We have had meetings with most of our GM’s lately and here is some of the feedback we have gotten: 1) Some of you disappear and guests are waiting at the desk. This is unacceptable. You MUST be available to assist the guests. 2) Sloppy appearance. Please look at yourself in the mirror before you leave your house. Make sure your hair is neat and combed. Make sure your shirt is ironed and wrinkle free. Make sure your nametag is on and STRAIGHT. Take some pride in your appearance! 3) Too much time spent on cell phones on personal calls and texting. Again, cell phones are NOT to be used (for calls or texting) unless it is an emergency! 4) Too much time spent on the computer instead of being attentive to guests in the lobby. All of our GM’s want you to ACT AS AMBASSADORS for the hotel. GET OUT FROM BEHIND THE DESK AND WALK AROUND THE LOBBY! Greet guests and ask them how their stay is. Introduce yourself as a concierge and let them know you are there to assist them any questions they may have about the area and the attractions. Let them know you can give them restaurant discounts, make reservations and assist them with any attraction tickets they need. Pass out stickers to the kids! Not ONLY will this help improve the scores of our hotels, but it will improve YOUR sales! Try it! You’ll see!

IDRIVE 360 – LEGOLAND – MERLIN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
We now have all Merlin attractions grouped in the POS under “Merlin Entertainment Group” in Category 13. This includes LEGOLAND, THE ORLANDO EYE, MADAME TOUSSADS, AND SEALIFE. The way these attractions will be sold is THEIR CHOICE OF ONE, TWO, OR ALL THREE ATTRACTIONS. The commission on these sales is VERY high, so they will be great to sell! The official opening date is Monday, 5/4. Guests will many times be saving money with us because the price of the EYE increases during certain times of the day.

DISNEY WATER PARK INCENTIVE
From May 3 – May 30, AGS as a company must sell a minimum of 285 tickets with the Water Park Fun & More option ADDED. Individual Disney Water Park ticket sales do NOT qualify for this incentive. The TOP 3 Sellers will receive Disney Gift Cards: 1st – $200, 2nd – $150, 3rd – $100. Additionally we want ALL of you to have a chance to win, so for every 5 tickets you sell with the WPF option added, you will receive a drawing entry. We will be giving an additional 20 – $50 Disney Gift Cards away in a drawing, so the more you sell, the better chance you will have to win one of these. The top 3 sellers will be ineligible to win additional cards. So suggest the WPF option for EVERY Disney ticket sale. Remember, to add this option is almost the SAME as ONE admission to the Water Park, so it’s a great value! Plus your guest gets the same number of visits as the number of days for the major parks purchase (with the exception of the ONE Day which gets TWO options). The options are Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, DisneyQuest, Oak Trail Golf, Wide World of Sports, and Fantasia and Winter/Summerland Mini Golf BEFORE 4 pm.

CREDIT CARD SLIPS
Remember, ALL cc slips must have these 3 things written on them: 1) tickets purchased; 2) room number; and 3) ID #. This is NOT an option! We must have this information on the slips to avoid getting a chargeback.

LEGOLAND WATER PARK/WEEKENDS
Don’t forget that the Legoland Water Park is now only OPEN ON THE WEEKENDS.

READ EACH TICKET OUT LOUD
Please make sure you are reading EACH TICKET out loud as you hand them over. This is your LAST chance to catch any mistakes and avoid deductions!

WORK ON UPGRADING TICKETS
During this slower time, let’s really concentrate on UPGRADING our sales. If a guest asks for Sea World, you should always say “Would you like to add Busch Gardens or Aquatica for only $25 more?”. Then you should tell them the normal price of each park. This should be a NO-BRAINER for someone to add one of these parks for only $25! Do the same for adding options to Disney tickets.

GO ABOVE AND BEYOND!
Let’s keep on working going “above and beyond” for every guest. Be sure to give complete information (including how to use the Fast Pass and directions to the parks) and make sure the guest knows the entitlements on every ticket you sell. If your guest wants to commend you for your performance, encourage them to leave a comment on Trip Advisor and/or the AGS Facebook page.

