Importance of Front office

y Front office term cover reception, concierge,

switchboard etc y It also heart of the hotel y It also the only contact by the guest traveler at the hotel y To ensure that guest s contact with the front office will be positive

y It also as the communication centre of the hotel that

provide info to other dept. y It also about organizing and controlling people to achieve objectives

Front office structure

y Hotel size determine the structure of front office. y There are share features to every type of hotels. y Small hotel don t have separate management post like

big hotel

y The success of front office is the presence of work

ethics of the team y It also important to maintain positive working relationship with other dept.

Reservations
y This department is often part of the front desk. y The reservation procedure usually begins with an

inquiry by a potential guest about room availability on specific day and period. y Small hotel and B&B may not able to afford computerized system, so they used manual backup procedure. y Computerized system usually offer greater accessibility than manual ones. It can smooth running of the front desk.

y Confirmation of reservations is very important for

both the hotel and the guest. It show professionalism, especially reservation made over the phone or internet. y Confirmation is also important for the hotel bcoz it is a way to double checking each reservation. y Overbooking is another important issue for reservation. y Hotel overbook for 2 main reasons;
y There is often a number of guest that do not have

guaranteed reservation y Guest with guaranteed reservation fail to show up.

y The purpose of overbooking is to maximization profit,

but if the hotel in unfortunate situation, like every guests show up, the hotel will have to find the rooms for the guests that cannot be accommodated. y In some case, the hotel guests want to extend their stay also may cause the hotel to overbooked.

CHECK-IN
y Important task that front desk personnel have to

undertake. y Receptionists have to perform a multiple task. y They must be polite, put guest at ease & make them feel welcome.

y At the same time efficiently performing the following

duties:
y Checking that the registration details on the card are y y y y y

correct and legible. Checking with the guest that details of the booking are correct. Verifying that the guest knows the room rate and what it includes Checking that the room is allocated and ready. Checking for messages for he guest/ any other special requests Issuing the room key.

Registration
y y
1. 2. 

Contains information required of the guest. 2 distinct categories:

Information necessary for hotel to operate that hotel is legally obligated to obtain Keep for a certain period. Usually include the guests name, address, nationality, passport number and signature

Other information usually required by the hotel includes; y Date of arrival and departure y Time of arrival y Number of guests per room y Payment method and deposit information y Room number y Rate and what it includes y Who handled the guest's registration

CHECK OUT
y The last contact with the hotel that a guest has on any

particular stay. y Principals functions of the check-out are therefore to settle the guest s bill/ accounts. y This account was opened at the check-in stage and are certain principles that have to be followed regarding guest s accounts.

y These are:

They must be always up to date and accurate. Cash sales must be separately posted-hotel accountant prepares the cash flow statement for the hotel. The system of records must be easy to operate and economic in terms of time and maintenance costs.

y Most hotel today use computerized systems. y Control procedures are integrated in these computer

packages. y These control producers include: Goods in the form of cost control Accommodation, Telephones Separately recorded cash transactions Bad debts

y Methods of payment are another consideration during

the check-out. y The most common methods of payment are: Cash Credit and debit cards Bank transfers Cheques Vouchers Bill sent to the company that made the reservation.

Night Audit
y Typical night audit shift

11pm and 7pm y Also called as the graveyard shift y Function that night audit perform:Auditing the front office department and other revenue generating department within the hotel The main link between the front office and the account department of the hotel Every shift must balance up all payments received before going off duty

Hospitalityhospitality, providing a service, and y Terms such as

accommodating the guest s needs to avoid misunderstanding y Hospitality the concept of anticipating and satisfying all guest s (reasonable) wants and needs.
terms want and needs cover both material requirements as well as psychological benefits such as making a guest feel welcome

y Providing a service

the process of satisfying guests need and it combines what is done and how it is done y Quality of service provided is not measurable by any hard criteria. y It is a matter of perception and accordingly varies from guest to guest, deriving from guest s prior expectation and current state of mind. y Provision of service involves guest/hotel personal interaction

y The front office department is the most visible

department of the hotel y Guest look to front office personnel to answer questions, provide direction, suggest restaurant and etc. y The hotel relies heavily on front office personnel to convince their guest about the quality of service that the hotel is providing

The following key area of activity that involve to convince the guests
y Good personal and uniform appearance is the key

to a positive first impression.

 Good personal appearance covers areas

grooming,

hairstyle, fingernails, jewellery  Good uniform appearance means that the uniform must be clean and properly pressed and shoes must be coordinated with the uniform

y Facial expression must communicate willingness

to offer assistance, emphasized by direct eye contact and a warm smile. y Proper posture and body language means of visual communication at all times and particularly during the first encounter, must convey alertness, enthusiasm and the willingness of personal y Every guest must be addressed with a welcome salutation, positive altitude and the guest s name must be used as often as possible y If the front office personnel are unable to help with guest s problem volunteer to offer other alternative before guest asks for it

Examples on how to deal with difficult guest relation situations

y 8 steps can be used when confronted with such a

situation

Listen carefully to what the guest is saying without interrupting. Filter through to the real problem by asking question regarding the problem Develop alternative situations Act immediately Never make a promise that you cannot keep Refer problem that are beyond your authority or control Give the guest your undivided attention Always be pleasant

PRICING
1. 2. 3.

