Amy Korhonen, Front of House Manager at Kier Property Management, joined Lexington Reception Services (LRS) a couple of months ago. We caught up with her to find out more about her role.
Amy has worked in reception for four years now. She started off working in hospitality, in a 5 Star hotel, and whilst she loved the interaction with customers the unsociable hours were beginning to take their toll on her. She wanted to do something that would allow her to have a bit more of a social life.
After just four months working in corporate reception Amy was promoted to a managerial position, having impressed the team with her drive to continually improve service. It was whilst she was in this role that she met the LRS team, who regularly visited their client in the building.
Amy built up really good rapport with LRS and when she decided to look for a new job they were first on the list to contact. The perfect role came up at Lexington and Amy hasn’t looked back since.
Amy said, “I knew and trusted the LRS team, having built a good relationship with them in my previous role. This made the move to Lexington quite easy.”
Amy commented on the training provided. She said, “I have never had so much support or training in a job – it’s amazing. In the past I have always felt on my own but here at Lexington the wider team are always on hand to provide support and there is lots of training to ensure we have the skills to do the job.”
There is no such thing as a typical day, according to Amy.
She has a team of three: Two of her team work in the pantry and she has an additional receptionist. There are currently around 200 people in the building but this is likely to grow to 500 quite quickly so Amy and her team are extremely busy.
She works at a new building so part of her role is to help tenants in the building get to grips with new procedures and how things work, as well as core front of desk duties like answering the phone, welcoming guests, making sure rooms are prepared and managing meeting room bookings.
Amy’s day is extremely varied, not only is she there to welcome guests into the building but she invests a lot of time to support her team. There are also lots of other things she needs to do from a managerial perspective, such as invoicing and ordering of stock.
Every day is different. Amy is investing a lot of time to ensure the right processes are in place to support the team and tenants. She is also focusing on the finishing touches. Amy says, “I love exploring new possibilities for the building. Everything I do focuses on improving customer experiences and I get such a kick out of seeing happy tenants.”
Amy is currently working with the marketing team at Kier to create a booklet for tenants. It will contain information about the local area, including everything from where tenants can get a bite to eat and entertainment to where the local dry cleaner is situated.
Amy says a front of house position is fabulous for anyone who loves interacting with people. She says, “One of my favourite parts of my job is welcoming guests, every day is so different! I am a people person. Interacting with people and getting to know them is something I absolutely love to do and it is this that makes the job just perfect for me. Working with such a lovely team and having fun whilst we work makes what I do so enjoyable.”
We asked Amy to share her top three tips to creating a great experience. She said:
1. Definitely a smile – a smile goes a long way
2. Going the extra mile to make the experience memorable
3. Getting to know people in order to personalise their experience – doing what you can to make individuals feel special
We asked Amy to sum up good customer service in three words: Patience, kindness, and empathy/understanding.
She explained how being empathetic towards someone not only allows you to create a connection with them but it can have a huge impact on their day, relieving stress and setting them up for the day.
Amy says one of the most memorable experiences she has had with regards to a positive customer experience was when she went to Disneyland. She says, “Everyone seemed to go that extra mile for you. They were polite, cheerful and animated, which set the foundations for an amazing experience.”
If you are interested in finding out more about working for Lexington Reception Services take a look at our current vacancies: http://lexingtonreceptionservices.london/our-people/join-us
