7 top tips for a better concierge service

Whether you’re spending a weekend in a luxury hotel or just dashing across the country for a quick business meeting, one of the most valuable assets available to you is a local concierge. Concierge service providers (whether they be an independent firm, connected with a hotel or even an airline), exist solely to help make your travel experience a happy and memorable one. Concierge service providers are trained professionals, often with years of experience and well developed industry network relationships. The advantage of this vast vault of local knowledge is that concierges can handle an ever increasing range of services from mundane tasks such as restaurant reservations, to extraordinary requests such as arranging a private jet to compensate for your missed flight. So how can you make the most of your concierge and ensure your every request is catered to? Follow these tips and you won’t be disappointed: Be detailed/specific With the hundreds of requests that concierge providers receive on a daily basis, it often becomes difficult to memorize everyone’s tastes. When soliciting help for a restaurant reservation, purchase, event booking or more, explain in detail to the concierge what you do like and what you don’t. Giving us a list of things you don’t like doesn’t help us narrow down our choices for you, but providing some insight as to what you do like will go a long way in helping us satisfy your request. Similarly, when planning a vacation, tell us what you’d like to do and we’ll suggest the best places to do it and similar activities. Telling us you have no idea what you want does not help us that much! Give some advance notice Although this is not always easy to do, concierges do sometimes need some time to complete your request. When travelling try to call ahead with restaurant reservations, meeting schedules and more so that we can prepare and handle your request. Calling a few hours before your desired dinner reservation or to arrange a flight might not be the best idea. Insider tip: concierge providers are usually most busy in the morning and late afternoon as this is when we see a high number of requests from business clients and travelers. Contact us between noon and 3pm or after 8pm at night for more in-depth discussions of your request. Build a relationship We are here to serve your needs 24/7, but it often is useful to know who is catering to your requests. When calling ahead or making inquiries, building relationships with those who serve you help us better personalize our service for your future requests and allows us to know what to look for when servicing your inquiries. Insider tip: recognizing those that serve you and building a relationship never hurts you! Block your options When requesting a hotel room, airline seat, private jet, car, yacht or more, always make sure you call ahead to secure your options. If you are looking for a specific hotel room, a certain type of car or more, call your concierge on the morning of your arrival and reconfirm your arrangements, stating that you’d like to ‘preassign’ or ‘block’ your requested options. This allows us to go ahead and make sure you get only the options you want as hotels, airlines etc sometimes stick you with the last ticket/room/car they have available. There is no such thing as a stupid question No matter what you are after, the chances are we can get it for you. From mundane restaurant reservations to a submarine excursion under the Hawaiian Islands (yes that’s a real request), concierge service providers have the tools and resources to make your wishes a reality. The problem is, most travelers and those unfamiliar with our services believe their request might be too complicated or not within our realm of responsibility. Please keep in mind, your satisfaction is our ultimate goal and our responsibility; never assume we can’t complete a request. At the end of the day, we are still human, if your request is impossible or defies the laws of physics, we’ll be the first to tell you! Don’t complain Following on from the previous tip, although highly unusual there will be times where a concierge will be unable to cater to one of your requests because it may be impractical, illegal or we just can’t do it. At times like these, a little patience is appreciated as we always strive our hardest to fulfill your request. If you want to go to Mars, we may politely tell you we can’t accommodate you but we will offer you tickets to the moon instead. Just remember, we represent you so we are always looking out for your best interests. Appreciation A small ‘thank you’ goes a long way and we really appreciate it! If we’ve managed to exceed your expectations, let us know! We always strive to fulfill every request to your exact specifications so we appreciate knowing when our hard work has paid off! Concierge specialists work around the clock, often foregoing precious personal time in order to fulfill the requirements of their clients. We are dedicated to serving you and your interests and always look for ways to exceed your expectations on every service request. Understanding a few tips on how we work, will not only save you precious time when dealing with concierge service providers but will enable us to give you the best service possible. Alex Palmer is the Vice-President of Marketing & Business Development at One Concierge. If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.