For all of you to be successful over the next few weeks, you will need to focus on engaging with as many guests as possible. What does this mean? Get out from behind the desk and mingle with guests in the lobby. We want you to act as the “Hotel Ambassador”, smiling, and greeting guests in the lobby. Make sure you introduce yourself as the Concierge, and let them know you are there to assist them any questions they may have. Let them know you have restaurant specials and coupons. Offer stickers to the kids. Once you get them to the desk, use the Fun Guide to help them Vacation Plan. And don’t just focus on the major parks! Remember your 90 day goals and try to fit in as many of the smaller attractions as you can. Remember, you make more commission on many of these smaller attractions than you do on a 1 Day Disney or Universal ticket!

 

SEA WORLD SALES

We really need to pick up the pace on our Sea World sales.  Sea World is one of the best ONE DAY PARKS to sell because it’s got something for the entire family – four roller coasters for the thrill seekers (more than any other park in Orlando), great shows for parents and the whole family, Shamu’s Happy Harbor for the young kids, and tons of animal interaction experiences.  Plus there are a LOT of great deals on Sea World tickets, especially when adding Aquatica and Busch Gardens and All Day Dining packages.  Use the “All Day Dining” descriptions that are in the Dining Guides that we’ve provided you as a sales tool to upgrade your tickets.  The commission on Sea World tickets is some of the highest for a ONE day theme park!  Also, the Discovery Cove ONLY offer continues through May 25th.  

 

 

 

DISNEY / UNIVERSAL CALENDARS

Please make sure you look CAREFULLY at the Disney and Universal calendars before selling and printing ONE DAY TICKETS.  Disney is going through a lot of changes:  Value:  4/27, 4/30 – 5/3; Regular:  4/28 – 4/29, 5/4, 5/7 – 5/11, 5/14 – 5/18, 5/21 – 5/24; Peak:  5/5 – 5/6, 5/12 – 5/13, 5/19 – 5/20, 5/25 – 5/31 (basically Regular Mondays – Fridays in May and Peak Saturdays and Sundays except for Memorial Day week).  REMEMBER TO ASK YOUR GUESTS “WHAT DAY WILL YOU BE VISITING THE PARK?” BEFORE QUOTING ANY PRICES, MAKING ANY SALES OR PRINTING ANY TICKETS.  Universal will basically be mirroring Disney with “Value” tickets Monday through Fridays in May, and “Anytime” tickets on Saturdays and Sundays except for Memorial Day week.

 

90 DAY MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Some of you are really taking a negative view of the Quarterly Goals instead of embracing them and working your hardest to achieve them.  Of course you may not achieve every one of them, but we expect you to try your hardest and at least reach 80% of them.  The managers are reviewing the First Quarter performances with all of you just to let you know where you stood.  We know that you didn’t have a full 90 days to reach them, but this is an opportunity to see what you can improve on.  These performance standards give you an opportunity to sell things that you may not have in the past.  It helps you to learn about them.  And we don’t thing asking you to sell TWO TICKETS over a 90 day period is unreasonable.  Of course we don’t want you to sell Ripley’s over a 3 Park – 3 Day Park-to-Park Universal ticket.  Obviously we want you to sell the high profit tickets and make more money!  But we DO want you to be creative to sell things that you may not have.  Instead of offering $20 off a multi-day Universal ticket or 3 Day or higher Disney ticket, throw in Ripley’s, Gatorland, or one of the other smaller attractions for free.  Reach out to your leads or your Team Manager for more tips on selling these smaller attractions.

 

WORKING ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS

We are working our hardest to make sure all employees do not work only 1 location.  We want everyone to work at least one shift at another property outside of their normal location.  And this is done with a couple of exceptions (all Spanish speaking locations, etc.)  This is an effort to not only be FAIR TO EVERYONE, but also to give every employee an opportunity to have good shifts.  Sometimes a hotel is full of groups for a week or has a low occupancy, so this gives everyone a chance to at least have one good shift elsewhere.

 

MAKE SURE YOU PRINT VOUCHERS – DON’T ONLY GIVE RECEIPTS

We’ve had several situations where guests are showing up at various attractions (Boggy Creek, Kennedy Space Center, Wild Florida) without an actual voucher and are just giving receipts.  Remember, for those of you on Activity Link, after you complete the payment you must click “Reprint” at the bottom of your screen to produce a voucher that the guest presents at the attraction.  We just had a situation like this today for Kennedy Space Center where a guest showed up with a receipt instead of the actual voucher and they were very angry that they had this inconvenience.  Again, if you are unsure of how to process these transactions, please reach out to your lead.

