When I started writing this blog, the first thing that came to my mind was the ‘missed flight’ incident from 2019.
I was in Mumbai for an event. I remember asking the hotel concierge service to help me with airport drop hours before my flight. But, he couldn’t arrange a cab.
The problem was not him being unable to book a cab, rather, it was not informing me beforehand.
By the time my cab was booked, it was late, and I missed my flight.
The good part
Amid all the unfortunate events, what I appreciated was the hotel’s concern.
The concierge called me up to check whether I could board the flight. When I said I missed it and my next flight is tomorrow, I was told that he had a word with the manager. They are offering me to stay at the hotel for free.
Even though I had to go through some hustle and bustle, this gesture by the hotel lightened my mood.
This article is a great opportunity for me to address this along with the trouble the hotel and I experienced. Let’s dive into the topic and understand how can hotels improve their concierge services.
Table of Content
- What is a Hotel Concierge?
- How to Improve Concierge Service in a Hotel?
- Automate the mundane tasks
- Train the concierge to make a solid first impression
- Improve guest communications
- Analyze and determine guests’ demands
- Address even the tiniest query
- Let the concierge get involved in other aspects
- Adopt a people-service-profit philosophy
- Make better hiring decisions for concierge services
- Have an effective concierge roster
- FAQs
- A Little Something About the Concierge Profession
What is a Hotel Concierge?
A hotel concierge is the first point of contact between guests and the hotel. Its job is to assist guests with queries.
If you’re still confused and wondering what does a hotel concierge do, here are some of the duties:
- Answering guest inquiries
- Directing phone calls
- Coordinating travel plans
- Making dinner reservations
- Acquiring tickets for events
- Preparing and displaying beverage options
- Assisting with on-site events, such as corporate retreats
- Directing guests to hotel amenities
How to Improve Concierge Service in a Hotel?
This isn’t rocket science; there are various ways to improve concierge. All you have to do is tweak certain processes and tasks.
The points mentioned below are for both hoteliers and concierges. So, if a hotelier is reading this blog, do pass on the information to your ushers.
1. Automate the mundane tasks
In my previous blog on labor shortage, I had talked about an incident where I couldn’t find an usher to ask the way to the pet play area.
The solution I proposed in that blog is to deploy a virtual assistant. When a bot can guide guests with direction or answer generic queries easily, what’s the need to assign a human for that task?
Not to mention, a machine is much more efficient; it can handle multiple queries at a time and deliver solutions in seconds.
Hoteliers must understand that automation today is an integral part of a hotel. If they want to up their game, they must inculcate it in the concierge segment.
2. Train the concierge to make a solid first impression
The importance of concierge in a hotel is of utmost. S/he is one of those employees of a hotel that is trusted with accountability and is responsible for person-to-person interactions.
Therefore, an usher must set the right first impression.
They must be trained in ways to portray himself/herself as a role model for service excellence.
A guest would never want to interact with someone who isn’t confident. Like I said above, even if a task is challenging, the concierge must deal with it in an authoritative manner.
3. Improve guest communications
Now, being confident is one thing, but a concierge must also possess strong soft skills when communicating with guests.
A concierge speaks with guests all day, so s/he must speak clearly and maintain a positive note. Additionally, be a good listener.
You can never solve a problem if you aren’t all ears. You have to first understand what exactly the guest query or the guest demand is, and then come to the rescue.
Also Read: How to Handle Hotel Guest Complaints?
4. Analyze and determine guests’ demands
This point is for the hotels. To improve your hotel’s concierge services, dig your old guests’ data and see the common queries they had. Further, match it with the current demands.
It will give you a clear understanding of how and why guest preferences are changing. Over and above, it will help your hotel staff to be prepared with solutions for some common or obvious queries.
Faster the solution, the better the experience.
5. Address even the tiniest query
One thing you must take out of your conscious/subconscious mind is judging a problem.
