Why you Might like a Concierge Career

Can you be calm when things are hectic? Do you like to serve people? Do you like variety? You might enjoy working as a Concierge for a hotel or business. A concierge is a customer service specialist. A concierge can make on average between $30,000 to $100,000 a year, depending on their location and venue.

However, because concierges also receive tips from satisfied customers, those who offer exceptional customer service may make more. Concierges do everything from giving directions, making restaurant reservations, helping with wedding events and even finding special gifts. As a concierge, you will need to expect the unexpected.

Where do concierges work? Anywhere from a luxury hotel, to apartment buildings, corporations, businesses and even individuals.

What Responsibilities does a Concierge have?

A concierge is the person responsible for handling all of the customer's needs and requests about activities and information during their stay at a hotel, or their interaction with a business function. It is the responsibility of the concierge to orchestrate the customer's traveling experience so that it is memorable and so that the customer wants to come back and gives a positive recommendation to others. Especially in a high-end hotel, the concierge makes the difference in how customers feel about their travel experience.

What are the Benefits of being a Concierge?

Being a concierge is a challenging job with a variety of different experiences every day. If you like to travel and live in different locations, you can do that as a concierge for a hotel chain. As a concierge, you get to meet many different people and have the satisfaction of solving their problems and making their vacation or business stay memorable.

What is Difficult about being a Concierge?

A job as a concierge is often not just a 9-5 affair. Your hours may be long and varied. You need to be able to work under stress and satisfy many different people. It is challenging work that requires a lot of energy, emotion and passion.

What Personal Qualities does a Concierge have to have?

While some concierge's have a background in business or hotel management. Many concierges come from other backgrounds that have helped them develop the following qualities:

• A willingness and passion for service.
• Background and experience in customer service.
• Ability to learn the venue environment and clients.
• A good memory for names, people and facts.
• A gift of multi-tasking without being stressed.
• Personal integrity and ethics.
• Creative problem solving skills.
• Good interpersonal communication skills.

Attitude of Service

A concierge needs to be a person who enjoys serving others. They need to have an attitude of graciousness, kindness, and willingness to go above and beyond their expected duties. Because a concierge is often taking care of many people and many needs at once, they need to be very organized and able to use technology to help them make reservations, organize car rentals, change travel plans, make activity suggestions, help in emergencies, give directions and recover missing luggage.

Knowledge of Area

A concierge much become intimately familiar with all of the best locations in the city they are located. They need to know the off-beat restaurants, unusual shopping experiences and unique activities. Moreover, they need connections to help them handle unusual guest requests, like the one gentleman who wanted a concierge to find an elephant for his wife's birthday party! When a concierge does not know something, they need to know whom to ask, so another part of being a concierge is making connections with other people in the service industry. To be a successful concierge, you need to be able to network with other people and be willing to help them out in return.

Gracious Mannerisms

Because a concierge provides a service and is often the face a customer sees as representing a business, they need to have exceptionally gracious mannerisms, impeccable grooming and a professional appearance. The French association of concierge is called Les Clefs d'Or, which means "service through friendship," so a concierge needs to remember that they can best serve if they forge emotional connections with customers that are meaningful.

A concierge must balance the difficult art of being not only a customer service representative, but also a friend, a social advisor, and even sometimes a personal confidant. Being able to handle confidences in an ethical manner is as imperative as creative problem solving and quick adjustment of travel itineraries.

Ability to Deal with Difficult People and Difficult Situations

Frequently, a concierge is the first person a customer comes to in a crisis. Whether it is a problem with a travel itinerary, a forgotten anniversary, activity plans disrupted by rain, a medical emergency or a poorly planned wedding, the concierge must be able to help calmly and reassure the customer. They must remain calm when other people are upset, and unfortunately, they may also have to be gracious when customers take out their anger at circumstances on the concierge. However, for the most part, angry people calm down if they are given time and help in solving their problems. A concierge can have the satisfaction of knowing they frequently help people in a crisis and represent their company as one which can handle anything with aplomb.

Be Willing to Improve

Customer service is what the concierge provides, but whether they do so successfully is a matter of customer satisfaction. In order to find out whether their services meet the needs of customers, the concierge must be willing to ask questions in person and through surveys in order to find out what customers appreciated, why they remember that service and what a concierge could do to improve their service. It isn't enough to just ask the questions, however. A successful concierge must also be willing to implement changes to always try to improve customer satisfaction. How else can a concierge learn about customer satisfaction? They can talk with other staff members, who may have picked up on clues from customers.

Anticipate

Many hotels and businesses rely on repeat customers. A concierge needs to work hard to learn the tastes and preferences of these important clients. By anticipating the needs and preferences and preparing for the customer before they arrive, the concierge can distinguish their luxury hotel or business from the competition. Moreover, With important customers who travel with staffs in luxury hotels, they can develop a relationship with the assistant of the traveler and question them about their client's needs, preferences and desires.

How do You Become a Concierge?

If you have an appropriate customer service background and experience, you may want to apply for a concierge job based on your previous training and experience. However, you can also find training courses online or through local universities. Look for a course which helps to place you in a job after training. Good luck in this rewarding and interesting career!