Save Time, Impress Guests
Building personal connections with guests is essential. The front desk offers ample opportunity to interact with and impress guests, which is pivotal for guest satisfaction.
Yet, too often, what can prevent authentic interactions is the incessantly ringing phone, the numerous emails asking about check-in time, and/or the uncertainty of procedures that can rob the front desk team of crucial face time with guests.
We have to cease each moment with guests.
Implementing systems and user-friendly operations for your front desk team will save them time and permit more opportunities for indulging a guest with local tips and advice, friendly conversation, or even better, an introduction to another guest also looking for something to do.
That is how we build dynamic communities.
A successful hostel will have a thriving community.
As an extra bonus, these shared time-saving practices are twofold. They streamline front desk operations, AND can also ensure top-notch communications across all platforms and users.
Implement these strategies to save time allowing for more community building, and ensuring a strong brand voice, even in the most hectic times.
Install Grammarly
Eliminate abbreviated text convos.
Struggling to maintain professional outgoing communications? Grammar and punctuation just aren’t as “important” to the mile-a-minute texting generation. On top of that, hostels have to survive high staff turnover picked from a pool of mostly entry-level workers.
This fix is easy: use Grammarly.**
**Grammarly is a cloud-based typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes. It uses artificial intelligence to identify and search for an appropriate replacement for the error it locates. [Wikipedia]
As your team manually types replies to guests, Grammarly automatically offers suggestions to ensure proper punctuation and spelling. With Grammarly, each email sent can follow basic grammar rules helping to build confidence in the professionalism of the hostel and staff prior to the guest’s arrival.
The free version is sufficient for a front desk’s needs. But if a brand voice is something your hostel struggles with, for a monthly fee, you can even build a profile that prompts Grammarly to suggest word choices and tone delivery, further supporting your brand voice.
Include a FAQ page on your website
A good FAQ page will accomplish these three things:
Answer guests’ FAQs.
Check-in time, luggage storage, parking, availability…be detailed in your responses, step-by-step directions if need be. The FAQs will need updating, and questions or answers may change. Keep the list current.
Impress your guest.
Guests will definitely check the FAQ website page before booking, so don’t miss the opportunity to excite them. Whether listing the amenities or sharing-friendly policies for early arrival, showcase your best reasons for booking a stay at your hostel.
Ensure brand voice.
Seize the opportunity to highlight your brand voice and market the hostel vibe to guests. Make it conversational while using keywords and descriptors.
The FAQ page on your website is pivotal in so many other ways.
Link to them in your email confirmations.
Post them as a highlight on your IG story.
Use them in your canned responses (see next tip!).
Canned Responses
Want to save even more time? Web-based email servers offer great options to automate your responses. Use canned responses and templates to cut your response time in half, and ensure a strong brand voice. Certainly, your team would appreciate having to type less!
Now your team members are free for more relationship-building with in-house guests.
Don’t forget to use your FAQs.
Turning common answers into canned responses or templates is as easy as a copy and pasting from the FAQs. Always receiving emails about early arrivals? Create a canned response. Are guests always emailing about parking options? Put the answer in a canned response. Anticipate your guest's needs, and create a canned response or template.
Raise the excitement by forming connections in every response.
An additional benefit of utilizing canned responses is the option to ensure brand voice. Build the hostel voice, whether it’s witty, classy, or friendly into the reply text and forge the vibe prior to arrival. And don’t forget to add additional links to your website or social profiles.
[Tip: Leverage your PMS to further mitigate the constant communication needs with your guests.]
Laminated & Detailed Checklists
Team members appreciate a good checklist.
Implementing checklists eliminates team members' uncertainty about what to do during a shift. Uncertainty will freeze team members and essential tasks may be missed. Ensuring the front desk operations are easily accessible and accounted for will help mold reception consistency.
Be specific.
Checklists serve as a clear and concise way to express expectations around shift tasks. When does the basement hallway get vacuumed? (You probably know the traffic schedule of your hostel very well.)
Voicemail Greeting
Does your phone ring incessantly?
It’s true, some people still make phone calls. Utilizing a voicemail greeting to summarize FAQs on checking in, parking options, or availability will save time and meet the guest where they are with their current needs. Satisfy your guests without running to answer a call. Instead, you can remain knee-deep in the laundry or share fun recommendations with in-house guests.
Empower your team
Front Desk is the Captain of the Ship.
Above all else, a thorough training program and strong internal communication will empower your team during unforeseen or uncomfortable moments. Most hostels have less than a handful of team members working during peak hours, and some barely with any team overlap. By utilizing the above best practices, you will minimize front desk tasks and increase team members’ time for providing indulgent guest service.
These are just a few of the best practices a hostel can implement to ensure team confidence and free them up to build those valuable relationships with in-house guests. Not to mention, ensuring consistency in hostel communications further solidifies your brand and entices prospective guests.