I was recently promoted to PBX Manager at a 4 diamond hotel.  Our service scores in PBX have been awful.  Can you help?

Thanks,

April

We can help.  Good phone skills are a lost art.  If you are experiencing poor scores when it comes to handling phone calls, focus on the basics.  The secret to PBX is consistency.  Here are some basic tips:

1.  Make it your goal to have every single phone call answered within 3 rings.  Test to make sure that it is happening.  Call the hotel during different times of the day and score each shift.  Don’t forget night audit.  We often call night audit and don’t get an answer even after 20 rings.

2.  Place a small mirror by every phone in the PBX office and teach every operator to answer every call with a smile in their voice.  If they have a smile in their voice, they also have a smile on their face…  hence the mirror.

Basics on answering external calls

All calls should be answered by using a greeting (good morning, good afternoon, good evening), announcing the name of the hotel, and announcing the name of the person answering the call, and an offer to help.  Example:  Good morning, thank you for calling the World’s Best Hotel, this is April, How may I help you?

The secret here is consistency.  The phone should be answered the same by every operator on every shift.

Basics on answering internal calls

Again, all calls should be answered by using a greeting (good morning, good afternoon, good evening), announcing the name of the department, and announcing the name of the person answering the call, and an offer to help.  Example:  Good morning, thank you for calling Guest Services, this is April, How may I help you?

This same format should be used by every person who answers a phone in the entire hotel.  It doesn’t matter if a guest calls the front desk, room service, or housekeeping.  Consistency is the key.

Also, when answering an internal call, you must use the guest’s name at least once during the call.  This is one of the most important keys to building loyalty.  Also, answering the phone by saying ‘good afternoon, Smith party’ does not count as using the guest’s name.  If your chain requires you to answer that way, that is fine but be sure to use the guest’s name at least one other time.  We prefer that you end every call with ‘thank you Mr. Smith’ or ‘my pleasure to connect you, Mr. Smith’.

How to transfer calls

Teach your team to say ‘my pleasure to connect you’ when transferring a call instead of ‘sure’ or ‘one moment’ or any other bad habits they are currently using.  It makes it clear to the guest that you are transferring the call.  Many times a simple question such as ‘do you have rooms available tonight?’ is answered with ‘one moment’ and then the call is transferred to a reservations automated attendant.  You must make it clear that you are transferring the call if you are not handling the request.

How to place guests on hold

The key to remember is to always ASK a guest to hold by saying ‘may I place you on hold for a moment?’ instead of ‘hold please’.  Try not to put the caller on hold more than one time during the call without an explanation such.

Should we use an automated attendant?

Automated attendants are fine as a second resort if all operators are busy but should never be the first option.  A caller should always get a real live person.  Hotels are service focused and it should show.  That is what separates us from calling Citibank or Microsoft Tech Support.  If you are tired of just transferring half of your calls to reservation and are tempted to put in an automated attendant, think again.  Spend the proper time in promoting your reservations phone number instead so calls go to the right place in the first place.

Have any tips of your own?  Post them below!  Have a question that you would like answered?  Post it below or send it to us via the contact page.

The solution is communication…  communication between associates and to the guest.  Here is how the ultimate arrival experience takes place:

A guest pulls up to the hotel and is immediately greeted by the valet attendant.The valet attendant welcomes the guest to the hotel and offers luggage assistance.  The valet attendant does the normal tasks such as filling out a luggage ticket and asking the guest his/her name.  The valet attendant loads up all of the luggage onto a bell cart and escorts the guest to the front entrance of the hotel.  The valet attendant is then ready to hand off the guest to the waiting bellman.

Here is where the first important communication is required.  The valet attendant should introduce the guest to the bellman and the bellman to the guest by saying something like “Mr. Smith, this is John.  He is going to assist you with the check in and then escort you up to your room”.  We also recommend that the valet attendant discretely hands the bellman a small card with the guest’s name on it.  Hopefully, the valet attendant got the guest name when the guest first pulled up.

Now the bellman can escort the guest to the front desk to check in.  Again, here is where communication is key.  The bellman should introduce the guest to the GSA and the GSA to the guest by saying something like “Hello Lisa, this is Mr. Smith.  He has a reservation for this evening.”  Again, the bellman can refer to the card the valet attendant gave him if the name is difficult.  Lisa can then handle the check in while the bellman waits off to the side.  Once the guest is checked in, the bellman is ready to escort the guest to the room.  The bellman can escort the guest to the room, tell the guest about the hotel’s amenities, and thank him/her for staying at the hotel. 