A query is a query. There’s nothing called a small problem. If a guest walks up to you and asks, “where’s the loo?”, address it with the same level of sincerity.
This is one of the most underrated, but imperative qualities of a hotel concierge.
6. Let the concierge get involved in other aspects
A concierge should be like the jack and master of all trades. S/he should be able to handle other jobs as well.
Therefore, hotel management must involve them in training for other roles.
In job posting or cross-resource utilization is also something that comes into play. Training your concierge with other roles (meaning, equipping them with a secondary skillset) allows them to jump into another role in a pinch when needed.
Learn more.
7. Adopt a people-service-profit philosophy
What’s the purpose of deploying a concierge desk in a hotel?
Is it to gain profit? Or, is it about offering a better experience?
The answer to this question solves several things for you. If the former one is your philosophy, it’s time to shift to the latter.
So, inculcate the People-Service-Profit (PSP) philosophy.
Meaning:
- Create a positive working environment for the staff
- The staff will provide better service quality to guests
- In return, get more business
8. Make better hiring decisions for concierge services
While you can train your staff and tweak processes, you must also understand that it is important to hire the right candidate. If you can do that, you’re halfway through.
The recruitment and selection process in the hotel industry isn’t effective. This isn’t a new hurdle; the industry has been facing recruiting challenges for a long time. And there are several reasons for it.
Therefore, that’s the first thing you need to fix in your hotel.
I recently wrote a detailed blog on how hoteliers can make better hiring decisions. You can read it and get a clear picture.
9. Have an effective concierge roster
This is underrated. Not many people talk about the importance of having a proper roster in place.
There are many reasons some hotel businesses end up getting bad reviews. And one of them is the wrong employee for the wrong task.
It goes the same way for your hotel concierge service. If you want to provide the best experience, you have to ensure productivity and efficiency in your ushers, and that can be achieved by investing in the right workforce.
This is where a roster comes into the frame.
A good roster for concierge helps a hotel in ensuring that each shift has enough staff to keep things running efficiently.
If you’re still wondering if a roster is really important, let me tell you, it has EVERYTHING to do with making your hotel the best.
FAQs
A hotel concierge’s job role includes several tasks. Some of them are answering guest inquiries, directing phone calls, coordinating travel plans, making reservations for guests, booking entertainment tickets, arranging cabs and more.
Yes, almost every hotel can have a concierge. However, it depends on the hotel whether they have the need.
You can have a 24-hour concierge if there’s a need in the hotel. A virtual concierge is the best suited for this role as it can work round the clock and can answer multiple queries in seconds.
Technology plays a role in every hotel’s operation. It can benefit a hotel concierge service by automating mundane tasks. Meaning, a human concierge will have more time to focus on interacting with guests and deliver a good experience.
One of the best examples of such technology is a chatbot.
A concierge, one way or the other, represents your hotel brand. Whenever s/he assists a guest and helps with queries, it’s the hotel that gets the good name.
A Little Something About the Hotel Concierge Profession
In this blog, I have tried to cover everything from “what does a hotel concierge do” to solutions on “how to improve hotel concierge services”. And I hope it helps you.
Now, there’s something I have for guests as well.
A concierge in the hospitality industry is often stationed alone at a desk or podium. Their role is to assist hotel guests, but it’s hazily misunderstood by guests.
Not just that. There are a set of rude people. One slight mistake and the usher gets to hear a lot of arguments from guests. This is a big challenge in this profession.
Guests need to understand that mistakes do happen. But snapping at someone is not the solution.
If you notice, no matter what, a concierge will never say ‘NO’. Even if we assign them challenging tasks or throw a rude attitude, they do their best to turn it around quickly.
In my case itself, despite my not-so-great experience with a concierge, I love that profession. I know he missed a task but did try to assist me. And when I was leaving, he could let it go but chose to be creative with the challenge, nullifying the negative experience.
These folks work hard to make guests happy by assisting them positively. A little appreciation for their work is the best we can do.
