Key Issue No 6

Trainer Manual

Key Issue N° 6 - Handling guest requests

Reliability weighs more than the price.

Andreas Mengen (German manager)


Key Issue N° 6 - Handling guest requests II M.Bredow /2004

ContentsContents IITrainer Information 1Training Unit Schedule 3Worksheets 14Slides 20Lots 24


Key Issue N° 6 - Handling guest requests 1 M.Bredow /2004


Trainer Information

For what reasons is handling guest requests so important?Each assignment we are given is an opportu-nity to strengthen our guests‘ confidence in us. John Wanamaker, the founder of the first large department stores in America, once said: „Fires, storms, earthquakes may destroy my building, my fixtures and furnishings and my goods - but I lose little if I still have my custo-mers‘ confidence.“Gerhard Neumann, an American manager of German origin, had this to say on the subject: „Many years of relations with our customers have taught me one thing: The main reasons for success were setting up a personal trust relationship, listening to the customer‘s opi-nion, keeping your promises, and the obsession of keeping or bettering commitments you have made.“

The process that builds up our guests‘ trust begins when we accept an assignment. In some cases a basis of confidence can also be esta-blished by refusing to take on an assignment we cannot fulfil and helping the customer to find a suitable alternative.

Key Issue No. 6 deals in particular with assignments we take on within the Hotel, i.e. situations in which the guest is waiting for something. The issue of outside assignments is dealt with in more detail in Key Issue No. 2. Accepting an assignment correctly is important as it provides the basis for ensuring that the guest actually obtains the service or product he expects.

If this first link in our service chain is weak, it is not unusual for the whole chain to break down already at this stage. In such a case all our efforts to offer an outstanding product or a unique service fail because the guest/customer obtains something other than what he expects.

What do we at Mövenpick consider to be a formally correct way of handling guest requests?Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has drawn up a guideline for accepting assignments. Ideally we should put these points into practice (see illustration page 2); if we do so, we have done a great deal towards ensuring that accepting assignments genuinely is the strong link that holds the subsequent service chain together.If we take all the rules to heart, we seize all the opportunities for providing the guest with precisely the service he expected.For that we can be awarded our sixth MP Ser-vice Star.



Reference:Key Issue No. 6 the SAMThis issue is discussed in the SAM documents from 17 June to 14 July.

The Sixth Service Star

• Be always courteous, professional and effici-ent.

• Listen carefully to the guest.

• While repeating his request, mention at least 2 times the name of the guest.

• Infimr the guest about the time it will take to fulfil his request.

• Give feedback to the guest in appropriate manner.

• Guest requests should be finalised during normal duty hours within 15 minutes.

• Guest requests must be finalised off normal hours within 1 hour.



Training Unit Schedule

Section Contents / Questions / Answers Aids

Greet the participants

Present today‘s schedule

Introduction: Today‘s issue is accepting assignments. Let‘s start with a small example to illust-rate the problem.

Introductory exercise: What‘s this?

Ask a participant to volunteer for the next task. His task will be to describe a picture to the others with his back to the group.

The others are to follow his instructions in silence and do what he says. At the end compare the original with the drawings made by the group.

What does this have to do with handling guest requests?Often errors occur because we have only part of the information we actually need and we piece together the rest according to our own imagination / opinion.

How can we change this situation?By listening carefully, by asking questions and by telling the client what we have understood. By keeping in contact with the client and observing his response to what we repeat.

Materials:Picture(page 15 in the Annex)





Explain:The fact that we piece certain things to-gether according to our ideas has serious repercussions for both the party issuing the assignment and the party accepting it. This fact is responsible for many misun-derstandings and a good deal of annoy-ance.By applying the basic rules for accepting guest assignments, you will save yourself a lot of work and also be able to commu-nicate better in your private lives.

Present the Unit‘s learning objective

Learning objective:

After this training unit you will be able to list the things you need to take into account when accepting an assignment. You will be able to explain why these points are so important.

Slide 1Learning objective(page 21 in the Annex)





Time so far:5 minutes

Introduction to the issue:Guest requests within our department

Questions:

What sort of requests do guests give you?...

What would you as a guest expect if you were giving such an assignment?

- that I‘m listened to properly

- that my request is dealt with

- that I‘m given a time frame

- that the time frame is observed

- that I‘m advised in a professional way

- that I‘m treated in a polite way

- that the matter is dealt with quickly

FlipchartTitle: Requests within our department






Assessment:Which of these responses would matter most to you?Each participant can award three points. He can either give all three points to one statement or spread the points among several answers. The participants are to indicate the point allocations with a show of hands:

One point = show thumb;Two points = show thumb and forefinger; Three points = show thumb, forefinger and middle finger.

