When hiring staff, obviously you look for people who want to be in customer service. This goes for your housekeeping and janitorial staff as much as for your desk clerks.

A good rule of thumb is to train your staff to interact with guests as if they were the front desk, not “just” housekeeping, janitorial or whomever they may be. “Make sure that every member of staff interacts with guests on the same level,” advises ihotelintelligence.com:

“Your front of house staff shouldn’t be the only ones with 5 star manners and appearance. If a guest happens to be speaking with laundry staff, housekeeping, if they run into someone from your accounting department around the property, they should be greeted and treated the same as if it were an interaction with a receptionist, spa therapist or waiter.”

And this means every member of the staff conducting themselves, whenever they’re on the property, as if a guest could walk up to them at any time. They should be as approachable and as ready to help meet a guest’s needs with a smile as the front desk clerk greeting a new arrival.

Because guests don’t say to themselves “Oh that’s fine, it was just the cook who was rude” or “that person who refused to help me was only the housekeeper.” To your guests, the staff is the staff. Period. They’re all the face of the hotel to your guest.

Obviously, the kitchen staff or housekeeping can’t assist guests with all issues or inquiries and guests don’t really expect that. What guests do expect and what they do have a right to, is a pleasant, courteous “Oh I’m sorry you’re having a problem, I’ll get somebody here who can help you with that.”

Because the primary rule of customer experience management is that for any touchpoint your customer has with your property, the experience needs to be consistent with your overall standards.