 

DISNEY FREE WATER PARK – 2 OR 3 DAY TICKETS

The Free Water Park on any 2 or 3 Day Disney ticket continues through June 29th.  Guys, you MUST print the correct ticket.  We’ve had a couple of situations where guests were given the regular 2 or 3 Day tickets and it’s caused major problems because they didn’t get the Free Water Park as promised.  Please be very careful with this and make sure you are choosing the ticket with the FREE WATER PARK included.  Also, the 3 Day tickets CANNOT be discounted because the offer is to buy a 3 day at the FULL PRICE and get a Free Water Park.  If the guest wants the $20 off online match, they you will have to print the regular 3 Day Tickets without the Free Water Park.

 

UNIVERSAL – BUY 3 DAYS GET 2 DAYS FREE

There still seems to be some confusion on these tickets.  First of all, remember the guest MUST pay the price of a 3 DAY TICKET to get the special promotion ticket for 5 days.  They can pay for either a 2 Park 3 Day ticket or 3 Park 3 Day ticket.  For those of you in gifting, if you don’t see the 2 Park 3 Day PTP ticket, you can print the 2 Park 7 Day PTP EPA gifting ticket instead of the 5 Day Promo ticket.  The same goes for the 3 Park 3 Day PTP ticket.  You can print the 3 Park 7 Day PTP EPA Gifting ticket instead.  Also, the online price for the 2 Park 5 Day Base ticket is $45 per day, which comes out to $225 + tax = $240.  We CAN match this online price.

 

LEGOLAND BOGOS

We still have some errors being made on selling the Legoland BOGOS out of the “Touring” Gifting store.  First of all, the BOGO’s should not even be mentioned because you make LESS commission on the BOGO tickets than you do on the REGULAR tickets.  However, if it you are in Gifting, or it will save a sale and keep the guest going to the park, we will allow it.  Remember, this BOGO is for “Buy an Adult at FULL Price, Get a CHILD free” so you CANNOT discount these tickets.  And it must be an EQUAL NUMBER OF ADULTS AND CHILDREN.  If not, you MUST print any additional tickets out of the “Guest Service – Non-Touring” store.  Here’s an example:  A guest has 3 Adults and 2 Children.  You talk to them about Legoland and they mention they saw an offer for Kids Free.  You will then go to the POS and CHARGE FOR 2 BOGOS AND 1 REGULAR ADULT LEGOLAND (not BOGO).  You then go into the “Touring” store and print 2 Adults and 2 Kids Free tickets.  You LOGOUT of the “Touring” store, LOGIN to the “Non-Touring – Guest Services” store and print 1 Adult REGULAR ticket.  If you don’t process the transaction correctly this way, you will be charged for the difference.

 

NEW HIRE ORIENTATIONS

For those of you that are new hires, you are scheduled to attend a MANDATORY ORIENTATION this Thursday, May 3rd from 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Moonfish on Sand Lake Road.  We will be going over all company policies and benefits and dinner will be served.  All of you are EXPECTED TO BE THERE.  Thank you!

 

EMPLOYEE NOTES:

Congratulations to our newest promotions:  Fabian Caldera on the VIP Team and Kaeley Rodriguez on the Gifting Team!  Both Fabian and Kaeley do an outstanding job and represent AGS will with their hard work, loyalty, dedication, sales and great Guest Service skills.  Please congratulate them and give them the support and respect that they deserve.  Happy Birthday to Amaury C. on 4/24, Lisette M. on 4/25, Omar R. on 4/26, Brenda R. on 4/25, Colleen G. on 4/28, and Carlos L. on 4/21!  Congrats to Mike B. for 2 Years on 5/4, Bev H. for 1 Year on 4/24, Rich M. for 8 Years on 4/26, Laura M. for 2 Years on 5/2, Robert M. for 2 Years on 4/27, and Jorge R. for 2 Years on 5/4!  Please welcome David Hernandez, Berty Maier de Biedma, Jayleon Pickles, Meibys Reyes, and Brock Vila to the AGS Team!

 

 

You all did a great job with sales over the Spring Break period, but we had a lot of guest issues with tickets. You have no idea how many irate phone calls we get from guests on a daily/weekly basis because they got the wrong tickets, went to the wrong parks, etc. How can this be solved? When closing the sales and handing the tickets over, be sure to review everything thoroughly with the guests.  They should get PARK MAPS of the parks that are included.  Give them Tear Off Maps and CIRCLE the parks they get with their tickets.  Make sure they know the difference between Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios.  Twice in the last few weeks we had guests show up at Universal Studios with Disney tickets.  Make sure they know the park hours and any special events going on – fireworks, parades, etc.  Also, they need to know how long the tickets are valid.  For Disney Multi-day tickets all portions of the ticket must be used within 14 days.  For Sea World Multi-park tickets, all portions of the ticket must be used within 14 days.  For Universal Multi-day tickets, all portions of the ticket must be used within 7 days.

