Front Office Definition and Function
The reception is also called the nerve center of a hotel. It can be defined as a façade of the housing department located around the lobby and lobby of a hotel company. Since this department is located around the hotel lobby and is visible to guests, guests and visitors, they are collectively referred to as the “front office”. The night auditor takes care of the reception tasks as well as the accounting partly during the night shift. He is accountable to the heads of both departments, Front Office and Accounting. The reception staff must communicate with the staff of the same as well as with all other departments of the hotel. This is called internal communication. It is mainly based on the PBX or IP PBX system. As you can see, your front office service plays a key role in creating a good impression.
Hotel trends may change, but a hotel front desk still needs to maintain smooth and friendly interactions with guests. In addition, the organizational chart shows hierarchical relationships, scope of management and employee/hierarchical functions. The organization chart of the reception department differs depending on the size of the hotel. See here A key function of the front desk – and its staff – is to help guests feel comfortable. When you walk through the doors of a hotel or lounge for the first time, it can be comforting to hear a warm “hello” from an employee with a friendly expression. It can also be reassuring to be told to have a good day when you leave. The reception should aim to give guests a sense of relaxation and security. The area of the office that takes responsibility for interacting with existing or new customers of the company is called the front office. This section also covers the tasks of sales and marketing departments, as well as the provision of after-sales services. Employees must have good skills to be part of this team.
Verification is nothing more than conducting a financial inspection of the organization. For a hotel company, financial management starts at the front office. The exact booking of reservations on guest folios starts in the front office, which is passed on to the back-office accounting. Guest accounts are verified daily during the audit. During your stay, you can make various requests, which will be processed by the reception. They may need extra bedding or toiletries, or may want to understand how to use systems such as heating, air conditioning, or entertainment systems. You may also need to report problems with their parts, such as items that aren`t working properly or dirty items. When guests arrive at the hotel, the front desk staff hands over the CRM to the guest to fill in the information.
In the case of VIPs, the staff enters the information on the card and receives the customer`s signature. It is important that all these processes run smoothly. The functions of a receptionist extend to other aspects of the guest experience: recommending local attractions, helping plan excursions and activities, and educating guests about hotel services and all on-site activities. Communication with the Food and Beverage Department – Because the reception service is where guests talk about their food and beverage needs during the booking process, the front desk often needs to communicate with the Food and Beverage departments. Communication necessarily concerns both verbal language and body language. Here are some do`s and don`ts that front office employees follow when communicating – At the conceptual level, many companies are divided into three parts: the front office, the middle office, and the back office. While the front office is responsible for sales and customer service functions, the middle office is responsible for risk management and business strategies, and the back office provides analysis, technical and administrative support services. At the time of the customer`s departure, the reception staff will thank the customer for the opportunity to serve and organize luggage. If the customer needs an airport or other drop-off service, the doorbell desk at the front desk will cater for this. The reception staff records all transactions between the guest and the hotel on the folio.
The folio opens with a zero initial balance. The folio balance then increases or decreases depending on the transaction. At check-out, the balance of the payment must be reset to zero upon payment. Front-office communication includes not only verbal or textual communication, but also employee body language. The front office represents the customer-oriented department of a company. For example, customer service, sales, and industry professionals who provide consulting services are considered part of a company`s front office operations. The guest can set up an automatic call that is notified at the PBX and PMS level. Even if the customer has set up an automatic call, it is the responsibility of the reception staff to give him a manual wake-up call to avoid inconvenience. The reception staff will not assign accommodation to the guest until registration is complete.
The employee enters the accommodation number in the PMS and briefly describes the positive characteristics. If a hotel guest wants to know when the restaurant closes on-site, the employee should also be able to respond. If an individual requires additional assistance, a front desk employee should be able to refer them immediately to a supervisor or manager for additional information. The back office includes administrative assistants, human resources and accounting staff. IT and technology services are also critical to the success of back-office operations. In a financial services company, technology in the form of predictive analytics and algorithms plays a central role. Morale among front desk employees can be poor because they do repetitive work and their salary is generally the lowest compared to other employees in the department. This is a very critical concern, as the interaction of these employees with customers will affect the productivity and performance of the company in one way or another. Hospitality is of a type that must provide its customers with a variety of services such as food, accommodation, transportation, leisure services, etc.
Since the front office goes a long way in coordinating the services that customers want, it needs a system that can help front office staff sell services and track them seamlessly and simultaneously. When guests come to the hotel, they are usually in an unfamiliar area. While guides and tourist information can be useful, they don`t replace actual local knowledge. Each team member working in the reception department must be equipped with sufficient local knowledge to help customers ask questions about the area. Once the accommodation has been assigned, reception staff will hand over the keys or computerised PIN keys to access the accommodation. The Internet has also given a boost to the hospitality industry. It allows the seamless management of a hotel`s offices in different locations and in their different departments. In the front office accounting area, fees are entered on the left side of the “T”.
You increase the account balance. Payments are written on the right side of the “T”. You reduce the account balance. All operations and front office areas are planned to facilitate transactions and customer services. The front office is also called the face of a company. Standard front office tasks include receiving customers, checking in, creating records, etc. The term “front office” originated in the early 20th century in the field of law enforcement. Those convicted of crimes or involved in criminal activity sometimes referred to the Office of the Chief of Police or the Office of the Chief Detective as the “Front Office” because it was the highest law enforcement establishment in a region. By the 1930s, the meaning of the term front office had evolved and was mainly used for the most critical employees of a company, such as management and executives. Since the front office is responsible for selling hotel rooms, this is an important driving force for revenue generation. Therefore, communication inside and outside the front office department must be lively and positive.
Nowadays, hotel technology is becoming more and more sophisticated and offers a number of advantages. State-of-the-art technology is now indispensable for the management of modern hotels. Software systems can streamline everything from managing incoming bookings to customer communications to managing multiple sales channels. Management of VIP events and events that take place at the hotel. General Manager`s Report – Each department of the hotel must send a daily sales report to the front desk. Based on their information, a departmental report is prepared for the Director General`s assessment. The general manager determines profitable departments and evaluates the success of sales and marketing. A hotel`s reception department has eight main management roles.
