The Calibration SOP
Read each guest in the first 20 seconds, match their pace and words, repeat each request back before acting, and start clean with the next guest.
- Who
- Everyone who speaks to guests, coached by guest relations
- When
- The first 20 seconds of every approach, and every request after it
- You need
- Your attention: phone down, screen aside, eyes up
- Time to train
- 45 minutes, with four role-played arrivals
What this SOP achieves
Each guest is met at the pace, volume and words that suit them at that moment, and every request is confirmed before anyone acts on it. The guest feels noticed without being handled, and the hotel stops fixing requests that were heard wrong the first time.
Measured by
- Eyes up and hands free before the guest is 3 metres away
- Guest read on four signals before the first word
- Greeting matched to the guest’s pace and volume
- Guest’s own words used back at least once
- Guest on the phone: wait in sight, never speak over the call
- Every request repeated in one sentence before acting
- A visible state named in one sentence when it shows
- A two-second reset between guests, every time
The procedure
29 steps in 7 phases, in the order they happen.
Phase 1 Before the guest arrives
- 01
Clear your position before each approach: phone face down or away, screen dimmed or turned aside, hands free of pens and paperwork, eyes up towards the door or the corridor.
- 02
Check yourself against The Presence SOP before the first guest of the shift: uniform, name badge, hands, and the day’s VIPs and arrivals in mind.
- 03
Read the in-house and arrivals list for your area at the start of the shift: who is celebrating, who arrived late last night, who leaves today, who has complained.
- 04
Look up when a guest is about 10 metres away, and give them your full attention by the time they are 3 metres from you, even if you are finishing a task.
Phase 2 Read before you speak
- 05
Read four signals in the 20 seconds before the guest speaks: where the body and the bags point, whether the phone is out, where the eyes go, and the speed of the walk.
- 06
Decide which of four guests is in front of you: one who wants contact, one who wants speed, one who is tired and wants to be released, or a group celebrating. The card lists what each needs.
- 07
If the guest is on the phone or distracted, wait in sight with an open expression and a nod. Do not speak over the call, slide papers across or walk away. Stay ready until they turn to you.
- 08
When the guest turns back to you, greet them in one short sentence, then repeat their request in one sentence and wait for their yes before you act on it.
“Of course. So that’s a table for two at eight, on the terrace. Is that right?”
- 09
The lines in this library are examples. Say them in your own words, at the guest’s pace. A line recited the same way to every guest is heard as a script, and the guest stops listening.
Phase 3 Match the pace
- 10
Set your speed by the guest’s, never above it: slower and quieter for a tired or slow guest, shorter sentences and fewer steps for a guest in a hurry.
- 11
For a guest in a hurry, cut everything that can wait: the key, the direction and one useful fact. Offer the rest later, in writing or by message to the room.
“Your room is on the fourth floor, left of the lift. I’ll send the rest to your phone.”
- 12
For a guest who wants contact, give one recommendation and ask one question, then let them lead. Stop adding when their answers get shorter.
- 13
Match the guest’s volume: never louder than them, and lower in a quiet lobby, late at night, or when other guests are within earshot.
Phase 4 Mirror the register
- 14
Use the guest’s own words back. If they said “the room”, don’t say “the accommodation”; if they said “dinner”, don’t say “the dining experience”.
“You said you’re here for the wedding. Shall I have the car ready for half six?”
- 15
Follow the guest’s level of formality: title and surname until invited otherwise (see The Name SOP), and casual phrasing only after the guest uses it first.
- 16
Drop house vocabulary and abbreviations in front of guests: no “PMS”, “F&B”, “rack rate” or “room category”. Say what the guest would say.
- 17
If you share another language with the guest and they seem more at ease in it, offer once to continue in it. If they prefer the language they chose, stay with it.
“Would you prefer we continue in Italian, Mr Novak?”
Phase 5 Name the state
- 18
When the guest’s state is clear (tired, delayed, celebrating, wet from the rain), say what you see in one short sentence, then act on it.
“It’s been a long day for you. I’ll keep this short so you can rest.”
- 19
Name only what is visible and neutral. Never guess aloud at health, money, relationships or age, and never comment on how the guest looks.
