DEALING WITH ENQUIRIES

Attitude

Whether it is in person, on the telephone or by letter, first impressions count. How you communicate could make the difference between the success and failure of your business.

Always appear presentable, cheerful and helpful when answering the door. Answer your telephone with a greeting such as ‘The Bourne Hotel, good morning, how can I help you?’ Immediately the right impression is given, your courtesy and desire to help are apparent. Potential guests will feel you care and will respond favourably.

There are still far too many hoteliers who adopt an uncaring and rude approach. Don’t be one of them, even if you have had a rough day. As with day-to-day dealings with guests, never let your problems become theirs. Insist on your staff adopting the same attitude as you do.

Answerphone

Since it is unlikely you will have a receptionist always on duty, an answerphone can cover times you cannot answer the telephone personally unless, of course, you can divert calls to your mobile phone. Any answer is better than none at all – and a booking may result. But the message must be right. Don’t let your potential guests be put off by the sort of dreadful recorded message you often hear.

There will always be those who put the receiver down the moment they hear a recorded message start, often because they can’t bring themselves to talk to a machine. Show such people you recognise the problem and you just may stop them ringing the next hotelier on their list.

Whatever you do, don’t record a message that is cold, impersonal or gives the impression you have one foot in the grave. And make sure your answerphone picks up calls promptly and delivers your message clearly and accurately with nothing cut off the beginning or the end.

Case study

Andrew Bright, using a lively voice, recorded the following message for the Bourne Hotel answerphone.

‘Hello. Of course you don’t like talking to a machine. Nor do I! But we can’t always be free to answer calls in person, so please don’t hang up. This is Andrew Bright of the Bourne Hotel, Surfbourne, and if you would like to leave a message please do so. If not, just say your name and phone number after the tone signal and we will call you back as soon as we can. Thank you for calling us.’ (Bleep.)

Requests for brochures/details

Make sure that every request for information is dealt with straight away, especially if you rely to a large extent on advertising through brochures. Send them out with a first class stamp by the next post, even if you have to hot-foot it down to the postbox.

People often request brochures from a few hotels the same day. Make sure yours is the first to arrive. In your haste, however, avoid the use of ‘with compliments’ slips. They smack of impersonality. Just a short letter, thanking the client for their enquiry and inviting further contact if they have any queries, is all that is required.

Many people feel that if a simple request for a brochure cannot be dealt with promptly, the hotelier doesn’t care whether a booking is made or not. You need to be seen to care.

Taking bookings

Since a computerised registration system is usually too complicated for a small establishment, a chart is absolutely essential for entering records of bookings. Get a system set up from the outset. Use either A4 or A3 (double A4 size) sheets, one for each month, and fix them into a folder. It will not always be convenient to go to the same spot to check a chart that is stuck to the wall.

The moment a booking is made, use other sheets at the front of the folder and take a note of:

• the date and time
• the person’s name, address and telephone number
• how they heard of you
• the dates of the booking (as verified on your chart)
• the number of persons
• the rooms allocated
• the deposit required (leaving space for the invoice number and date it is received)
• any relevant remarks or requests.

As you confirm the dates and the accommodation you have allocated, enter the name on your booking chart in pencil, clearly marking the nights of stay and the meal arrangements. As soon as the deposit is received, make out an invoice (see page 120), enter the number and date on your booking form and ink in the name on the chart. (People do change their minds, especially before a deposit is sent.)

Account for the cash received, make out a confirmation and send it to the client with a short covering letter wishing them a safe journey and looking forward to meeting them.

Finally transfer the name, address, telephone number and dates into your A4 indexed book (see page 79) together with your entry number. As well as being your permanent entry for making remarks about your guests’ special fads, it will serve as an index for the year’s bookings.

Typical entries in your booking chart folder could look like those in Figures 30 and 31. It may at first glance seem like a lot of work but it takes only a few minutes, especially since your booking confirmations will be pre-printed and you will have a proper record second to none.

No hard and fast rule can be laid down about whether or not you should take only complete weekly bookings, say, Saturday to Saturday. In some resorts, virtually every hotelier sticks to this format, particularly in the main summer season. You will have to be guided by what is the norm for your location and what the demand is. It will be difficult to get it right all the time but bear in mind that taking a Sunday to Sunday booking in the main season could leave a room or, worse still, rooms vacant for the first Saturday night and for the Sunday to Friday of the following week.

Telephone sales enquiries

Almost as often as you get calls inviting you to advertise, you will get those trying to make appointments for reps to call and try to sell you new kitchens, double glazing and so on. The time wasted on these calls could be losing you bookings. Cut them off.

Staying sane

How to deal with complaints

‘But if I work hard at impressing my guests, I won’t get complaints, will I?’ Unfortunately you will. ‘There’s always one’, as the saying goes. When you work extremely hard at trying to impress everyone, it is very upsetting to get a complaint.

Never be other than courteous, no matter how unjustified you think it may be. But don’t make out you’re in the wrong if you believe the opposite. ‘I’m sorry you felt obliged to complain’, or ‘I’m sorry if our choice of ... was not to your liking’, is as far as you should go. Unfortunately, some guests take a delight in complaining and if they find you are a pushover, your life won’t be worth living.

On the other hand, if you or any of your staff are in the wrong, admit it. If it helps smooth things over, give what concession you can. Never use staff as a scapegoat because what employees do is down to you. (Ask yourself if you’ve trained them correctly.)

Don’t forget to make a note in your record book of professional complainers. You might find you’re full next time they want to make a booking!

Know the law and comply with it

Your guests will come from many walks of life. The chances are you won’t know when a policeman, or tax inspector, or customs officer, or... stays with you. A few in that type of occupation take a sadistic pleasure in informing on others, and if you continually flout the law sooner or later you will get an unwelcome visitor who could be instrumental in putting you out of business.

Keep up to date with the law as it affects you, comply with it and don’t fear the knock on the door.

Don’t take on more than you can cope with

If you become stressed, no one will benefit. Ill health will catch up with you sooner or later. Of course you should concern yourself about your guests and how your business is going, but if to comply with a request will worry you, say ‘no’. Everyone has limitations. Know yours.