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Your attitude and presentation should correspond with your function. As an entrepreneur, you have different roles. You must represent your company at the bank to obtain a loan, be the manager of your employees or be the host for tourists.
In order to be treated as a professional, you should behave like a professional. When dealing with the bank, you should have a letter written on good quality paper with the name of your company on top or on professionally printed letter head. If you visit the bank, you should be dressed professionally and neatly. However, if you have a small company in which you also participate on the working team, you should be dressed correctly, but also practically. And if you have occasion to guide your guests through the mountains, you should wear practical, outdoor clothing and walking shoes. As an accommodation owner you will be judged on your behavior and appearance in public. The way you express yourself, your body language and your clothing should be chosen carefully. Even the most non-critical client will judge you according to these things. Be sure to observe the behavior of your clients, watch how they react to you and if you suspect there might be some flaws in your appearance or performance, try to determine what they are and correct them. Behavior is an important aspect of professionalism, and showing evidence of competence is essential if you want to maintain your image.
In your office you should hang your diplomas (among them the certification that you passed this course). All correspondence should be written on paper with the professionally printed letterhead and/or logo of the company.
Starting an accommodation may require you to do many things you have never done before and it is important to anticipate and prepare yourself for those new tasks. In assessing your guests, the first impression carries a lot of weight. It is normal that you will be nervous the first time you perform certain tasks. However, keep in mind that you always stick to a normal demeanor. A crazy face with a big smile will never hide incompetence. Even when you are in a bad mood, you must maintain a friendly attitude, keep on smiling, be polite and use a friendly voice. Being a professional you can do this naturally, without being phony.
Also, you must have information about your accommodation available for everyone asking for it. The style of the flyer should reflect the style of your company. For example, a simple text on a greenish background may be perfect for a B&B accommodation on the countryside. An expensive hotel in the heart of the city will require a glossy folder with full colored pictures. Being communicative is most important to get clients. Be certain that when guests/clients contact your company, they are treated professionally, kindly and respectfully and all their questions are answered correctly. Avoid allowing persons who are not a part of your business (e.g. clients or your children) answering the phone as it gives a poor impression of your professionalism. If questions cannot be answered immediately, be sure to get back to the guest/client with the appropriate information as quickly as possible. The more time you wait, the higher chances that your client will look elsewhere. An enthusiastic attitude is essential in almost all situations and an indication of your enthusiasm for your enterprise is giving fast, accurate replies.
Apart from guests/clients, it is also important to maintain good contact and relationships with local authorities, with your colleagues and all other people more or less involved in your kind of business. Apart from professional magazines and your own guests/clients, they are your most important source of information. Being a professional you should know the latest trends and developments. In the long run, your reaction to expected developments, may be decisive for the development of your company.
In general you have to be the best ambassador possible of your own accomodation under all circumstances. However, your relationship with some of the people you deal with on a very regular basis, such as customers, suppliers and colleagues, will be outlined in a little more detail as follows:
Customers
Customers are your source of income, and thus need to be treated as well as possible. You should not be satisfied unless all your customers are turned into promoters of your business. Walking around with a smile all the time is not essential, but it is important to always have a pleasant and helpful demeanor when encountering guests/clients. Displaying a bad mood all the time is certainly very negative! Also important is that you succeed to establish a relationship of mutual respect with your guests/clients. This starts with taking some time to receive your guests/clients. Let the them feel they are welcome and treat them if they are special. And, if you are also careful to create a general friendly atmosphere and show some enthusiasm for your company, your guest will most likely prefer to stay with you. You must show that you appreciated their staying with you, too. A mailing at the right time of the year may not only be appreciated, but also result in guests coming back to you.
Suppliers
Many times most regular contacts with suppliers consists of informing what kind
of product you need, in which quantity and at what time you need delivery. Maintaining
a good relationship with suppliers is always important and once you have a supplier
in which you have confidence, both service to you and your service to your guests/clients
will improve. However, even suppliers who have a long and stable business relationship
with you should be submitted to a critical screening on a regular basis to compare
to similar products from other competitors regarding quality and price. Having too
much faith in your supplier may result in the supplier taking advantage of your
loyalty. Showing your supplier that you follow the activities of competitors may
keep them keen that, although you are their most faithful client, they have to offer
you a good product, at a good price deliver good service to you for many more years.
Colleagues
Few enterprises can offer such wonderful service to their guests/clients that their facility alone will attract tourists. Most of the time people come to a certain place for recreation because there is a choice of several possibilities to enjoy themselves. This means that co-operation in the tourist sector is most of the time beneficial to all indication that you are more colleagues then competitors. Especially if you can co-operate with companies active in different areas of the tourist industry, there is less competition to fear. Working together is often required in order to organize an expensive activity as a promotion campaign. The co-operation of several, complimenting companies is necessary before a holiday full of interesting tourism events justifying a national campaign can be organized. Also, co-operation between these complimenting companies can make it possible to deal with suppliers in order to secure lower, more competitive prices for goods and services.
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Firing | 2.4.6. Quality Management |
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