1. Welcome to Reception Academy Day 2
© Hospitality Training & Recruitment Ltd.
Welcome to Reception Academy
Day 2 1

2. What we will cover today
© Hospitality Training & Recruitment Ltd.
What we will cover today
Telephone Answering and Message Handling
Departments we work with
The Jigsaw
Comfort break
What is expected of an exceptional hotel receptionist
Welcoming guests
The Loyalty Programme 2

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Telephone Answering
Message Handling 3

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Telephone Answering
After how many rings should a phone latest be answered?
Internal call from another department:
“Good morning / good afternoon / good evening, reception this is...
( Name of receptionist ). How may I help you?
Internal call from a guest bedroom:
“Good morning / good afternoon / good evening “Guest name”, thank you
for calling Reception this is ... ( Name of receptionist ).
How may I help you? 4

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Telephone Answering
External call:
“Good morning / good afternoon / good evening thank you for calling
the....( Hotel Name ). You have come through to... ( Name of receptionist ).
How may I connect your call?
How to put a call on hold?
How to transfer a phone call? “Introduced” and “Blind transfer”
Calls for the General Manager?
How to handle a call when you have a guest in front of you? 5

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Message Handling
What sort of information do you require when taking a message over
the phone?
Who is calling? (Full name of caller)
When was message taken? (Date & Time)
For whom is the message? (Full name of guest)
What are the callers contact details?
The message itself (Is a call back expected / Will caller call again ) 6

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The Extra Step
If you wish to cover these topics in more depth and practice them
Reception Academy provides pro-active & interactive online courses
By completing it you would improve your listening & understanding skills
You would feel more comfortable and more accurate while taking messages
This is an extra step to become even more Exceptional Receptionists
Those are qualifications that you can promote when attending interview 7

8. Departments we work with
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Departments we work with 8

9. Departments we work with
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Departments we work with
Housekeeping (HK)
Sales & Marketing
Finance
Maintenance
Food & Beverage (F&B)
Restaurant
Bar
Room Service (R/S)
Kitchen
Conference & Banqueting (C&B)
Front of House (FOH)
Reception
Concierge
Switchboard
Executive Lounge
GSM / GRM
Revenue
Individual Reservations
Group Reservations
Conference & Events (C&E)
Spa / Gym / Swimming Pool
Security, IT, H&S
Any Other Outlets
Human Resources 9

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The Jigsaw 10

11. Departments we work with
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Departments we work with
How can we communicate effectively with other departments?
Face to face handover and handover sheets
Morning meetings
Traces
Telephone 11

12. What makes an exceptional receptionist
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What makes an exceptional receptionist
Delivers personal service
Exceeds guest expectations
Anticipates guest needs
Contributes new ideas to improve service
Keeps up with trends and technology
Attends industry related exhibitions
Gets involved i.e. joins Institute of Hospitality, Hotcat and LinkedIn
A truly exceptional receptionist sees the bigger picture and is able to
inspire others to be at their best every day. 12

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Welcoming Guests 13

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Welcoming Guests
Have you been welcomed somewhere lately? What was it like?
Why is a good welcome so important?
- first thing you usually hear
- sets the tone for the rest of the conversation
- the single most important thing that sets us apart from the competition
What should a good welcome look like?
- look at the guest, stop any other work for that moment, be attentive
- honest and genuine smile
- be the first to greet: Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, How may I help?
- say – “Welcome” or “Welcome Back” 14

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Welcoming Guests
How do you welcome a guest who is waiting to be served?
- warm and sincere smile
- acknowledge the guest with eye contact
- say “ I will be with you shortly”
- when the guest comes to desk, start with “Thank you for waiting”
Each welcome should be followed by a light conversation.
What could you ask?
- “How are you today?” “How was your day so far?”
- “How was your trip?” or “How was your journey?”
- “What brings you to our hotel?” or “What brings you to London?” 15

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Welcoming Guests
Different guests expect a different welcome & different sort of conversation
- Business guests – “Welcome” or “Welcome back” – short conversation
- Leisure guests – ask about their plans during their stay
- Families - ask about their plans during their stay, pay attention to kids
- VIP’s – greeted by Manager – escorted to the room
- Celebrities – greeted by Sales Manager – escorted to the room
- Politicians – have usually no contact with staff, tight security
- Royalty – greeted by General Manager – usually no contact with staff
- Very loyal guests – with a hand shake, welcome drink, use of guest name 16

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Loyalty Programmes 17

18. What questions do you have?
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What questions do you have? 18

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Thank you 19