Front Office Training for Hotels & Tourism
Elevate Customer Experience & Revenue
Ensure your front office staff excels in guest services, conversion, and upselling to create loyal, repeat customers. Our comprehensive front-of-house training equips your reception and concierge with essential skills to boost sales performance and guest satisfaction.
The Outcomes The Attendee Will Receive
- Increased confidence in your sales ability to qualify a potential customer over the phone
- An ability to up-sell and cross-sell to increase customer nightly spend
- The ability to set goals in the right areas that will help you achieve career growth
- Confidence in telling the customer why they need to stay at your hotel
- The ability to adapt your personality style to make a lasting first impression
- The tools to handle any situation that might arise
Topics Covered In Your Training
Training is available for half-day (3-4 topics) or full-day (8-10 topics) sessions.
SET FOR SUCCESS
- Why is Customer Service important
- Customer Service Philosophies across the industry
- Personal Motivation
- Tools for Success & Mindfulness
- Goal Setting in your career & from the training
- The Role of a Front Office person
- How Personality Traits play a part in your role – WIP session
MAKING A GREAT IMPRESSION
- Impressions over phone & face to face
- Why is Brand & Image important
- Adapting your personality
- What is Professionalism
- Product Knowledge and what you need to know
- Develop a USP list & 30 second spiel – WIP session
COMMUNICATION METHODS
- Pro’s & Cons of different communication methods
- Telephone Techniques
- Voice Techniques
- The Welcome Message
- Putting Calls on Hold
- Operational Challenges & Solutions – WIP session
BUILDING RAPPORT
- Why build rapport first?
- How to really know your customer’s persona
- Explore the different Customer Shopper Categories
- Acknowledging the Repeat Guest
- Building Rapport Questions & Strategies
- Secret Shopper Call Session – WIP session
IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS
- Determine their Needs Before they Do
- Typical FO Questions for enquiry
- Next level Questions for enquiry
- Using “Tell Me About”
- HA’s Top “Identifying/Qualifying” Tips
- Tracking customer needs in the PMS
- Create a cheat sheet for FO
- Explore your Customers needs – WIP session
SUMMARISE & CHECK AVAILABILITY
- Why Summarise the full enquiry
- Using Active Listening
- Checking Availability in the PMS
- Using Loyalty Programs or just recognition
- Using Information in the PMS
- Operational Challenges & Solutions – WIP session
MAKE THE RECOMMENDATION &<br /> INTRO TO UPSELLING
- The Right Rate & Category for the right customer
- Why offer the Highest Rate First
- Know your Rate Strategy
- Selling the Benefits not Features
- Benefits v’s Features for your property – WIP session
- Know your Competitors
- Secret Shopper Calls – WIP session
EFFECTIVE UP-SELLING & CROSSSELLING<br />
- Difference between up-selling & cross-selling
- Benefits to the Guest Experience
- Best time to upsell
- Up-selling an existing booking
- Up-selling a new booking/enquiry
- Up-sell to stay longer
- Top 6 tips to Up-selling room types
- Build your tool kit of upsells– WIP session
CONVERT THE BOOKING
- Overcoming any Fears
- Why FO Teams don’t confirm the booking
- Asking for the booking methods
- Develop a list of suggestions for your property – WIP session
OBJECTION HANDLING
- Common Objections in Hotels
- How to Handle an Objection
- What have you missed in the “Qualifying/Identifying needs
- Develop a list of objections & solutions for your property – WIP session
CONFIRMING THE BOOKING
- Review Key Lessons
- Describe the Booking using Benefits
- Last chance to upsell
- Review the Confirmation Process
- Confirm the Pre & Post Process of Guest Stay
- Any additional information not shared?
- Review each 10 Steps and Commitments!
We offer two ways to upskill your teams and suit your hotel’s budget
Face to Face Course
(for 2 days of content spread over 1 month. Min. 6 people)
This detailed program adapts to your hotel’s operational structure and team skills. Delivered in two full days, one day per fortnight, or four half-days, teams can apply lessons and address challenges in follow-up sessions.
We consult with the team manager during pre-training to tailor the course outline. Post-training, we provide tools, tips, and structures for long-term success, fostering a robust sales culture and effective reporting.
Live Virtual Training
(for 2 days full days of content. Min. 6 people)
This virtual course offers the comprehensive content as the face-to-face program, allowing national front office or reservations teams to join live sessions. Team members can interact and receive real-time feedback from the moderator. The course can be spread across multiple days or weeks to facilitate module implementation.
We collaborate with the team manager during pre-training to customise the course outline. After training, we equip you with tools, tips, and structures to ensure long-term success, fostering a strong sales culture and effective reporting.
Sandra provided a front line sales training program that encouraged our staff to think differently and built confidence across the team on how to successfully convert new business.
Kylie Stever
Former Group Director of Sales, Spicers Retreat
The front office sales training provided by HA made a massive difference to our team and we couldn’t be happier about the results! We found a big increase in the confidence of our reception staff and it helped transform them into sales people and an even bigger increase in sales results. Highly recommend!
Geoff Illich
General Manager, Brisbane Holiday Village
I am beyond grateful for the incredible support and expertise Sandra Swatton from Hospitality Associates Australia has provided me. Stepping into the Business Development Executive role without prior experience in hotel sales was daunting, but Sandra’s guidance made all the difference. Her deep knowledge of the hospitality industry, coupled with her ability to deliver information in a clear, digestible way, has been nothing short of fantastic.
Anita Fuentes
Business Development Executive, Metro Hospitality Group
After customer service training with HA we’ve received fantastic feedback from visitors, and our team is more motivated than ever. This training has been an invaluable investment, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to elevate their customer service standards.
Sally Scott
General Manager, Tweed Tourism
Working with Sandra and the Hospitality Associates has been game changer, Sandra is exceptionally professional and desires the best outcome for you as the business manager and the team she is training, Sandra took the time with me prior to conducting the training to understand where the business needs support and tailored her training package focusing on our business needs.
Giorgio Romein
General Manager, The Constance Hotel
Sandra’s training was exactly what our team needed! She connected with our staff across Front Office, F&B, and Housekeeping, giving them the skills and confidence to deliver exceptional guest experiences. The sessions were engaging, practical, and truly made a difference—we’ve already seen improvements in guest feedback and team morale. Thank you, Sandra, for bringing your expertise and energy to Mercure Cairns!
Matthew S Fryar
General Manager, Mercure Cairns
The front office sales training provided by HA made a massive difference to our team and we couldn’t be happier about the results! We found a big increase in the confidence of our reception staff and it helped transform them into sales people and an even bigger increase in sales results. Highly recommend!!
Chelsea Follett
Former Operations Manager, Brisbane Holiday Village
Ready to
Unlock Your
Team’s Potential?
Contact us now to schedule a consultation and discover how our specialised training can boost your team’s performance.
Don’t miss the opportunity to enhance your sales strategy with Hospitality Associates.