ORLANDO CITY SHIRTS
Our next days to wear the Orlando City shirts are Saturday, May 2 vs Ponte Preta and Friday, May 8 against the defending Eastern Conference champion New England Revolution. We still have tickets available for BOTH matches. Please call Marc if you need tickets. 407-506-7692

GIFTING PEOPLE NEEDED
We still need at least 2 people to move over to the gifting team.

INCENTIVES
WonderWorks – Extra $2, $3, or $4 on all tickets sold in the months of April and May!                 El Patron – $1, $2, or $3 for every guest referred in the months of April and May!                   Victory Casino Cruise – Book a minimum of 10 passengers during the month of May. The most bookings receive free boarding, dining and transportation for 10 people and $250 in casino chips! 2nd Place receives the same for 5 people and $100 in casino chips! 3rd Place receives the same for 5 people and $50 in casino chips!                                                                                     Disney WPF – See above.

MOD FOR SATURDAY – KYMRY
Kymry will be the MOD on Saturday.

Employee Notes: Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We want each of you to take pride in your appearance. Please make sure your hair is neat and combed or brushed. Brush your teeth and use mouthwash. Men should be clean shaven. All shirts should be PRESSED and wrinkle free. Use starch if necessary. Shirts CANNOT be left unbuttoned and sleeves CANNOT be roller up. They must be buttoned to the wrist. If you are wearing a tie or scarf, make sure it’s tied properly and to the neck. If you are wearing a blazer, make sure it’s clean and wrinkle free. All pants and slacks should be ironed. Nametags should be STRAIGHT and worn at all times.
 

AGS HOMEPAGE PASSWORD CHANGE
We have changed the password for our homepage. If you have not gotten it yet, please call the office, a lead or a manager. Passwords are NOT to be SAVED on the computer! If you are prompted to save, you should always click “Never Save”. Also, DO NOT give passwords out to anyone – the OPC or any other workers around you.
 

GET OUT FROM BEHIND THE DESK
All of our hotel managers want you all to act as AMBASSADORS of the hotel. Please don’t sit behind the desk like a bump on a log. Get out from behind the desk and work the lobby. Greet people, introduce yourself as the Concierge, ask them how their stay is, and ask them if they have any questions about the attractions. Tell them you can assist them with any tickets or reservations too.

READ EACH TICKET OUT LOUD
I am going to keep putting this in the Gazette until we have AT LEAST 2 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS WITH NO MISTAKES on guests getting the wrong tickets. Please, READ EACH TICKET OUT LOUD TO THE GUEST AS YOU HAND THEM OVER! Again, this is your last chance to catch any mistakes. Also make sure the guest knows the entitlements on the tickets, how long they have to use them, and what parks are included.

Add Sea World to Every Disney or Universal Sale!

SUGGEST SEA WORLD!
We still have higher commissions on all Sea World products through June 1st. You should be suggesting Sea World for every Disney and Universal ticket that you sell. It’s a great value – especially if they buy weekday tickets!

BALANCE TABLES – CASH
All Log Sheet balance tables need to be filled out COMPLETELY, including all lines of the deposit column and the sales column. If you are depositing cash, it must be listed in the deposit column AND you must put it in the POS as “Envelope Deposit Out”. If you do not do this and cash is missing, we will have no choice but to charge you for the loss.

BATCH OUT CREDIT CARD MACHINES
Also, before sealing your deposit envelope, be sure to double check that your CC machine has been batched. You must run a “detail report” first and then “close” or “settle” your machine. Your last slip MUST read “Settlement Successful”. Remember, some of the machines prompt you to enter your total credit card sales.

LEGOLAND WATER PARK/WEEKENDS
Don’t forget that the Legoland Water Park is now only OPEN ON THE WEEKENDS.

HARD TICKETS MUST BE VERIFIED
When you receive ANY hard ticket inventory, i.e. Water Parks, DisneyQuest, Convention Tickets, they must be counted/verified in front of the runner. Sign the WHITE copy and give it back to the runner. Put the yellow copy in your deposit envelope.

ORLANDO CITY SHIRTS
Our next day to wear the Orlando City shirts is Sunday. There is a game Sunday night against Toronto FC. We still have Promenade Level Seats available for $35. Please call Marc at 407-506-7692 if you sell these tickets.