- 20
After naming the state, change one thing in what you do: skip a step, bring water, take the bag, offer a seat. Naming it without acting on it sounds like a script.
- 21
If the guest’s answers show you read them wrong, change at once: slow down, speed up or say less. Do not carry on with the plan you started.
Phase 6 Confirm, then act
- 22
Before you act on any request, say it back in one sentence with the detail most likely to go wrong: the time, the number of people, the name or the date.
“So that’s a taxi for three to the airport at 06:15 tomorrow. Correct?”
- 23
If the guest corrects you, thank them, say the corrected version back once more, and only then act on it.
- 24
Tell the guest what happens next and by when, in one sentence. If someone else will do it, give their name or their department.
“The concierge will call your room by 18:00 to confirm it.”
- 25
Write the request in the log or the PMS before the guest walks away: their words, the time you promised, and who will act on it.
Phase 7 Reset between guests
- 26
When a guest leaves, end the interaction fully: finish the note, put the pen down, take one breath, and look up before the next guest reaches you.
- 27
If the last interaction was hard (a complaint, a rush, a difficult call), remember the next guest did not see it. Start them at their pace, not at the pace you were just working.
- 28
If you cannot reset because you are still upset or still on the last task, ask a colleague to take the next guest and step away for two minutes.
- 29
At the end of the shift, tell your supervisor about any guest you read wrong and the signal you missed, so the team learns it at the next briefing.
What to record
Before the approach
- Phone away, screen aside, hands free
- Arrivals and in-house list read
- Day’s VIPs and occasions known
During the approach
- Four signals read before speaking
- Pace and volume at or below the guest’s
- Guest’s own words used back
- Request repeated and confirmed
Request log
- Request in the guest’s own words
- Time promised to the guest
- Colleague or department who acts
- Guests read wrong, told at handover
What could happen
- The guest is on a phone call
- Wait in sight with a nod. Do not speak over the call or slide papers across. When they finish, greet them in one sentence and repeat their request before acting.
- Two guests arrive at once
- Greet the second with eye contact and one sentence while you serve the first: “I’ll be with you in a moment.” Serve them in the order they arrived.
- A loud group, celebrating
- Match their energy for the greeting, then organise quietly: one person to deal with, all the keys in one envelope, the practical details said once to the whole group.
- The guest speaks little English
- Slow down, use short sentences, show times and numbers on paper or a screen, and confirm them in writing. Call a colleague who speaks the language if one is on shift.
- The guest’s state is unclear
- Use a short, neutral greeting and one open question, then read the answer. Name nothing you are not sure of.
- The guest says you got it wrong
- Accept it, say back what they want in one sentence, and change your pace or your plan at once. Do not explain why you read it that way.
Common mistakes
- Opening with the same welcome for everyone. Of every two guests, one gets the wrong one.
- Delivering the welcome at your pace instead of theirs. It reads as a performance, and the guest stops listening.
- Acting on a request without saying it back. The taxi comes at 06:50 instead of 06:15, and the guest misses the flight.
- Speaking to a guest who is on the phone. They have to end the call or ignore you, and both feel rude.
- Using house vocabulary. Hotel words create distance exactly where you wanted closeness.
- Carrying the last guest’s mood into the next welcome. The next guest assumes it is about them.
Check your team
After training (45 minutes, with four role-played arrivals), each person answers these without the sheet.
- Which four signals do you read before the guest speaks?
- What do you do when a guest reaches your desk while on a phone call?
- What do you say back before acting on a request, and which detail must it contain?
- How do you set your speed and volume against the guest’s?
- When do you name a guest’s state aloud, and what must you never name?
- What do you do if you cannot reset before the next guest?
Four Guests, Four Welcomes
The same warmth, delivered four different ways. Learn the signals and the rest follows.
Run this as a five-minute briefing game: describe a guest walking in, and let the team call the welcome. It sticks faster than any handout.
The SOP Library.
No. 06 · Guest Experience
The Recovery SOP
A complaint heard to the end and owned without excuses, fixed with a time and one personal gesture, a wrong charge removed at once, and the cause logged that night.
No. 37 · Guest Relations
The Pre-Arrival SOP
Every arrival read 96 hours ahead, one personal contact by 72 hours that confirms or offers transfer, table and spa, each reply within 24 hours, the room checked.