A Career in Front Office Management
Introduction to the Front Office Operations
Hospitality is an industry that includes restaurants, hotels, casinos, amusement parks, events, cruises, entertainment, and other tourism-related services. Providing customers with an excellent service is the primary goal of all hospitality departments and their executives as they focus on creating high-standard services and environments for the purpose of making their customers feel welcomed at their establishments.
One such department or function in many hospitality establishments and in particular hotels is the front office. It is the first guest contact area. It is also called the nerve center of a hotel. It develops and maintains a comprehensive database of guest information, coordinates guest services, and ensures guest satisfaction. All the activities and areas of the front office are geared towards supporting guest transactions and services.
This department is one of the major operational and revenue-producing departments of the hotel. It generates revenue from the sale of the guest rooms by providing valuable services to the guests during the entire guest cycle consisting of pre-arrival, arrival, occupancy, and departure. Traditional front office functions include reservation, registration, room and rate assignment, guest services, room status, maintenance and settlement of the guest account, and creation of guest history records.
It is in this context that the role of a counter sales executive becomes important in the front office. Counter sales executives generally oversee activities that attract client patronage and maximum profit for hotels. Their job entails selling of hotel services to customers to generate revenue for the management. In performing their duties, counter sales executives make lists of potential clients and conduct surveys to discover customers who actively seek hotel services. They usually place calls or arrange meetings with potential clients to identify their requirements and needs.
They also prepare and present sales proposals to prospective clients, highlighting their hotel service features and qualities. Their role also involves providing customers with a list of available services and their accompanying prices; they may offer discounts as and when necessary. Sales executives at hotels are also responsible for addressing customer doubts and convince them to subscribe to their service. They assist clients in selecting the most appropriate service that meets their specification. Their work also involves overseeing the booking and reservation of space in a hotel and collaborating with other hotel staff to ensure clients have a good stay/event at the hotel.
Counter Sales Executive: Career Pathway
The counter sales executives are responsible for the following tasks:
- Understand the hotel’s business strategies and work towards goals assigned to him/her.
- Update action plans and financial objectives as per given frequency.
- Make lists of potential clients and conduct surveys to identify customers.
- Contact customers via calls or arranged meetings to discover their needs.
- Prepare and present sales proposal to potential clients, highlighting the hotel’s best features.
- Assist clients in selecting the most appropriate service that best meet their needs.
- Collaborate with other hotel staff to ensure clients have a good time.
- Monitor the customer service quality of the hotel to ensure customers are tended to appropriately.
- Identify new markets and business opportunities and increase sales.
- Represent the hotel in various events and exhibition.
The Competencies Needed by a Counter Sales Executive
The counter sales executive needs to demonstrate the following competencies in his/her work:
- Have active listening skills so as to understand what others are meaning to say.
- Should demonstrate outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
- Result orientation to get things done to meet commitments made.
- Leadership skills to be able to coordinate and supervise the activities of hotel staff as needed.
- Organizational skills to be able to organise events and coordinating hotel operations to ensure customer needs are met.
- Have customer relationship orientation to deliver service excellence throughout each customer experience.
- Should be able to put himself/herself in the customer’s shoes – practice empathy.
- Have a highly-developed ability to network in a genuine, authentic way.
| Education Pathway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | Post-Graduate | Some Colleges |
|
BBA (Hospitality Management) BBA (Hospitality and Tourism) BBA (Sales & Marketing) BBA |
MBA |
|