PROFESSIONALISM
Let’s all work on professionalism. What does this mean? A professional concierge is attentive to guests. That means you stay off your cell phone, don’t make personal calls, and only use the computer for business purposes. If a guest is at your desk, STAND or get on their same level. Also, there is absolutely NO EATING or GUM CHEWING at our desks.

GIFTING PEOPLE NEEDED
We still need at least 2 people to move over to the gifting team. If you are organized, good on computers and want to work a LOT of hours, please call Katwyn.

INCENTIVES
WonderWorks – Extra $2, $3, or $4 on all tickets sold in the months of April and May!                  El Patron – $1, $2, or $3 for every guest referred in the months of April and May!                  Victory Casino Cruise – Book a minimum of 10 passengers during the month of May. The most bookings receive free boarding, dining and transportation for 10 people and $250 in casino chips! 2nd Place receives the same for 5 people and $100 in casino chips! 3rd Place receives the same for 5 people and $50 in casino chips!  There is GOOD commission on Victory sales so let’s really push it – especially if someone asks about a casino.

OPC CORNER – FROM KYMRY
Vacation Village is not happy with our tour production. We need to focus more on the quantity of tours, not the amount of money you are making on each tour. Each of you should have a goal of 5 tours per week. ONE a day is not asking a lot. When you get to 5, you get an extra $100 bonus plus you get $150 to work with on gift cost. So let’s really not worry about making so much money on the first 4 tours, but get to tour number 5. I will be doing the schedule based on rankings. So the best shifts will go to the top producers. You guys are GREAT. We know you can do it!

MOD FOR SATURDAY – KYMRY
Kymry will be the MOD on Saturday.

Employee Notes: Congrats to Rich for 5 years on 4/26 and Ann Murphy for 3 years on 4/25! Happy Birthday to Brenda on 4/25!

As we move into our slower time, we want to change “No Pay May” into “Great Pay May”! How can we do this? Get out from behind the desk and mingle in the lobby and breakfast room. Pass out stickers to the kids. Greet everyone with a pleasant greeting and introduce yourself as the Concierge. Ask your guests if they have any questions about the parks or if they need directions as a way to get them to your desk. Talk with the Front Desk and Bellmen and make sure they are sending everyone over to you. Once the guest is in front of you, MAXIMIZE YOUR SALES. Use the itinerary planner in the FunPak to plan out their stay. Make sure that if someone asks about a 1 Day Ticket to ANY park, that you go over all of the Multi-day options. If they have children, be sure to recommend Legoland. Again, Legoland is our HIGHEST profit daytime attraction! If they have shopping days or half days, be sure to recommend dinner shows in the evening. Use the phrase “Do you have any dinner plans while you’re here?’ to get into your dinner show pitch. Suggest Blue Man Group with EVERY Universal ticket sold! Make sure your guests know that Universal is closing early so they can leave the park and go right to the BMG show at 8 pm. Be sure to recommend Sea World with EVERY Disney and Universal ticket sold. We still have higher commissions on these tickets until June 1st.

OVERCOMING CONVENIENCE FEES OBJECTIONS
If you are asked about the convenience fees, obviously you can’t lie, but you should follow it up with “But the advantage to buying them here is that you can set up your Fast Passes ahead of time. Usually there is a long line at the Fast pass kiosks in the parks and sometimes the Fast Passes are all given out by the time you get to the park.” They can set them up on their smart phone on the shuttle bus or on the ride to the parks. We know that this may be more difficult for larger families, but it should be no issue for smaller parties. As a last resort, you can call a manager for an override ONLY if the guest purchases additional profitable tickets, like multi-day PTP Universals.

Disney Water Park Incentive!

DISNEY WATER PARK INCENTIVE
Don’t forget that for every ticket you sell and every Water Park Fun & More option you add, you increase your chances! Each week, 4/6-4/12 and 4/13-4/19, the top seller will receive 4 – After 2 annual Water Park passes with the runner up each week receiving 2 of these passes!