Go through all the statements and make a note of the points scored in a different colour after each statement.

Finally underline the expectations that achieved the highest number of points.

Main factors invol-ved in handling guest requestsReactivate 1)

Complement flipchartWrite down the points in colour after the answers





The Sixth MP Star- Key Issue No. 6 -(Information 1)

Explain:You have all wanted similar things. Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts has sum-marised in Key Issue No. 6 (the rules for which we can receive our sixth ser-vice star) the factors we need to take into account when handling guest requests.

• Be always courteous, professional and efficient.

• Listen carefully to the guest.

• While repeating his request, mention at least 2 times the name of the guest.

• Inform the guest about the time it will take to fulfil his request.

• Give feedback to the guest in appropri-ate manner.

• Guest requests should be finalised during normal duty hours within 15 minutes.

• Guest requests must be finalised of normal hours within 1 hour.

Slide 2The Sixth MP Service Star(page 22 in the Annex)






Worksheet:Key Issue No. 6 in everyday life /

For what reasons do we observe the individual points?

Group work/partner work

10 minutes to draw up the findings

5 minutes to exchange results

(pages 21-24 in the Annex)

Key Issue No. 6 in everyday life(Work through 1)

Key Issue No. 6 in everyday life / For what reasons do we observe the indivi-dual points?We‘ll know form two groups. Each group is given half the sub-points of Key Issue No. 6.Your task is to find out in your group the reasons why we need to observe these points.You have 10 minutes.

Make a note of all the results on your worksheets.

You will then be assigned a partner from the other group. You will tell your partner what you found out in your group. Your partner will in turn inform you of the findings of the other group.

You have 5 minutes.

Procedure:

Divide the participants into groups 1 and 2.

Hand out the worksheets (one worksheet for each participant).

Choosing partners:After 8 minutes or so hand out the lots to the two groups (coloured lots for one group and white lots for the other).

Draw the lots.

Exchange:Participants with the same number should exchange their findings.


Preparing the lots:

Divide the number of partici-pants by two. Take the result and copy out the correspon-ding number of lots.

(pages 25-26 in the Annex)

You need to enter each number once on white paper and once on coloured paper.

o Cut out.

o Fold up.

o Keep the colours separate





Timeso far:30 minutes

For what reasons are these steps so impor-tant?(Put into practice)

Flipchart Title: How do you accept „Assignment XYZ*)“?

Let‘s now apply Key Issue No. 6 to a practical example and complement it with the rules for our department.

Next write an example of an assignment in your department onto the flipchart.

How do you accept „Assignment XYZ*)“?

Ask the participants to form groups of threes and determine what rules we need to observe.

You have 5 minutes

*) any assignment in your department, for example Room Service, etc

Compiling results: Go through the individual steps together (as submitted by the participants).

Make a note of the main points on the flipchart.

Worksheet: Acceptance ...(page 18 in the Annex)

Opportunity for parti-cipants to ask questions

Questions:Is there anything else you‘d like to ask?






Checking the learning results

We shall end today‘s session by forming groups of three and practising accepting an assignment. Each one of you will in turn play the role of customer, observer and employee.

Please prepare theoretical assignments for „customers“.

The customer‘s task is clear:He gives an assignment.

The employee‘s task is:To accept an assignment in accordance with Key Issue No. 6, complemented by the rules just discussed.Aids: Acceptance worksheet...

The observer‘s task is:

To check whether the rules were observed and to give the „employee“ feedback on what he did well and/or what could be improved.Aids: Observer‘s worksheet

We shall rotate the roles so that everyone plays each role once.

After 3 minutes I shall interrupt your assignment acceptance and the observer will then have 2 minutes to give his feed-back.

Announcements:Now it‘s the turn of- the observer to be the employee- the employee to be the customer- the customer to the observer

Worksheet:Observer...(page 19 in the Annex)





Then we continue as before:After 3 minutes I shall interrupt your assignment acceptance and the observer will then have 2 minutes to give his feed-back.

Announcements:Now it‘s the turn of- the observer to be the employee- the employee to be the customer- the customer to the observer

Now that we‘ve all played it through once, I want to ask you once again for the stan-dards.





What is the period of time within which assignments should be completed during normal business hours?15 minutes.

What is the period of time within which assignments should be completed outside normal business hours?1 hour.

For what reasons do we keep guests infor-med in the appropriate manner?So that they feel we‘re looking after their affairs and can make other arrangements if they so wish.

For what reasons do we inform our guests how long we expect it to take to carry out their request?So that they can make plans and if required make other decisions.

For what reasons do we address each guest at least twice by his name?People like to hear their own names.

