Me write an article? Oy.

The reason my desk is in the lobby is because it used to be an Embassy Suites standard back in 1984 when the chain upped the ante on the all suite hotel.  So this is not something new, but rather a throwback to different times� more innocent, less pressured times. Yet, I believe it is  something worth keeping, especially now when we are all trying our darndest to keep what customers we have. 

Those of us from small town America will remember. Did you open your first bank saving account with your mom or dad taking you into the local depository only to be met by the bank manager or better yet, the bank president?  Did he or she take you by the hand to the teller�s window� maybe lift you up to the smiling face of the teller and even state �take care of our newest customer�.

Well, a hotel manager sitting in the lobby is an outgrowth of just that picture. True, times are different� people in a hurry� not willing to spend the time� too many e-mails to which a response is required�. too many spreadsheets to glean and then surgically cut to next to nothing.

That�s true of both the hotel manager and the in-coming hotel guest� but it�s still our job, and hopefully our passion, to greet as many guests each morning or each evening as we possibly  can greet into our hotel� our living room.

Customers get a kick out of seeing the GM in the lobby.  Many of them ask if �you have your real office some place in the back?��or �how do you get anything done?�

But they also ask about the best steakhouse in town or pizza joint� a question about the hotel�s services� or give you a complement about �Mary,  behind the front desk�.

� and yes they will kvetch about the quality of the bath soap, the coffee or some one else�s noisy, unruly children.

You will also get the opportunity to be a bell person and even a security guard.  You will also see people sit at your desk so as to use your phone� or watch  a proud father take a photograph of his 3 year old son positioned  in your chair and behind your desk because his son�s name matches yours. 

You will also be able to talk with a corporate customer who was just promoted, or console those who, on that day, had colleagues on the top floors of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Maybe you will get the chance to escort a celebrity from his/her car to a meeting with the board of directors of a company which s/he is the �face� in all advertising.  Or maybe you will move the irate customer, who has your desk clerk in tears, away from the Front Desk and over to yours, and hopefully, eventually turn him into one of your most loyal customers.

You will also have the opportunity to watch the interaction between your Front Desk staff and your guests, or call the FOM, who is busy in one of the back offices doing paperwork that you require (just at the wrong time), to get out to the Front Desk and help with check-ins� or go over and converse with guests to take their mind off the line� or assist with check-ins yourself.

Be aware though, you will also see and speak with the person who thinks that having 11 three egg omelets at your complimentary breakfast is good training for her stardom on �The Biggest Losers�. Or recognize and greet the former governor of a state where you used to live, only to realize the woman he�s with is definitely not his wife� Oy

You will still need to answer those e-mails, surgically cut those forecast vs. budget spreadsheets, and religiously �tweet� to different generations of customers.

BUT� your customers, your guests will connect with you and your hotel!!! 

Granted, it�s not as cool  as Twitter, but you�ll have more than 140 characters to work with� especially if you allow yourself to be one� Oy.

Richard M. Harris / 847-945-4500  work / [email protected]