 

OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT

We are opening a new position for a Team Supervisor and we would like to hire from within for this position. The Team Supervisor (as opposed to a Manager) will be an hourly position and overtime may be available. Here are the qualifications expected in order to be considered:

– Full Availability – Including all days of the week, nights and weekends
– Weekends are required
– Great customer service skills
– Organized and able to multi-task
– Good knowledge of all technology and the ability to troubleshoot issues with the internet, credit card machines and printers
– Strong sales skills and the ability to pass those on to the team
– Team player and able to gain respect of others by setting an example
– Motivator
– No past issues with attendance or tardiness or write ups
– Pleasant personality
– Strong knowledge of the POS systems

If you feel you have these qualities, please e-mail armando@allguest.com to set up an interview.

 

NEED TO INCREASE SEA WORLD SALES – DISCOVERY COVE PROMOTION

We really need to work on our Sea World sales.  Every guest should know about the All Day Dining promotions.  Remember, you can price match with the online prices, so with the 2 Park or 3 Park with All Day Dining, IT’S A GREAT DEAL!  Doing a price match and getting a smaller commission (but still really good!) is better than getting no commission at all!  Also, don’t forget the Discovery Cove ONLY promotion that goes through May 25th.  If you have a guest interested in Discovery Cove, always try to sell the regular pass that includes admission to Sea World and Aquatica for 14 consecutive days (or the Ultimate that adds Busch Gardens).  However, if a guest is price conscious or only has a limited amount of time, the special ticket is a great option!  It’s only $128 including taxes for the Day Resort ONLY (Non-swim) or $213 including taxes for the Day Resort with Dolphin Swim ONLY.

 

DISNEY FREE WATER PARK PROMOTION

Don’t forget with every 2 or 3 Day Disney Base OR Hopper ticket, our guests are getting a FREE DAY AT THE WATER PARKS!  This offer is not available online or at the gate, and is only available through Guest Services desks here in Orlando.  This special continues through June 29th, which is the LAST DAY the Water Park option can be used.  The one day Water Park is a Park Hopper, so they can visit both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach on the same day as long as they are both open.  This should be an easy sell, especially with temperatures increasing!

 

DISNEY CONVENTION TICKETS

Just a reminder that the Disney Convention Tickets are only to be used by those here in business meetings or on a convention.  Families of those here on convention also qualify.  Remember to ask for credentials and ask which meeting or convention there are here with before selling tickets.  You should always FIRST try to sell a full day ticket instead of the After 1 or After 5.

 

UNIVERSAL 5 DAY PROMO TICKETS

The special is basically for 2 Days Free, so make sure you are charging for the 2 or 3 Park 3 Day Tickets.  You then print the 5 Day Promo ticket in Instant Ticket Wizard.  If the guest only wants 2 Days, you must print the regular 2 Day Tickets in Instant Ticket Wizard.

 

AGS DINING GUIDE

All locations should now have the Dining Guide.  This a great tool to show your guests all of the dining options we have and this should lead to more dinner show sales and Talk of the Town reservations.  Make sure you use the online reservation link on the AGS Homepage to make your TOTT reservations.  Just click on the picture of the restaurants located on the lower right corner of the Homepage.  Don’t forget to enter the restaurant desired, as well as your TOTT number.  When this is done, the reservation is guaranteed and there is no need to call to confirm.

 

EMPLOYEE NOTES:

Please welcome Meibys Reyes and Jayleon Pickles to the AGS Team!  Happy Birthday to Karl B. on 4/14!  Congrats to Erika C. for 5 Years on 4/15, Izzy G. for 5 Years on 4/19, Florence M. for 9 Years on 4/14, Lucia L. for 2 Years on 4/15, Mona M. for 2 Years on 4/15, Rachel S. for 2 Years on 4/15, and Ariana T. for 2 Years on 4/15!