LEGOLAND REVIEW
First of all, the last daily opening for the Water Park is 4/19. After that, it will only be open on weekends until 5/23. As for the tickets, again, DO NOT mention BOGO’s unless you are in gifting or if the guest has a coupon or mentions it to you. You make DOUBLE the commission on regular tickets than you do the BOGOs. If you do print BOGO’s, you must print an EQUAL number of Adults and Children in the Gifting Store. All additional tickets MUST be printed in the Guest Services Store. When you put them in the POS, you must ring in BOGO for each Adult/Child ticket printed in the BOGO store and regular pricing for all tickets printed in the Guest Services store.

STAY OFF CELL PHONES
We’ve been meeting with a lot of the GM’s of our properties and their two biggest complaints are AGS employees disappearing from the desk and being on their cell phones. GUYS, CELL PHONES ARE NOT TO BE USED UNLESS IT’S AN EMERGENCY, or you are at a location that has phone issues. There is to be NO personal cell phone usage at the desk! That includes texting or use of social media. Also, you should always be at your desk or visibly mingling with guests in the lobby. Never leave for longer than it takes to use the restroom.

SUPPLIES
Here’s what we need to do for supplies. Please do not order first thing in the morning. Wait until AFTER the runner gets to your location. Sometimes we are getting double orders. Also, please be considerate of your fellow workers and check supplies. Don’t leave someone without paper or Disney shells. Go to another location if you have to.

DISNEY CONVENTION TICKETS
Make sure you are verifying that any guests you sell these to are either here in a meeting or convention or they are the family of someone here in a meeting or convention. Also, please check the dates and make sure you are selling the OLDEST ONES FIRST! This is very important so we don’t end up selling expired tickets.

MEDIEVAL TIMES ROYALTY UPGRADE
This is continuing through 4/19. You can offer up to $15 off per adult if necessary, but try not to so you can make more commission. Mention code: FRFL when making the reservation.
HARD TICKETS MUST BE VERIFIED
When you receive ANY hard ticket inventory, i.e. Water Parks, DisneyQuest, Convention Tickets, they must be counted/verified in front of the runner. Please be sure to SIGN the white copy and give it back to the runner and keep the yellow copy for your records.

GIFTING PEOPLE NEEDED
We need at least TWO people to move over to the Gifting team. If you work gifting, you will ALWAYS get a lot of hours and our gifting people consistently make more money that most of our other team members. If you would like to move over, please let Katwyn or Armando know.

INCENTIVES
WonderWorks – Extra $2, $3, or $4 on all tickets sold in the months of April and May!                  El Patron – $1, $2, or $3 for every guest referred in the months of April and May!

MOD FOR SATURDAY – KYMRY
Kymry will be the MOD on Saturday.

Employee Notes: Congrats to Izzy for 2 years on 4/19! Updates – Marian is out of the hospital and is in a rehab facility downtown. Jaki is out of intensive care and is in a room at Osceola Regional.  She is expected to be released Tuesday if you would like to visit her before then.

You guys have done a fantastic job on sales the last few weeks! As we go into a slower time, let’s be sure to keep a positive attitude and work on MAXIMIZING your opportunity for sales with every guest. Focus on the high profit tickets, like 2 Day PTP or higher Universal tickets, Legoland, Blue Man Group, Cirque, Tours, and Dinner Shows. Try to get your guests into a Disney ticket that’s at least 4 Days or higher with one option. Use your itinerary planner in your FunPak to vacation plan for your guests. Show them how they can fit in all of the parks during their stay.
TICKET MISTAKES
Now for the bad news. We had far too many mistakes over the past few weeks. All of which could have been avoided if each ticket was read out loud to the guests. Guys, we can’t stress how important it is to take an extra minute to do this. This is your last chance to catch any mistakes and correct them, before you have to PAY for it out of your paycheck. PLEASE, read each ticket out loud to your guests as you pass them over!

BE THOROUGH – GIVE INFORMATION
Please be a good concierge and be thorough with your guests. Every guest that buys Disney tickets should be given the FastPass information card to pre-register their tickets. I just got off the phone with a lady that was very upset because this wasn’t explained to her. She also was upset because our employee sold her a 2 Day Disney and 1 Day to Universal when she said she would have preferred 2 Days to Universal and 1 Day to Disney. Guys, please make sure your guests understand what’s good for each age group in the party. There is a GREAT piece on the inside back cover of the FunPak to help you and your guests with this. PLEASE USE THIS! When you complete the sale, be sure to THANK the guest, give them directions or shuttle information, and ask them if they have any other questions.

