The front desk plays a pivotal role in shaping the guest experience–it’s the first point of contact on property. And you don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression…
Despite the best intentions, operational challenges can disrupt your welcome, creating unnecessary friction that results in extended wait times, grumpy guests, and negative reviews. Here’s how you can overcome these pain points to deliver seamless, productive encounters at your front desk.
Slow Check-ins
Sometimes, the best way to handle the front desk is to bypass it entirely. Traditional manual check-in processes can feel cumbersome and time consuming. While your lobby may be beautifully designed, guests are looking to move through it quickly, not linger in line. As of 2022, 39 percent of travelers desired self check-in and other contactless options for basic transactions.
Offering self check-in not only caters to evolving expectations but streamlines operations as well. Guests who prefer to register in person can still be accommodated by a front desk agent but with shorter lines and faster service. It’s a win-win. Efficient check-ins lead to more relaxed guests while your team benefits from smoother interactions, preventing staff burnout.
Modern property management systems (PMS) like WebRezPro enable you to seamlessly integrate self check-in into your operations. Guests can complete registration online, including payment, and receive their digital room key all before they arrive on property.
With WebRezPro, customizable guest agreements (digital registration forms) can be created and automatically emailed to guests. Completed agreements are automatically attached to the applicable reservations, and a report tracks outstanding agreements so staff can see at a glance who has and hasn’t completed this step. The system includes a complimentary payment gateway integration to streamline online payments and also integrates with a wide range of keyless entry solutions, allowing guests to access their room using their smartphone, whether through an app or secure code.
Double Bookings and Other Reservation Errors
No guest wants to arrive at your front desk to discover that the room they were counting on isn’t there… and the best your staff can hope for is politeness through gritted teeth.
Prevent double bookings and other errors by ensuring your direct online booking engine is fully integrated with your PMS. This way, your PMS is instantly updated whenever a new reservation comes through your website, and availability is adjusted in real time.
The same goes for your other booking channels. According to a 2022 Market Sampler survey, almost 70 percent of US travelers choose to book via an OTA over a hotel website when the prices are equal. Ensure a frictionless experience for these guests by integrating your PMS with your OTA, GDS, and metasearch channels so that your rates and availability are always up-to-date across the board.
By delivering smooth, reliable service regardless of where bookings originate, you not only meet guest expectations but also build trust, which means the guest is more likely to book directly with you in future.
Poor Inter-departmental Communication
Delivering exceptional service starts with strong communication between front desk staff and back-of-house teams like housekeeping and accounting. Communication tools within your PMS prevent costly missteps and ensure every guest is welcomed with efficiency and care.
Centralizing data and providing real-time accessibility, your PMS helps your team work smarter. For example, when housekeeping marks a room as clean in WebRezPro, that status is immediately visible to the front desk, enabling prompt and accurate check-ins, while shared notes and maintenance alerts guarantee that no detail is missed.
External integrations such as Breezeway take this one step further by allowing staff to message one another directly.
Lack of Data to Personalize the Guest Experience
Without access to comprehensive guest information, front desk agents not only risk mistakes but miss opportunities to recognize loyalty and upsell amenities. If the agent knows the guest’s preferences, they have a much higher chance of selecting a relevant offer that will excite rather than annoy. For instance, if a guest previously booked a coffee-infused scrub, the agent can recommend a spa reservation during their next stay. Surprising and delighting guests depends on personalization, and personalization depends on data.
An automated, guest-centric PMS captures essential details, including stay history, contact information, invoicing, loyalty points, and special requests, all within a centralized guest profile. WebRezPro also allows you to add custom fields to your booking form to collect details that matter to your unique property, like the guest’s favorite drink or pet’s name. Plus, through WebRezPro’s booking engine, selected upsells such as meals and spa treatments are automatically recorded, giving your team a complete picture of each guest’s preferences from the moment of booking.
When paired with a CRM integration, this data becomes even more powerful. You can draw additional information from social media, website interactions, campaign results, feedback surveys, past communications, and more.
Using comprehensive data to offer a personalized experience translates directly to higher revenue. Sixty-one percent of American consumers are willing to spend an increased amount with companies that provide customization, so don’t neglect to capture your share.
Slow Response Times
Slow response times can quickly turn guest satisfaction into frustration, often resulting in negative reviews. The good news? This challenge can be significantly tamed with the right PMS to streamline task assignment, track requests in real time, and ensure seamless communication across departments (see above).
However, timely service isn’t just about internal communication. It also depends on how easily your guests can reach you. That’s where SMS messaging platforms like Akia, Duve, or Revinate come into play. Integrated with your PMS, these tools create a convenient direct channel between staff and guests, without the need for a lengthy phone call or trek to the front desk.
Many of these platforms even include AI-driven features that automatically respond to simple guest inquiries, freeing up your team to tackle more complex issues.
Manual Payment Processing
Requiring staff to enter guest credit card information manually takes additional time and leads to errors and security risks. Instead, integrate your PMS with a secure payment gateway to streamline the payment process and safeguard data. That way, guests can enter their credit card details online at the time of booking or prior to arrival–an essential step for self check-in–or complete the transaction securely at the property using an EMV terminal.
Modern payment gateways enhance security with tokenization, replacing sensitive credit card data with a secure token that’s transmitted to your PMS in lieu of the actual card number. Because the real card details are never stored within your system, guest payment information remains protected in the event of a data breach.
Time Consuming Night Audits & Reporting
The more time spent dragging numbers out of your system and organizing them in an Excel spreadsheet, the less time you have to create a great guest experience.
A centralized PMS like WebRezPro includes robust reporting capabilities that cover every facet of your business. Automatically tracking all transactions and closing out the day for you, the system simplifies the night audit process, giving you the full picture of check-ins/outs, cash and credit accounts, payments, etc.
In addition to key night audit information, WebRezPro provides other powerful reporting tools, including property statistics, booking reports, product and service reports, travel agency commissions, and even custom report templates to reflect the specific metrics that matter most to your property. With built-in email functionality, custom reports can be sent to team members directly from the system.
Group Bookings
Managing group reservations can be particularly complex for front desk staff, given the many moving parts involved. From room blocks and group rates to deposits and invoicing, these bookings require a higher level of coordination.
WebRezPro simplifies the process from start to finish with group folios–providing a single point of control for allocating rooms and rates, tracking deposits and rooming lists, and managing reservations, charges, and billing for the group.
Manual tasks and disconnected systems are often the root of front desk frustrations. A modern PMS streamlines operations by automating routine processes and centralizing guest information. The result? Fewer bottlenecks, happier staff, and a smoother, more welcoming experience for your guests.
