STAFF

All the following information should be true of any staff you hire – from the casual who comes in once a fortnight to help clean, to a full-time chef, if you are the proprietor of a larger establishment.

Do not rush into hiring staff, for in the first few years of a non-established Bed & Breakfast you will gain considerable cost savings if you can do much of the work yourself. It is also much easier to manage staff if you have the experience of doing their type of work.

If you decide you need to hire labour you need to consider the following:

• Work out a job description with clear duties and expectations.
• Ensure that your employees understand exactly what is expected of them and that you will be performance managing them to those criteria.
• Obtain a copy of any union agreement or award from the appropriate union body.
• Develop a win-win agreement where performance will be monitored regularly and rewarded appropriately. If you need to performance manage you will then have an appropriate forum in which to do so. The ability to retain employees will serve you in good stead for the future.
• Ask your staff to bring feedback to their performance appraisals – from you or your partner, from a fellow staff member and from a guest or supplier.
• Train your staff regularly on different areas of your business. Everyone should have training on customer service and occupational health and safety.

Hold a weekly staff meeting for general news and information and for everyone to have their say. Use this forum to update your staff on your business goals and performance. This is also a great time to recognise and reward employees who are performing well.

ENTERING A GUEST BEDROOM

Even though it may be a room in your house, while guests are paying for accommodation, it is their room. There may be a time, however, during a guests’ stay that you may need to enter their bedroom, to make their beds, etc.

To avoid any possible embarrassment to either party you should follow a few simple and easy rules.

Always knock on the door and wait for an answer. If after 20 seconds there is no reply knock again. If again there is no answer you should call out a greeting ‘Good morning/afternoon’ and enter the room. If you are there to clean the room and your guests are still there, ask them if they wish you to come back later. Don’t ever knock on a room that has a ‘Do not disturb’ sign displayed. It is a good idea to provide these in all rooms for your guests’ use – it helps you as a signal on whether or not they wish to be disturbed.

Some B&Bs advise their guests that the host’s normal procedure is to stay out of their room unless the guest has a specific need that requires someone to go in there.

GUEST BEHAVIOUR

You have some liberties here if your Bed & Breakfast is also your home. You have the right to set rules such as how much alcohol can be consumed, noise levels, etc. How you monitor this, and to what length you wish to go is a more difficult question.

The main reason you may want to comment on a guest’s behaviour is if it is disturbing you or other guests, if you suspect damage to your property, or if you suspect some illegal activity is occurring.

If you have to confront your guests about their behaviour you should do so in person, and in private. If the problem is occurring in the guest bedroom approach your guest there. Don’t enter the room, but conduct your conversation at the door, and try not to sound judgemental. Instead, gently advise your guest of the nature of the complaint and the suggested appropriate behaviour. Thank them for their time and excuse yourself.

If the guest’s behaviour does not improve you need to follow up your concern with the guest. Explain to the guest that it is your policy that the comfort of all of your guests is paramount, and that one individual guest cannot disturb the peace of others. Ask for the guest to show consideration to their fellow guests.

In most cases this will be enough, however in rare cases you may have to ask the guest to leave. If they refuse you will need to contact the police. If you have the unhappy experience of this happening you need to ensure that you are discreet in your handling of the affair, and keep the disturbance of any other guest to a minimum.

If on entering a room you find damage to your property you should make a report of it and add it to your guest’s bill. If the guest has already checked out you should forward an account of the damage to the offender.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

It rarely occurs in the Bed & Breakfast environment, but you may, at some time, be the victim of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is an unwanted sexual advance, a request for sexual favours, or any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment is not mutual attraction between two parties. Sexual harassment is against the law.

Under the Sex Discrimination Act, management has a duty to prevent sexual harassment and you, the employer, may be responsible if it occurs to one of your employees unless all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent it.

If you are being harassed you need to make your objections very clear to the harasser. Make a diary note about it. If the harasser tries to make fun of you or acts unaware, repeat clearly your objection and your wish that it will cease immediately. If it continues and the harasser is in your employ, that is sufficient reason for dismissal. You must contact the police if it is a criminal offence such as rape. That said, we have not heard of one case around the world where a staff member of a Bed & Breakfast has been the victim of any form of assault by a guest.

NEIGHBOURS

Your neighbours’ feelings about your Bed & Breakfast venture are going to be a key to your success. They are going to be near you every day of the year, not just during the fleeting stays of your visitors.

They are not getting any financial benefit from your venture so you need to ensure that you minimise any impact on them. There are a few things you can do to make this relationship easier:

• Make sure that your guests are aware of any rights of way and do not block your neighbours’ access, and make sure your guests know where your property ends and your neighbour’s property begins.
• Try to ensure that you follow disturbance rules regarding noise.
• Take the time to get to know your neighbours.
• Take them one of the treats you make your guests occasionally, or invite them in for coffee. Little gestures like this will pay off.