Disney Water Park Incentive!

DISNEY WATER PARK INCENTIVE
Don’t forget that for every ticket you sell and every Water Park Fun & More option you add, you increase your chances! Each week, 4/6-4/12 and 4/13-4/19, the top seller will receive 4 – After 2 annual Water Park passes with the runner up each week receiving 2 of these passes!

NO LEAVING PROPERTY WITHOUT PERMISSION
No one is allowed to leave the property DURING a scheduled shift without a manager’s permission. Too many times we are getting calls from a hotel manager saying people are waiting to buy tickets and we have no one at the desk. You must call a manager if you have to leave property for ANY reason!

CASH BANKS
Please make sure you are considerate of your co-workers and leaving enough of a bank for the next day. Almost all banks should be around $100. If you have all large bills, please go to the Front Desk and try to break them up for the next person. Never deposit any bills smaller than a $20. Keep all small bills and coins in your bank.

AQUATICA CLOSURES
Almost every day this week, the parking lot at Aquatica has been closing by around 12 noon. When selling any ticket that includes Aquatica, please be sure to tell your guests to get there NO LATER THAN 10 AM to make sure they can get in. The only admissions they will allow in after the parking lot is at capacity is if the guest takes the I-Ride Trolley. Also, we want all of you to attend the Aquaitca events, but we can’t give everyone the same day off. Right now we have 15 people off for 4/18 and we can’t allow any more off. Please sign up for the next event.

UNIVERSALANDU TRAINING
We cannot afford to give all of you a day off for an hour and a half training session. Once you schedule your training, please ask for the PARTIAL day off – not the FULL day. Also, they were having problems with the site. If it hasn’t been resolved, please e-mail rosa.sepulveda@universalorlando.com to register.

MEDIEVAL TIMES ROYALTY UPGRADE
With this offer, you should try to sell the tickets at FULL PRICE to make more commission because the guest is getting this $20 value. However if it’s the difference between getting a sale and not, you can still give $10 off per adult. Mention code: FRFL when making the reservation. If they give you a hard time, call the Kissimmee castle directly and talk to Samantha Tutor – 407-396-2900×2123

HARD TICKETS MUST BE VERIFIED
When you receive ANY hard ticket inventory, i.e. Water Parks, DisneyQuest, Convention Tickets, they must be counted/verified in front of the runner.

SUGGEST SEA WORLD & BUSCH
Let’s make a habit of suggesting Sea World with EVERY Disney or Universal ticket sold!

GIFTING PEOPLE NEEDED
We still need people to move over to the gifting team. If you are organized, good on computers, good at upgrading and want to work a LOT of hours, please call Katwyn or Armando to move to gifting.

INCENTIVES
Orlando Magic – Top seller for final 8 home games wins great tickets in a suite!        WonderWorks – Extra $2, $3, or $4 on all tickets sold in the months of April and May!                 El Patron – $1, $2, or $3 for every guest referred in the months of April and May!

MOD FOR SATURDAY – KYMRY
Kymry will be the MOD on Saturday.

Employee Notes: Happy Birthday to Steve H. on 4/13 and Jose on 4/16! Congrats to Carlos for 3 years on 4/11, Florence for 6 years on 4/14 and Anne N. for 1 year on the same date!

Every credit card needs to be swiped through the machine. YOU CANNOT KEY IN THE NUMBER. If a guest tells you to go ahead and key it in, you CANNOT do this. If we get chargebacks on keyed in transactions, we automatically lose this money. The only exception is for an APS sale. When you do an APS sale, the card used must be imprinted in order for the guest to pick up their tickets. Also, don’t forget that EVERY credit card slip MUST have these 3 things written on it: 1) Tickets purchased; 2) Guest’s Room number; and 3) The ID number for the ID checked. If these procedures are not followed and we lose a chargeback, YOU will be responsible for the loss.
 

CIRQUE CHANGES
We are now selling the Category 1 seats and they are loaded in the POS. Again, the commission on Category 1 is not as good as Category 2, so always try to get the guest into Category 2 seats. Don’t forget that if you are booking Cirque on Connect, you must use the “Promo” category – the second set down.

