Published in the South China Morning Post July 2006
Ms Gary Cheung remembers the morning when a lady guest rushed back to the Central 88 serviced apartments with an unusual, and rather desperate, request.
The back zipper on her skirt had given way during an early morning staff meeting. She was a couple of time zones away from home and had a punishing work schedule mapped out for the one month that she would be in Hong Kong. The only people she knew outside of work were the staff at the serviced apartment where she was staying.
There was no one else to depend on so she left her skirt with Ms Cheung, requesting her to get it fixed, and rushed back to the office. Ms Cheung searched out a nearby tailor, got the zipper mended and delivered the skirt to the guest’s room ready to be worn again the next day.
As a front-line staff at Central 88 serviced apartments, Gary Cheung, Business Development and Operations Manager, is used to dealing with all sorts of daily emergencies like this one. A big part of her job is keeping the customers happy and providing them with a pleasant stay.
This means being flexible enough to roll with the punches, to keep a smile on no matter what and to always be pleasant and cheerful while fulfilling requests, solving problems or handling complaints. “We want our customers to feel at home and to feel that there is someone they can count on,” say Ms Cheung.
Front-of-house staff at serviced apartments typically start their day by going through the arrival list for the day and making a mental note of details like guest special preferences, special requirements and airport pick-ups.
The preparation work for welcoming a guest and making sure they feel at home usually begins way before the guest arrives. Four Seasons Place’s Orientation Specialist, Cora Chan, starts her welcome by planning a unique and personalised orientation tour that addresses the needs of each guest, especially those who are new to Hong Kong.
For the single professional, Chan might organise a quick tour covering essential venues like the nearest bank, the most convenient supermarket and some night entertainment spots. For a family, she might add venues that include toy stores and children’s clothing stores.
Chan has even accompanied a guest to purchase the Octopus card and then on an MTR trip to help ease her fear of the crowds at the MTR stations. “We can’t have standardised tours because our guests all have individual needs,” she remarks.
Chan also organises activities for all Four Seasons guests on a regular basis. This is especially important for newcomers to Hong Kong, she says, because it allows guests to get to know each other and to have a life outside of work. A children’s Easter party was followed by a wine tasting evening and recently a World Cup fever party.
Getting acquainted with the guest arrival list is usually followed by a room and floor inspection to ensure that all rooms have been well prepared and that everything is clean and in good condition. This is a very important part of his day, says Ronald Cheung, Assistant Manager at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which offers long-stay packages to customers. “It is better that we find some problem rather than have it picked up by a guest,” he explains.
Front-line staff find that it is critical to be up-to-date and well-versed with individual guest preferences, which may vary over time. “Some people, for example, may leave their magazines on the floor but this may not mean that they want them to be taken away,” says Central 88’s Ms Cheung. “Sometimes tenants leave notes telling us their preferences,” she adds.
The Four Seasons, according to Chan, had a guest once who liked her room very neat and tidy and requested that the housekeeping staff use her own cleaning detergents and materials when they cleaned her room. Fulfilling these requests go a long way towards making guests feel at home.
Cosmopolitan’s Mr Cheung makes it a point to pay guests courtesy calls to get to know them better. “I like to talk with guests. I want to improve our service level by finding out what guests want,” he says. Indeed, 90 per cent of his duties call for guest contact.
Front-line personnel also need to have a wealth of pocket knowledge as guests tend to approach them with all sorts of ‘local’questions. Mr Cheung surfs the net to keep up with the latest on shopping, eating, sightseeing and theatre performances in Hong Kong.
Chan, on the other hand, once had to study the art of making dim sum after a guest, who she had accompanied to a yum cha lunch, wanted to know how these small dishes were prepared.
Complaints and special requests are all part and parcel of the job for front-of-house staff. Cosmopolitan Hotel has a unique way to deal with complaints about guest pillows being either too hard or too soft. Mr Cheung introduces the guest to a pillow machine in the hotel that electronically measures their heads and shoulders and tailor makes a pillow for them.
Special requests like a place to shower after having checked out, and having left luggage sent to the airport while in transit are all taken in stride. Four Seasons once received a request from a guest for a full inventory of the kitchen in the apartment prior to check-in.
And do guests appreciate the service and care that they receive from these tireless front-line staff? Ms Cheung and her team of customer service officers have been the recipients of countless chocolates and biscuits, and a few evenings ago received four bottles of wine from a grateful tenant.
“They ask why our team is still working in the lobby at 8.30 pm. We keep a hi-fi in the lobby which plays jazz and other upbeat music so the team is happy, cheerful, smiling and the guests are also happy,” says Ms Cheung.
A day in the life of a front-of-house staff may be tiring, it may stressful and certainly very busy but it is well appreciated and is never dull.