why they are responsible for producing a first impression on guests and act as the point of communication.Because of these elements, its essential for you to optimise your hotels front office operations to work in a smooth way.
When I was pursuing my graduation in hospitality management, I tended towards hotel front office operations and its management. And thats why I did an expertise in the exact same. In truth, during my industrial training, I invested many of the time discovering about the front desk operations in the hotel, SOPs, reports, and every element that was associated with it. Not to boast, however I did get the award of the very best student in the front office department.But that was way back in 2013. Its been a decade now and things have actually altered A LOT. With the aid of advanced innovation and understanding visitor needs, hoteliers try to make their hotels front workplace operations smooth. Nevertheless, its not just technology that needs to be thought about for doing so. There are other elements. And, thats what Ill be informing you about in this blog. What is Front Desk Operation In Hotels?The front workplace or front desk is among the core departments in hotels that is the initial point of contact for guests and is accountable for developing the impression on them. Moreover, they function as an interaction centre to get and forward messages from visitors to other departments of hotels or vice versa. Thus, it is rightly stated that, Front workplace is the nerve centre of a hotel.The front desk comprises 4 major sub-departments, viz. Reception, concierge, bell desk, and reservations, and back office.As far as their tasks and duties are concerned, they have a myriad of them. A few of the major ones include: Managing check-ins and check-outsMaintaining reportsHandling reservationsGuests information managementProcessing visitors requisitions Night auditsCollect feedback and manage themHowever, this is similar to a summary of the whole thing. There are other ancillary jobs too, which needs to be taken care of. And like every department, front desk operations are supposed to be optimised in a method that every job can be carried out in a jiffy, keeping the efficiency and without obstructing guest fulfillment. So, let me inform you how to do that. How to Improve Front Office Operations in Hotels?Every task in the hotels has a predefined SOP. However, with time, it requires to be upgraded. Speaking about existing practices in hotel front office operations, they require to be updated in the regards to technology along with procedures. Lets have a look at the actions to do it.1. Align Tasks Based On Their PriorityOne thing that I discovered throughout training is prioritising my tasks. I had clear guidelines to prepare a list of to do things, arrange them according to concern, and follow them appropriately daily. Believe me, it assisted me in avoiding missing any job. My main duties were: Checking the arrival and departuresAligning pickup and drop (if asked for)Cross inspecting visitors folios for expense postsForwarding guests demands to concerned departmentsAssisting bell desk with baggage handlingNow, as per the top priority, the very first thing I would do is examining on visitor requisitions and taking a follow-up about the exact same. Because if those were left unattended, it can result in a guest dissatisfaction.Gradually, I would complete the other jobs and had a great deal of extra time left, which was made use of to discover a thing or 2. This is what you should ask your every front desk personnel to follow. 2. Buy Training Front Desk StaffOnce you start following the primary step, you will find that theres adequate time to train your staff. Ive seen many hotels offering the training during preliminary days of signing up with, and it barely lasts for a number of days. Post that, the personnel has to find out as they work. Thats where they go incorrect. Training must be a continuous procedure. Let me share an example of one of the finest hotels in India.Lemon Tree is among the fastest growing hotel chains in India. They have a special training model for their staff. Whenever a person signs up with the organisation across any residential or commercial property in the nation, s/he is sent out to the head office for training and making him/her knowledgeable about the procedure. Once the training is finished, s/he is released at the designated property.However, it doesnt end here. They have a quarterly efficiency examination. Based on the efficiency and ratings, candidates are offered benefits. If they are not up to the mark, a refresher course is scheduled for them. This sort of training makes staff more effective, help in supplying a better visitor complete satisfaction, and is among the proven ways to enhance your hotels front desk operations.You ought to take a cue from them and begin offering training to each and every employee who belongs of your hotels front office department.3. Keep Sufficient StaffOne problem that hotels typically deal with is labor/staff scarcity. And this does impact visitor experience in a negative method. Ive faced such a circumstance as soon as, and it was actually a horrendous experience. A couple of years back, I utilized to work in one of the popular hotels in the city. Being a graduate in hospitality management, I had specific ideas about how the work would be. I got waves of surprises on the very first day itself. The property had inadequate staff beginning with the hotels front desk itself. There were simply 2 individuals at the reception (including me), and we had to manage the jobs of bellboys also. The front office supervisor was dealing with the function of concierge, reservations manager, and AGM. This created a lot of problems when there were numerous check-ins and check-outs. Trust me, I worked for hardly 2 days and realised it was not my cup of tea. Thats when I comprehended the importance of manpower in the hotels. If you are likewise doing this at your property (designating different roles to every staff member), STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Make sure that you have enough staff in your hotels front office department and designate them specific roles and responsibilities as per their designation and credentials. 