Checking the learning results






Conclusion:Accepting an assignment is almost like concluding a service agreement. We should regard accepting an assignment as the first link in a chain. That first link in the service chain has to be strong so that the guest gets what he had in mind. A service that differs from what the guest had in mind or which is provided too late can only be made good in part by an out-standing product or an excellent service.If we succeed in putting the individual points of Key Issue No. 6 into practice, the first link in the chain will be stable and the Sixth Service Star is virtually ours.

Take leave of the participants:

Thank the participants.Announce the next date where applicable.


Slide 3The MP Service Stars(page 23 in the Annex)


Worksheets


Worksheet Key Issue N° 6

Worksheet

15

Try and describe this picture to your colleagues so they can draw it for themselves. You have 2 minutes.



Worksheet

16

Group 1:Key Issue No. 6 in everyday life: For what reasons do we observe the individual points?

Go through each point in turn within your group and state the reasons why each point is so important and necessary. Make notes. You will then explain your findings to a member of the other group.You have 10 minutes

• Be always courteous, professional and efficient. Reasons:

• Listen carefully to the guest. Reasons:

• While repeating his request, mention at least 2 times the name of the guest . Reasons:

• Inform the guest about the time it will take to fulfil his request.Reasons:

Make a note here of the results of the other group:

• Give feedback to the guest in appropriate manner. Reasons:

• Guest requests should be finalised during normal duty hours within 15 minutes. Reasons:

• Guest requests must be finalised off normal hours within 1 hour. Reasons:



Worksheet

17

Group 1:Key Issue No. 6 in everyday life: For what reasons do we observe the individual points?

Go through each point in turn within your group and state the reasons why each point is so important and necessary. Make notes. You will then explain your findings to a member of the other group.You have 10 minutes

• Give feedback to the guest in appropriate manner. Reasons:

• Guest requests should be finalised during normal duty hours within 15 minutes. Reasons:

• Guest requests must be finalised off normal hours within 1 hour. Reasons:

Make a note here of the results of the other group:

• Be always courteous, professional and efficient. Reasons:

• Listen carefully to the guest. Reasons:

• While repeating his request, mention at least 2 times the name of the guest . Reasons:

• Inform the guest about the time it will take to fulfil his request.Reasons:



Worksheet

18

Accepting assignments in our department:Determine together which points we need to observe when accepting assignments.

Also think of the following points:

• Be always courteous, professional and efficient.• Listen carefully to the guest.

• While repeating his request, mention at least 2 times the name of the guest .

• Inform the guest about the time it will take to fulfil his request.• Give feedback to the guest in appropriate manner.

• Guest requests should be finalised during normal duty hours within 15 minutes.• Guest requests must be finalised off normal hours within 1 hour.



Worksheet

19

You are the observer:

Was the employee:

o polite?

o professional?

o efficient?

Did he / she:

o listen attentively?

o repeat the assignment?

o address the guest twice by his name?

o tell the guest how long he expected it would take to fulfil his wish?

o keep the guest informed where necessary?

Is the assignment:

o to be completed within 20 minutes during normal business hours?

o to be completed within one hour outside normal business hours?

Were aspects specific to the department (see „Acceptance...“ worksheet) observed?

Would you have liked to be served by this employee?


Slides

21

Slide 1: Learning objectivel

Learning objective:

After this training unit you w

ill be able to list the things you need to take into account w

hen accepting an assignm

ent.Y

ou will be able to explain w

hy these points are so im

portant.

22

Slide 2: The Sixth M

P Service Star

The Sixth Service Star

Guest requests should be finalised

during normal duty hours w

ithin 15 m

inutes.

Be alw

ays courteous,professional and efficient.Listen carefully to the guest.

Guest requests m

ust be finalised off norm

al hours within 1 hour.

While repeating his request

mention at least 2 tim

es the nam

e of the guest.Inform the guest about the tim

e it will take

to fulfil his request.G

ive feedback to the guest in appropriate m

anner.

Key Issue N

° 6

Handling guest

requests

23

Key Issue N

° 2A

nswering the

telephone

Key Issu

e N

° 1A

ttend

ing th

e gu

est

Key Issu

e N° 3

En

tering / L

ea-vin

g a guest

room

Key Issu

e N

° 5 H

and

ling gu

est com

plain

ts

Key Issu

e N

° 6H

and

ling gu

est req

uests

Key Issu

e N° 4

Groom

ing/

Ap

pearan

ce

The 6 M

övenpick Stars for Services


Lots: Divide the number of participants by two. Copy the number of lots corresponding to this figure once onto white paper and once onto coloured paper. Cut out and fold up the lots.

25

2. 1.

4. 3.

26

6.8. 7.

5.

Key Issue No 6

Documents

Transcript of Key Issue No 6