COMPLAINTS

It is human nature. Occasionally you are going to have a customer who believes your best is not good enough. You need to use these complaints to your advantage; they are valuable feedback, which will enable you to refine your product. You will find that very few people will complain, but when you investigate you may find that other guests feel the same way. Every complaint will be different. You need to ensure that your establishment has a procedure for dealing with complaints, which everyone understands.

A correctly handled complaint can actually increase goodwill in your business. If you don’t train your employees in dealing with complaints you could in effect serve to amplify the problem to a level that could substantially damage your business.

The following are some guidelines you should consider in your handling of complaints.

Don’t underestimate the power of listening

Look your guest directly in the eye, face them and listen to what they have to say. It is often a good idea to offer your guest a seat. Sit down as well; you do not want to seem intimidating.

Do not take the complaint personally

Your guest will often be upset with a situation, not with you. Speak quietly. This works very well if your guest is raising their voice. Their volume will be unconsciously lowered to match yours.

Apologise

A statement like ‘I am sorry you feel that way’ does not admit fault but acknowledges your guest’s feelings. Do not make excuses or trivialise the complaint. The customer only wants to know you are taking the grievance seriously. Avoid being drawn into a right and wrong argument. Even if you win the argument, you will end up the loser if you make the guest feel trivialised.

Deal with the complaint in a timely manner

If you need to investigate the matter further, ask your guest’s permission to do so. While you are investigating offer your guest a cup of coffee.

If the complaint is about a meal, replace it. No questions asked. Bad food will leave a bad taste in your guest’s mouth in more ways than one.

Keep control of the situation

The more unreasonable and irate your guest may be the more important it is that you stay cool, calm and collected. You need to look at the encounter as a challenge – who can be the calmest, wins. Adopt a constructive businesslike attitude. This will help move the sphere of the encounter from emotion to reason.

Never patronise or humiliate a guest

This can have disastrous results, and in the event that the mistake was yours or a member of your staffs, you will be the one who will be humiliated.

Follow up

Ensure that your guest was happy with your decision. Sometimes we believe we have settled a matter appropriately, only to find out, too late, that the guest was not at all happy. You must clarify the situation for mutual satisfaction.

The next step

Fixing complaints in the short term is one thing, fixing the long-term problem is just as important. In order to analyse complaints you need to put yourself in your guest’s shoes and then ask yourself the following questions.

• Is the complaint justified? Is it a disagreement with your establishment’s policy or with a matter of principle?
• Is the complaint genuine? Is it the result of a unique situation, a personality clash, or a genuinely difficult customer? (Trust us – they do exist.)
• Is it the first time you have heard the complaint, or is this complaint a frequent one?
• Is it a problem with a person or a system?
• Is it a trivial matter that has grown in size or intensity because of neglect?

After analysing the answers to the above you need to set up a process to prevent it from happening again. If the complaint was about a person other than yourself, you need to address the problem immediately. Use the same principles of listening and empathy that you used with your guest. Ensure, however, your staff member understands the importance of guest happiness in your business.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FEEDBACK

As we have said before, feedback, both positive and negative, can be the most important tool in the ongoing success of your business. Most guests won’t express dissatisfaction directly to you, but would be most happy to fill in a questionnaire.

You can leave the questionnaire in the bedroom, accompanied by a thank you letter and a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Your guest is given the option of leaving the questionnaire or posting it, or sending it by email after their stay. This action will demonstrate you are interested in their considered comments.

As an incentive for filling in the questionnaire, you could offer your guests a bonus, such as ‘Stay three nights, get one free’, and advise them of cooking schools, fishing weekends, gourmet dinners, family fortnights, etc., that they may wish to take advantage of.

You can also advise them of events in your local community they might be interested in and any changes you may have made to your establishment (the addition of a spa bath in one of the bedrooms, for example).

Make sure your phone is manned as much as possible as most guests want to speak to the proprietor of a Bed & Breakfast, at some stage, before they book. How you conduct yourself during that conversation will often determine whether or not you clinch the booking. Don’t let your personal worries intrude into your telephone manner. You must always sound as if you haven’t a care in the world, and you’re the warmest, most caring and hospitable person imaginable. That doesn’t mean that you have to pour on the syrup with a ladle – insincerity will work against you as much as being grumpy. Just be pleasant, ready to please, and – be yourself.

If you have to set the answering machine, and most of us do at some time, do record a message that reflects your character. Don’t leave some morbid tone that would be more appropriate for a funeral parlour! If you can, make it mildly humorous, or something that reflects the service you offer. If you’re not confident you can record a good message – get someone who can.

Try to think of ways you can supplement your Bed & Breakfast income. If you have a historic house perhaps you can open it for public inspection. Garden open days are also very popular. If your garden is your pride and joy you may be able to take part in your community’s open programme each a year. You can charge admission, which you can pour back into maintaining the garden. If you have a beautiful front parlour you may be able to hire it out to community groups for their monthly meetings.

You many need to be resourceful in the first few years to build both positive word of mouth acknowledgement and for your income generation.