4. Know Your GuestsIm flattered when hotels have all the arrangements made at the home, even before me asking for it. What I imply is that your regular guests would be requesting particular features or services every time they d reserve their stay with you. So, rather of guests asking you, why not amaze them by pre-arranging their typical appropriations. For this, you need to focus on gathering, analysing, and studying your guests information. Apart from this, consider feedback from visitors and try to instill them during their next see. You can try to do this by hand, but that would be quite a tough job. Instead, take advantage of innovation and AI to accomplish it.5. Bring Technology in The PictureTechnology has actually altered the hospitality industry significantly. From getting in guests data manually into numerous signs up to getting all the data tape-recorded on cloud-based servers, we have actually come a long way. Innovation has actually certainly helped hotels in reducing human efforts and increasing the efficiency of each and every job. And the front workplace operations in hotels have actually benefited the most from technology. How?Well, if you consider it, there are various activities in a hotel front workplace operations which would become quite time consuming if done by hand. Night audit procedure, visitor profiling and information management, day-to-day income calculation, and forecasting; the list is unending. Now imagine doing this daily without the help of any software or system. Sounds hectic, isnt it? So, why not carry out software application for these jobs. You might be questioning, who doesnt? The reality is that there are still hotels that believe in a pen and paper system. Likewise, there are lots of others who just purchase PMS and channel manager simply for the sake of it But that need to not be the case. In order to optimise hotel front office operations it is quite essential that you need to buy technological aspects like PMS (incorporated with channel supervisor), credibility management software, and profits management system.Although there are a great deal of other software application available in the market, these 3 are enough for your hotels front workplace operations.6. Present AI in Your PropertyWhile you are investing in technological aspects, theres something I d like to drive your attention to Artificial Intelligence (AI). One of the finest examples of it is chatbots. You can release chatbots on your hotels site or kiosks. With the assistance of artificial intelligence and belief analysis, it understands visitors habits. Further, it guides them at different phases of their stay at your property.In fact, advanced chatbots like Rose are found efficient in increasing hotels income tremendously by upselling and directing visitors into investing more at the home. Such tools act as an assisting hand to the front workplace department. 7. Go ContactlessPost covid-19, the world adopted the principle of contactless living, and so did the hospitality industry. Be it welcoming guests with folded hands (Namaste!!!), using QR code-based payment modes, different things have actually altered. Discussing the front office operations in hotels, they needed to find numerous methods to avoid any physical contact with visitors. Thats where contactless services come into the picture.Just imagine, guests reserving rooms, checking-in at the hotel, availing services, and taking a look at of the residential or commercial property perfectly with less or negligible human interaction. Sounds intriguing, isnt it?These contactless services might be self check-in kiosks, buying food from the hotels app, using chatbots to direct apps throughout their stay, QR code or payment links for billing, and such likes. Try to find more such options and instigate them at your hotels front desk for much better benefits.8. Optimise SOPs to Increase EfficiencyAs I said in the beginning, every procedure works for a certain period and, with time, requires to be updated. It uses to SOPs also.For circumstances, before covid-19 visitors were welcomed with a handshake. Now they are greeted with “Namaste”. Or lets take the feedback collection procedure. Initially, visitors existed with paper kinds for rating a hotels services, and now we have reviewing websites like TripAdvisor.With every update you adopt for your hotel, it is crucial to make changes in SOPs likewise.9. Preserve Important ReportsLast however not least, among the crucial jobs in hotel front office operations is maintaining reports. At the end of the day, every department submits its sales report at the front desk for processing. This is a vital activity as when all the data is collaborated, it assists in producing different profits based figures like ADR, ARR, RevPAR, total sales, overall earnings generated, and so on.In fact, the bulk of these reports are created throughout night audits, which is part of hotels front desk operations. Missing on any of this report can cause a lot of mistake. If you require an idea on which reports are supposed to be kept by the front office department, describe this blog. Important Hotel Reports You Should Be Aware OfConclusionFront desk is the only department which handles visitors from start to end. Thats why they are accountable for creating a first impression on guests and serve as the point of communication.Because of these factors, its crucial for you to optimise your hotels front office operations to operate in a smooth manner. Ive listed several ways that you might be aware of, but didnt implement them at your property.Its time to take a hint from them and get going. For as they say, “impression is the last impression”.