Among the highlights of the ultimate arrival experience:

• The valet attendant, the bellman, and the GSA all used the guest’s name twice for a total of six times before the guest even gets to the room.  The guest will immediately feel expected, respected and like a VIP.
• The guest only had to tell one associate his/her name.  This will truly make the guest feel valued as a repeat guest.
• The guest will actually be introduced to the associates and see how they are working together to take care of him/her.  The guest will automatically know that if anything else is needed, he/she already met two or three associates that will take care of his/her needs immediately.

Now, compare that arrival experience to what our mystery shoppers experience most of the time.  The guest arrives at the hotel and is greeted by the valet attendant.  The valet attendant asks the guest for his/her name but does not use it.  The valet attendant calls the bellman to bring a bell cart.  The guest waits for the bellman.  The valet attendant does not introduce the bellman to the guest or tell the bellman the guest’s name.  The guest goes on his own to check in completely unsure of what is happening with his luggage.  The guest has to introduce himself again to the GSA.  The GSA checks him in and tells him how to get to the room.  The guest waits for the bellman to show up with the luggage and escort him to the room.

The way that most hotels operate valet parking and bell services, it is more of a hassle than a benefit.  It takes longer and is frustrating to have to keep explaining what you need to three different associates who do not communicate.  With this ultimate arrival experience, your arrival scores will soar.

Don’t forget; stay flexible to account for different business levels.  Here are a few more tips:

• If your hotel does not outsource valet parking, consider having the valet attendant handle the bell services as well.  Then a guest only has to work with one associate. 
• Make sure all three departments are also sharing information such as arrival lists and VIP lists.  It sounds like a no brainer but often the valet or bell team are completely out of the loop. 
• Find a solution for how the tips are handled.  Often tips get in the way of providing good service.  Valet attendants don’t want to do much work upon arrival because they will not get a tip.  Upon departure, bellman and valet attendants both hang around waiting for a tip.  It is very tacky.
• Avoid any duplication of duties.  If a bellman is escorting a guest to a room, the GSA should not mention the amenities at check in or tell the guest how to get to the room.  The bellman will have plenty of time during the elevator ride and walk down the hallway to explain everything.
• If you really want to go all out, have a PMS terminal for the bellman to use and allow them to check in their guest and completely skip the front desk all together.  Now that is the ultimate arrival experience!

There are some simple controls that every hotel should have, yet many hotels fail in these areas when internal audit comes around. Here are some highlights:

1. Make sure that the General Cashier does not perform any accounts payable or accounts receivable functions. This is especially tough in small hotels that may only have one employee in their accounting office. In a small hotel, we recommend having the Sales Admin or Front Desk Manager be the General Cashier… anyone who does not do A/P or A/R. If a General Cashier has access to A/P or A/R, it makes it incredibly easy to steal cash.

2. Require the General Cashier to take a vacation each year and have their job functions assumed by another associate. Quite often, a cashier will not want someone else to handle their job duties or to take a vacation at all. This is often a red flag that the cashier is committing fraud and afraid of someone looking closely at his/her work.

3. Make sure that every bank in the hotel (including the main safe) is audited on a surprise basis at least once per month. This one is the most basic of basic controls yet many hotels do not do this. They typically find out of a cash shortage when an employee with a bank is terminated. This is especially important when it comes to the main safe. If it is not audited frequently on a surprise basis, it makes it so much easier for the cashier to steal or borrow money.

4. The drop safe should require two people to open. We like the drop safes that need a key and a combination. The combination should be kept by the General Cashier and the key should be kept by a separate person.

5. All deposits should be removed with a witness present and immediately logged. The deposits should be logged with a witnessed in case an envelope is missing.

6. Bank deposits should be made every day via armored car service. Do not allow your General Cashier to skip days and keep cash on hand. This makes it easier to commit fraud. Also, make sure that your deposit is picked up by armored car and not taken to the bank by the General Cashier.

7. Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable employees should never handle cash or checks. Do not allow the A/P employee to receive checks in the mail. The checks should be received and logged by someone other than the General Cashier or A/R employee. We prefer an Administrative Assistant to handle this or have the checks sent directly to your bank lock box. Also, the A/P or A/R employee should not handle cash, including petty cash.

Again, these are just the basics of control. There is more information available in the HFTP Study Guide for the CHAE Exam. More information is available at http://www.hftp.org/ or your local HFTP Chapter.

If you would like an Internal Audit performed by Five Diamond Hospitality, please call or email us by clicking on contact us.