Jason Webb:

I think the front desk, the front desk has to interact with the guests. You have to energize your front desk in order for them to gain information to pass back to the director of sales.

Melanie C.:

We definitely have to ask them about what their goals are. Are they looking to stay in the industry? Are they in this for a part-time position?

Jason Webb:

You have to energize the front desk to get them talking to the guests.

Melanie C.:

We have to explain to them, star reports, what our P and L’s are, everything that we’re doing in the industry, because if they don’t understand the business, how can they be effective in finding new business for the property?

Jason Webb:

A lot of times we leave the front desk kind of to their own devices. And we end up in that situation of, “are you staying on business, are you staying on leisure?”

Melanie C.:

What are we doing to motivate them? What kind of challenges are we creating with other front desk agents, or with other departments in the hotel?

Jason Webb:

You have to teach them to pick up on key pieces of information that the guests might give them. Looking at luggage tags, looking at business cards, the printed name on a credit card.

Melanie C.:

We have to explain to them what the numbers are. We have to explain to them reporting. We can’t just expect them to go into their position each day, work an eight hour shift, answer the phones and check people in.

Jason Webb:

All of that stuff, all of those little things add up to potentially bigger sales leads.