BLUE MAN GROUP – HOLIDAY PRICES
If you are selling Blue Man for the rest of this week (through 4/5), they are now in Holiday pricing which is $10 higher than the normal prices. Please make sure you look for the buttons in the POS Category 26 that have “HLDY” in the abbreviation and make be sure you are looking for “FS” for Friday and Saturday, or “ST” for Sunday through Thursday. If you are selling BMG with Universal tickets, sell them at the regular price to give $10 off.

WET ‘N WILD – NO CHILD’S TICKETS
We have now run out of the child’s tickets in our inventory. All tickets will be printed as adults, but you still need to put them in the POS as adults and children. These tickets will be valid for both Adults and Children and give 14 days of unlimited use of the park.

NOW SELLING AL-MARAH ARABIAN
We are now selling Al-Marah Arabian Horses which is a 3 hour interactive experience on a farm in Clermont. Please refer to the brochure for more information. The price is $195 for the first participant and $95 for each additional participant with a maximum of 6 people per session. This is by reservation only. It’s located in the POS in Category 18 – Misc. Vouchers.

NEVER APPROACH HOTEL MANAGER
We have had some of our GM’s express that they don’t feel comfortable with our employees approaching them about issues. If you have any concerns or issues at a hotel, please follow the proper chain of command and contact your AGS manager, not the hotel manager. We will in turn contact the hotel manager. Thanks!

SHIRTS – AGS / ORLANDO CITY
We still have lots of Orlando City shirts available. However, we were ONLY given small, medium, large and very few extra larges. If you feel like you can fit into these sizes, feel free to come into the office and pick one up. Also, we have the NEW AGS shirts in! These shirts are lighter than our old shirts, but they MUST be ironed! If you would like one of the new shirts, please BRING ONE OF YOUR OLD ONES IN to swap them out.

MEDIEVAL TIMES BOGO
Medieval Times is offering “Buy an Adult Ticket at Full Price, Get an Adult Ticket Free”. We CANNOT match this offer. But you can get around it by offering a $10 off discount for each adult and then giving the “Free Royalty Upgrade”. This is good on all tickets sold by AGS from now through 4/19. This is a $20 value that includes priority seating, a commemorative program, cheering banner, a 1 DVD per party. Mention code: FRFL when making the reservation.

DISNEY TICKETS – VOIDS
Effective immediately, if you have someone bringing active Disney tickets to you for a refund or to be voided, a manager must log in to your computer and void the tickets on the spot. The reason for this is that if the guest walks away from your desk and links the tickets in MyMagic+, they could possibly still fraudulently use the tickets. So they must be voided immediately.

SUGGEST SEA WORLD & BUSCH
Let’s make a habit of suggesting Sea World with EVERY Disney or Universal ticket sold!

DISNEY WATER PARKS – INCENTIVE
We are having an incentive for the next 2 weeks for adding the Water Park Fun & More to tickets as well as selling the individual Water Park tickets. Each week- from 4/6 to 4/12 and from 4/13 to 4/19, we will be giving the top seller 4 – After 2 Annual Water Park passes with the runner up getting 2 of these passes!

INCENTIVES
Orlando Magic – Top seller for final 8 home games wins great tickets in a suite!      WonderWorks – Extra $2, $3, or $4 on all tickets sold in the months of April and May!                 El Patron – $1, $2, or $3 for every guest referred in the months of April and May!

MOD FOR SATURDAY – KYMRY
Kymry will be the MOD on Saturday.

UPDATE – MARIAN CARRO
Marian unfortunately had a stroke while she was working on Wednesday at Residence Inn. Although it wasn’t severe, she is having some problems with her speech and memory. She is at Celebration Hospital if you would like to visit her. Please keep her in your prayers.

UPDATE – RICH MUNDINGER
Rich’s mother-in-law was killed in a tragic car accident with a Polk County Sheriff on Wednesday. Please keep Rich and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Employee Notes: Happy Birthday to Max on 4/6! Congrats to Patricia for 12 years on 4/4! Congratulations to Erika for her promotion on becoming a PM lead!