Making a great first impression
The front door greeting is arguably the most important aspect of a guest’s stay followed by the 30-minute living room conversation over tea or coffee after they’ve checked into their room.
We have many repeat guests who we welcome back as friends to our guest house time and again. But most arrivals begin as strangers. They’re arriving at a destination they’ve never been to before and at a house they’ve never been to.
At a hotel they expect a level of efficient but impersonal service. At a guest house, they don’t know what to expect. So this is your moment to shine and instantly have them relax and feel assured that they made the right decision in booking a room at your guest house, B&B or hotel.
At our guest house we have a CCTV camera positioned above the front entrance. (We’ll get into the importance of CCTV cameras, monitors and recorders that help you give your guests a premium guest experience in a later episode.)
We also have an infra-red motion detector which transmits a signal to a receiver that plays a tune when motion is sensed the moment guests (or deer) enter the property from the street. From the various monitors we can see who is arriving, what luggage they need assistance with and whether they have mobility challenges.
The above equipment ensures that a guest is never left waiting at the front door. In fact, most guests never get to ring the doorbell before the door is opened to them.
At that moment, on opening the door, you greet them by name, eg “Hello Bob and Anne” or “Hello the Smiths”. Occasionally, you might have more than one set of guests arriving and not be quite sure which guests are arriving first, but mostly you will have communicated with them by earlier text to gauge their arrival time.
That first sight of you opening the door with a broad smile and greeting your guests by name makes a perfect first impression. It says you’ve taken the time to prepare for their arrival. The next words uttered are “Welcome to Highlander House” (in our case). Hand-shakes follow and you grab their luggage. (I did learn once that it’s not acceptable to extend a hand-shake to a Muslim lady).
As guests are ushered indoors, I take a couple of minutes to explain the keypad entry that controls the front door. (The keypad entry system will be covered in a later episode but is fabulous for its ease of use and for guests not having to lug a front door key around with them which, if lost, creates security concerns).
The keypad entry system we use will accommodate thousands of codes from 4-9 digits. I keep it simple. Something that guests themselves will remember: the last few digits of their own mobile phone number! The code is programmed into the system to be valid from an hour or so before scheduled arrival to midday on day of departure, after which it expires.
Your guests have arrived as strangers, but you’re now on first name terms. What is the next step to building on your perfect welcome and contributing to the wonderful hospitality you’re going to make them feel they’ve received? Your question will be specific to your location, but my question is always: “What brings you to Bute”.
What your guest says next will allow you to tailor your actions to give them the best stay ever.
Your guest says: “It’s our wedding anniversary today/tomorrow” (Boom: you now have the opportunity to write them a beautiful card for their anniversary to leave in their guest room when they’re out together with a box of chocolates, flowers etc).
Your guest says: “We come every year but have never been to your guest house” (Boom: you know that you now don’t need to have a 30-minute conversation with them about local must-see attractions).
Your guest says: “We’re touring and thought this would be a great stop-over” (Boom: that 30-minute conversation you’re going to have with them about local attractions and restaurants is crucial to them gaining the most of their stay and ensuring fabulous memories).
So now you’ve shown guests to their room and given them their room key. Now’s the time to point out any idiosyncrasies in the guest room, that fresh milk is available in the little fridge, the location of the tea and coffee caddies, show them how to operate the coffee machine and point to the Breakfast Menu on the bed…requesting that they give you their breakfast choice before 6pm night before (more about this aspect in a later episode).
At this stage you invite your newly arrived guests to join you in the living room for tea or coffee to give them a local map with highlights of restaurant locations. We’ll address this in the next episode