Pricing is one of the most important managerial aspects of the front office department. It is affects the volume of sales and profit maximization for the hotel. Two main approaches to pricing: (a) Cost Based / Cost Plus Pricing - Are based on the following general approaches. - The cost related to one room rental are identified and then a fixed. rate of return is added to calculate the selling price.

(b) Market Based

- Price follow-ship and prestige product pricing. - Hotels will identified what the consumer is prepared to pay for a specific service. - Trying to achieve the desired rate of return. - Hotel can afford to do detailed market and demographic analysis in order to determine this. 4. Some hotels however, use a combination of cost based and market based. 5. The advantage of this strategy is that they remain competitive. 6.The problem however is that chain can use this behavior to heir advantage.

MARKET PENETRATION STRATEGY

1. By reducing their room price, hotel chain operators can force independent operators out of business. 2. The chain s profit will support the lost making hotel. 3. An independent hotel that does not make any profit will go bankrupt, leaving a greater market share for the chain operated hotel. 4. When the lager market has been secured and competition reduced the chain operated hotel can then increased room rates and become profitable again. 5. This strategy usually employed by new entrants to a market, and is called market penetration strategy.

PRICING POLICY
1.Determine by the characteristics of: (a) The Guests Characteristics - Length of stay and meal requirements. - Alternative eating facilities in the hotels locale. - Guest spending power. - Price sensitivity. - Homogeneity. (b) Hotel Characteristics - Grade, size, market position and marketing strategy. 2. That both independent as well as chain operated hotel must considered in relation to their pricing strategy (a) Price variations due to different room types. (b) Number of occupants or room. (c) Market segments or type of guest. (d) Room rack rate (e) Variety of other room rates. (f) Contracts with tour operator, travel agencies and other.

YIELD MANAGEMENT
1. Hotel companies have started using yield management to try to maximize their profits. 2. Originally used by airline companies. 3. Based on the principle of supply and demand. 4. Concentrates on specific market segments and time period. 5. Based on future bookings and booking forecast, using the yield management the hotel operators adjusts the hotel room price to achieve the optimum balance between supply and demand for the specific period.

CONTROL
y y y
-

-the objectives; a)To establish specific targets b) To monitor the performance c) To take corrective action -a no. of areas can and must be controlled. -F.O manager must be able to choose the necessary information and report. -the report will see by, senior managers, head office and every departmental manager.

<

the report must be accurate as well as adapted to the specific property & specific manager. <why? to avoid the problem of information overload.

needs of the

Typical set of reports Occupancy report

Particular
 summarizes the previous days occupancy rate

and average room rate  it can be broken down by room type ( manager can see which room types and rates were popular during a day/ period & which are not. Revenue report
 giving the total room revenue for the day  give the average room rate for the day( total room

revenue total no. of room sold)

The advantages of the report: y Help the manager to see if the department is meeting the set budget or if corrective action is needed. y Manager can identify which are the most popular rate and plan accordingly. y Breaks down the total revenue figure by method of payment (cash, credit card and vouchers) Arrival list (the name of suggests, a detailed list of the Detail list day s arrivals) Departure list (all the departures that are expected for the day) y The report will be generates by night shift include the night audit team. y The report, give an advantages to other department. y For example, departure list that the housekeeping department can use to organize personnel levels.

- Overall, all the lists serve the purpose of manual back up in the unfortunate case of a computer breakdown.
No a.) Reports VIP guest report Particular -includes arrival & departure information of VIP guest that arrive that day -For all arriving guests - Listing all the hotel rooms that are out of order -lists all the guests arriving that day & who have messages or parcels waiting -lists all maintenance work to be carried out during the day

b.) c.) d.)

special request report room out of order messages report

e.)

maintenance report

f.)

credit limit report

-Lists the credit limits that the hotels credit controller has allocated to each guest - List all the guests that are staying in the hotel - lists all rooms that are vacant - Guests with reservations that failed to show up him previous night

g.) h.) i.)

in-house guests report vacant room report No shows report

-2 main purposes :a.) They act as backup in the case of a computer failure b.) Hotel employees who do not work in an office such as maintenance personnel do not have constant access to this information.
-

Apart from cash and revenue is guest satisfaction. Hotel give guest satisfaction questionnaires for the purpose of getting feedback on customer satisfaction. The questionnaires are left in the guest s room and ask the guest to grade.

PERSONNEL
y Providing a god quality and effective service in

front office. y Proper and continuous training in collaboration with the previously mentioned control procedures. y The characteristic:a.) appropriate personnel levels b.) keeping the personnel motivated c.) having welfare and appraisal systems in place d.) ensuring career development possibilities

IT & EQUIPMENT
y Technological advances have changed the ways hotels operate, & emerging

technologies will continue that trend such as: a) sales force automation b) seamless reservation systems c) paperless mgkt d) interactive services y These systems integrate front office with all food & beverages outlets; reservations; central reservation; the accounts department; conference and banqueting; sales & mktg; & more. y The services are more efficient and enable them to provide a better service to hotel guests & not a replacement of traditional hospitality & personal contact y But technological equipment and computes cannot make a guest feel welcome.

y y The functions were grouped into 3 main categories:

Summaryhotel s F.O department. This chapter briefly discussed the functions of

social & psychological of F.O mgkt mgkt aspects

Operational aspects Of F.O

y The importance of the front office department stretches beyond

revenue generation and the communication centre of the hotel, coordinating all the other departments aiming to provide the hotel guests with a level of service that will meet, or even exceed, their expectations.