Disney is offering us a GREAT ticket special starting Sunday, April 8th and continuing through June 29th. These specials will ONLY be available from Guest Services desks in the Orlando Market, and will NOT be available online or at the gate. For any 2 or 3 Day Base or Hopper, we will be giving our guests A FREE ONE DAY WATER PARK HOPPER that will be included with the ticket! So the tickets will be priced at the regular Two or Three Day Base or Hopper price, but will give this extra admission. As always, from the first date of use, all portions of the ticket must be used within 14 days. The last day for the Water Park option to be used will be June 29th. However, if a guest purchases this ticket and does not use the ticket until after June 29th, they will be forfeiting the Water Park admission, but the rest of the ticket will not expire until December 31, 2019. The Free Water Park option is good for a FULL DAY (not an After 2 pm as we had before) and DOES allow them to Water Park Hop on the SAME day. So they can visit both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach on the SAME DAY as long as both Water Parks are open. The commissions will remain the same as on the current 2 and 3 Day tickets. Remember, this will START ON SUNDAY, APRIL 8TH. Happy selling!

 

DISCOVERY COVE SPECIAL

You will now be able to sell (DCO) Discovery Cove Orlando ONLY tickets for guest! The (DCO) Discovery Cove Orlando ONLY tickets WILL NOT include the SW/AQ admission. This option should only be offered to guest that are here for a limited time. Even though the DCO ONLY is aggressively priced, the best value for the guest is the regular (or ultimate) package that includes SW/AQ (& BG).
Prices:
Day Resort ONLY will retail for $120+taxes ($128 per person)
Day Resort with Dolphin Swim ONLY will retail for $200+taxes ($213 per person)
Both options will have fixed prices and will not fluctuate. Unlike the regular (or Ultimate) packages, you will only enter the quantity of the number of tickets you are selling. For Example, if you have a family of 4, the quantity you will enter is 4. If you have any questions please contact a lead or a manager.

What is Included at Discovery Cove Orlando ONLY:
Day Resort ONLY admission includes use of lockers, wetsuit, towels and mask, free parking at Discovery Cove, Shower amenities, souvenir snorkel, breakfast, lunch, drinks, and snacks, access to the Explorer’s Aviary, The Grand Reef, Freshwater Oasis, Serenity Bay, and Wind-away River.

Day Resort with Dolphin Swim ONLY includes everything in the Day Resort PLUS a dolphin swim session.

Most importantly, you will still need to go into your EZ ticket account to check availability and book the reservation. The keyword to look for is “ONLY”!

Here are a few points to remember:

– Your commission on the REGULAR Discovery Cove bookings is HIGHER, so you should always suggest these first, and only use the special offer if the guest has a limited time in Orlando OR they are very price sensitive
– These tickets DO NOT include Sea World and Aquatica, or Busch Gardens (which is included with the Ultimate Package)
– You must log in to EZ Ticket FIRST to check availability
– Always look for the term “ONLY” when choosing this offer in EZ Ticket – “Discovery Cove Day Resort ONLY” (which does NOT include the Dolphin swim) or “DCO Only with Dolphin Swim” (which DOES include the swim)
– The “Non-Swim” is located at the top of the reservation page in EZ Ticket and the “Swim” is located at the bottom of the reservation page in EZ Ticket
– The “Swim” price is $213 including taxes in the POS and the “Day Resort” is $128 in the POS including taxes, so be sure to charge these prices when selling these tickets

Better news! All of these tickets count towards the Incentive! Here are details on the incentive:

From April 1st – April 30th –
– Book a minimum of $2500 in Discovery Cove sales and earn TWO Day Resort Packages!
– Book $4000 or more in Discovery Cove sales and earn TWO Dolphin Swims with SeaVenture!
– Book $6000 or more in Discovery Cove sales and earn TWO Trainer for a Day programs!
– Book $8000 or more in Discovery Cove sales and earn a Family Pack – 4 Swims, VIP cabana and a photo package!

 

QUARTERLY GOALS

Everyone should have received their Quarterly Goals that cover the period of April 1st – June 30th.  We want to make it clear that we expect EVERY ONE OF YOU to work to achieve these goals.  We are hearing negative feedback from some of you that frankly is unjustified and won’t be tolerated.  These goals are very low and attainable, specifically on the ones that you only have to sell “2” over a 90 day period.  Instead of looking at this negatively, you should take a positive attitude and say “I can sell 2 of those!”  Then learn about those particular vendors that you feel you may be weak on, and find something positive about them to sell to a guest.  Find a creative way to “package” them with another attraction.  Not only will you now learn about something that you haven’t sold before, but you will make commissions as well.  We are sure that ALL of you will be able to achieve these goals by June 30th!

 

BREAK POLICY 

When all of you went through Orientations, you were informed of the break policy and you signed confirming that you understand it. Your PRIORITY should be selling tickets and taking care of the guests. IN NO WAY SHOULD YOU EVER TAKE A BREAK IF THERE ARE GUESTS IN THE LOBBY OR APPROACHING YOUR DESK. We have had far too many complaints about our staff being away from the desk when it’s busy and there being long lines of people waiting to buy tickets! This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. No breaks should EVER be taken between 7 am and 11:30 am. This is our peak time to sell tickets and you should always be available. All breaks should be taken ON PROPERTY. If for some reason, you forgot your lunch, NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO LEAVE PROPERTY FOR A LUNCH BREAK WITHOUT INFORMING YOUR TEAM MANAGER. Here is the form all of you signed. If these policies are not adhered to, you will be reprimanded and/or terminated.

