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IO 1 – Standard Operating Procedures
SOP 1 – Telephone reservation of accommodation
services
“SOP 01 - Telephone reservation of
accommodation services.”
Created by Štěpán Chalupa
Issued on 12. 5. 2022
Created for Front Office employees, Trainers and Trainees, Students
Updated by XX
Updated on XX
Introduction
The telephone reservations created a great opportunity for Front Office (or Reservation
Department if applicable) employees to show great customer care from the beginning of mutual
interactions. The creation of the reservation relates to a standard of telephone communication
which will be presented separately. FO staff must check the sales procedures to know the
possibilities of product selling and bundling. Proper knowledge of the work with PMS is required,
as well as the proper knowledge of product and sales rules.
Purpose
The main purpose is to successfully handle the reservation request through the phone and
minimize the distribution costs for these reservations. The partial goal should be reached in
connection to the main goal (maximization of the phone call conversions). The request
administration (event thought the reservation was not created/confirmed, it is vital to make the
log in the PMS for revenue management purposes. Another goal is to maximize the reservation
value through cross-selling and up-selling. All the goals relate to the maximization of customer
satisfaction.
Procedure
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Answer to call concerning the standard of telephone communication. Use the caller’s name as
much as possible, follow the steps and respect the customers’ needs and wants.
1. Greet the customer. “Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, this is Hotel International Front
Office/Reservation Department, Štěpán Chalupa speaking. How may I assist you?”
2. The client requests to book a room.
3. Collect the Arrival and Departure dates. Ensure that the hotel is not sold-out on these
dates. “May I have your arrival date, please? How long do you plan to stay, sir/madam?”
Use the name if possible.
4. The number of guests. “How many people are coming with you? Will you need more
rooms to be accommodated?”
5. Understand the preferred accommodation type. Provide the client with the room types
and the rates. For example, “What kind of room do you prefer, sir/madam? I can offer you
Superior for 65 EUR a night, Deluxe for 86 EUR a night or Junior Suite for 124 EUR a night.
Breakfast is included in these offers, but you can also choose the standalone
accommodation.”
6. Ask for patience when checking the system and creating the offer. For example, “Please
hold the line; kindly let me check the availability, sir/madam!” If the waiting time is longer,
ensure continuous communication and ask the client for further patience.
7. Propose the offer to the client. Repeat the requested services and their availability to the
client, list all the amenities connected to the selected services, and include the total price
of the stay. After that, ask for confirmation. “Would you like to make a reservation for that
stay?”
8. The client confirms the reservation. “Sir/Madam, may I ask again your name and email
address, where the proposal will be sent for confirmation?”
9. Offer client other services. “Sir/Madam, may I offer you other services at our hotel?” In
case the client is not currently interested, inform the client about the other possibilities
and how to order other services before arrival.
10. Inform the client about the further steps and general business rules. “Sir/madam, you
will receive the offer in your email within the next hour, valid for the next 24 hours. If you
wish to confirm the reservations, you will be asked to pay the guarantee of XXX EUR (in
case the WBE is used, everything will be automized). You can later cancel the reservation
freely until XX.XX.XXXX (be sure to know the cancellation policy).” Inform the client about
follow-up action and ask for the preferred type of communication. List everything in the
details of the reservation.
11. Give the client time for further questions. For example, “Sir/Madam, is there anything
else I can do for you?”
12. Let the client close the call.
13. Prepare the offer. Suppose the proper PMS, Channel Management System and WBE are
used. In that case, the proposed offer can be directly sent to the client with the link to
WBE, where the offer is prepared, pre-authorisation payment is requested, and even the
subsidiary services are offered. If not, use the offer template and add the client's name for
further processing.
14. Make the reservation in the PMS.
15. Send the reservation to the client.
16. If there is no answer within 24 hours, follow up.
The reservation confirmation ends the whole process, including the payment or request decline. In
both cases, reservation must be administered in the PMS.
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Critical points and unstandardized situations
In connection to the previous procedure, the list of possible critical points and possible situations
is listed below.
1. The telephone connection is lost. Be prepared for such a situation. First, wait for the
reconnection; there is no need to call the client back if the problem is on the client’s side.
Contrary to that, If the fault is on the hotel's side, call the client back with an apology.
Then, ask to continue the process, which might be declined.
2. The requested room type is not available. Offer the client the other room types. If these
are not accepted, accept the reservation for a better room, which might be presented as
free of charge update during the check-in. Or the room might be offered to other, more
valuable quests. If an unoccupied room is of better quality, the direct offline reservation
should always be accepted.
3. There are no rooms available for the requested dates. Two options are available: accept
the reservation using the overbooking strategy or propose the reservation of a
cooperating accommodation facility. The rules mentioned before must be followed.
4. The client does not accept the payment conditions or cancellation policy. Try to persuade
the client to stick with the conditions, list the benefits and mention the inability to process
the request without meeting these conditions.
5. The client does not accept the proposed room rate. Respect the business and sales rules,
and be prepared to mention the amenities and later the discount, if applicable.
6. The client forgot to make the confirmation. Follow-up clients by email or preferred type
of communication.