Your concierge service says a lot about your business. For many of your visitors, it’s the first time they interact with your organisation in person. Whether it’s the maintenance person, or a client who spends thousands with the business, they need to be greeted appropriately and made to feel that your organisation is professional, supportive and welcoming.
There are many ways to do a concierge service well. Have you thought about ways you could rethink your concierge service this year?
An authoritative concierge service
Usually the first people that your visitors encounter when they enter your building are the receptionist and the customer-facing security officers.
Your receptionist makes sure your guest receives a warm greeting and feels orientated on arrival. Your security guards stay vigilant for any security risks.
But an authoritative concierge service amalgamates both these roles. It becomes more of a corporate guest service than a greeting service. On the customer-facing side, the concierge gives your guest the feeling that they are safe and welcome.
Internally, the security function becomes part of the integrated facilities management, to give you a more connected team.
Upskilling your people
To create this ‘porter’ style concierge service, you need to equip your people with the necessary skills. Your receptionist will need to take their Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. And you’ll need to provide thorough training on the role, and the soft skills that they need to develop, like empathy, cultural awareness, and problem solving.
You could upskill your people with technology in customer service, so that they feel confident issuing visitor badges and passes from an iPad or a tablet. The benefit of this is that it removes the barrier of a desk between the receptionist and the visitor. There’s a more collaborative feel to the interaction, and you give your visitors a proactive customer experience.
Selecting the right people
The challenge with this model is finding the right people for the role. A good security officer doesn’t necessarily make a good concierge.
You can give somebody all the training, but in the end, they need to be a particular type of person to carry off the versatility and authority that the role demands.
But when you do find the right people, and train them well, then your guests receive a helpful, and impressive first welcome at your building.
How a professional concierge improves your business
At the end of the day, your concierge service is all about customer care. It’s about making the building a welcoming place for your visitors, where they feel safe and looked after.
This professional style of concierge service is a more collaborative interaction for visitor management. They look after guests with refreshments on arrival, and issue the visitor passes seamlessly. They are in the know about setting up meeting rooms, and even about the travel conditions so they can advise your guests about any disruption on their route home.
In turn, this improves your reputation as a business. You’re known as a business that looks after its people and treats every guest as a VIP.