– Shifts of 6 Hours or less
– NO LUNCH OR MEAL BREAKS ARE ALLOWED
– You may take short restroom, smoke, snack or drink breaks – of a duration no longer than 5 minutes and a maximum of 3 per shift
– You are NOT PERMITTED to leave property during your shift
– You are NOT PERMITTED to eat ANY food off of the hotel breakfast bar, whether it’s permitted by the hotel manager or not
– Any food or meals must be eaten BEFORE or AFTER your shift
– Any snacks eaten on a short break must be eaten in a designated break area – ANYONE EATING BEHIND THE DESK WILL BE TERMINATED

– Shifts LONGER than 6 Hours
– Because AGS pays for your lunch break, you are NO LONGER PERMITTED TO LEAVE PROPERTY FOR YOUR LUNCH/DINNER BREAK. This is a liability issue because you are still on the clock. You MUST bring your lunch/dinner or eat the meals provided by the hotel, if applicable
– If you must leave the property for your lunch/dinner break or any other emergency, an AGS manager as well as the Front Desk staff must give you permission. YOU MUST ALLOW THE POS SYSTEM TO CLOCK YOU OUT FOR THIS. Anyone leaving the property for ANY reason without permission will be terminated
– You ARE permitted to take ONE optional 30 minute lunch/dinner break in a designated employee break area, out of the guest’s view
– No food of ANY KIND can be eaten at the desk – ANYONE EATING BEHIND THE DESK WILL BE TERMINATED
– If you are working an AM shift, you are NOT PERMITTED to take a lunch break before 11:30 AM
– If you are working with an OPC, you are NOT PERMITTED to take a break together. Someone must be available to take care of the guests at all times
– You are NOT PERMITTED to leave 30 minutes early and have it count as your lunch break, and you are NOT PERMITTED to take a lunch/dinner break with 60 minutes of the beginning of your shift

 

UNIVERSAL 5 PARK PROMO TICKETS

We’ve had a lot of people charging the wrong amounts for these tickets.  Remember, a guest must pay the 3 Day Price in order to receive the 2 Days Free.  Some of you were only charging for a 2 Day ticket which caused a loss that we had to charge back.  So remember, the guest must be charged for THESE TICKETS in order to get the 2 Days Free:

2 Park 3 Day Base / 2 Park 3 Day Park-to-Park / 3 Park 3 Day Base / 3 Park 3 Day Park-to-Park

 

ORLANDO CITY TICKET SALES

There is a HOME MATCH this Sunday, 4/8 at 4 pm against the Portland Timbers.  We can sell any of the upper areas of Orlando City Stadium, as well as the AGS Company tickets which are in the lower bowl corner, Section 1.  We have 12 company seats in that section.  All of the leads have received instructions on how to book tickets, so if you have a guest interested, please call them first.  Before calling them, make sure the guest has a SMART PHONE AND AN E-MAIL ADDRESS.  Orlando City is paperless and ALL tickets have to be presented on a phone.  If you work off of Activity Link or ITicketPOS, all tickets are loaded in the system.  If you work on the Premier Team and use RezGo, you MUST COLLECT CASH that comes to the AGS office and the sale will NOT be put into the POS system.  For those of you on Premier, please make sure you call your Team Manager or Lead for further assistance.

 

TONER – DRUMS

Here is a crash course in Toners and Drums.  When you pull out the cartridges in your Brother printer, there are 2 pieces – the Drum and the Toner.  The drum is the bottom piece with the roller that heats up and gets the ink to stick to the paper.  The toner is the piece that fits inside that distributes the ink.  The drum should ONLY need to be changed out once every 6 months if that.  Just because the “Toner” light comes on does NOT mean you change the drum as well.  Drums are VERY expensive and should not be changed until the “Drum” light comes on,

 

EMPLOYEE NOTES

Please welcome Genesis De La Cruz, Marjhorie Peraza, Jon Young, and Brock Vila to the AGS Team!  Happy Birthday to Steve H. on 4/13!  Congrats to Michael G. for 1 Year on 4/7, Carlos R. for 6 Years on 4/11, Steven S. for 1 Year on 4/8, Nicky T. for 1 Year on 4/8, and Gabriela L for 2 Years on 4/13!