#lilyb

18/05/2015

Today I was in the office on my own and so I left home at 8.30am to make sure I had plenty of time (COC3).  When I arrived at the office Dario wasn’t in, therefore I messaged him asking if he would be in at all today and what my tasks were. (COC10 + Self-Motivated). He told me had forwarded me an email that he had sent to a company that sell our tours it was informing them of any changes that had been made to the Seville tours. And that he would like me to do the same for Malaga, Lisbon and Porto, just copying and pasting the information of the website.

I got to this straight away and started putting all the information on a word document rather than straight onto an email, so that I would have a copy if needed. It did take me an hour or so as there is a lot of information, however it wasn’t that hard as it was just copying it, yet I put in a lot of effort to make sure it looked appropriate, informative and professional. Once I had finished this task I messaged him again to see what else I could do, he gave me the task of using his login and going onto a website that sells some of Pancho’s tours and to see what else they provide in Seville from other companies in order to see if there is anything else we should offer in order to compete. I had a quick look and mentioned about Flamenco to him, as there was only a few others on the website and they were all at a much higher price.

Next Mahdi in the office asked me to take three packets of plastic cups to metropolis apartments and collect the money for it and also drop an envelope of at Oasis hostel. I decided to do this right away as I had finished my other tasks. I went to Oasis first and handed the parcel into reception and then I went to the apartments. The receptionist there was on the phone when I arrived so I simply waited patiently, the cleaner came and took the cups off me but I knew I had to wait for the money from the receptionist. When he was off the phone I said hello and explained what I had to do, he asked if I knew how much money was owed, I apologised and said I didn’t as Dario wasn’t in the office that day but also because Mahdi didn’t know either. He said not to worry and that he would work it out, in which he did. He worked out that they owed £18 from this week and then the time before also. He went to the safe and tried to count the exact money, but didn’t have it, he asked if I had £2 I said that I did and went to get my purse out, but he said not to worry and that he would figure it out. We then had to walk to the local garage in order to get some change I then headed back to the office.

Once there I gave Mahdi the money and Dario was back in the office, therefore my next task was to make a google document for each location where Pancho tours is based and put all the information from the email into this. He said this is so companies that sell the tours can find the information easily and quickly through the document as opposed to going on the website. I did this for the remainder of the day.

16/05/15

Today again I was working a late shift and so I needed to be at the Legends tour meeting point for 17.15, Chloe was working with me today and so I met her in town and then we both walked to the meeting point together(COC3). Our task whilst we were at the meeting point was to flyer and try to get people wanting to go on the tour, however this is quite hard as often people try to avoid you and it is also quite difficult to tell whether people speak English or not. I did try my hardest and walked all around the square and I managed to hand out a few flyers but no one seemed overly interested. (COC5) Myself and Chloe were stopped by 2 Chinese woman who we had previously given a leaflet to, however they wanted to know how to get to Torre Del Oro, therefore I tried to explain however it was quite hard as they didn’t speak much English, there friend then came over who could speak better English so I explained to her and showed her on the map and they all went on their way and seemed very happy with our help. (COC9).

After a while the other tour guides arrived and people who had already pre booked started to turn up, me and Chloe went round and asked them for their emails this is so that when I am in the office I can send them emails via trip advisor asking them to write Pancho Tours a review. Once we had collected all the emails and the guides had collected the money and split the people into groups (English and Spanish) the tours started and so we had to count the amount of people in each group and then take pictures for social media.

We then headed back to the hostel and sat on the travel desk for a bit, however it was very quiet at the hostel, so I got on with sending some emails. Our next task was to then go to the Flamenco meeting point and try and sell tickets for this, this again was hard as the book fair was on, therefore the square was packed with locals.  However, as I was wearing the orange Pancho shirt a number of people that had already pre booked came up and asked if they were in the right place, then me and Chloe stood and spoke to them while we waited for Patricia the guide to arrive. She was a bit late so we apologised for the delay and they seemed happy enough to wait. When she did arrive, she didn’t have enough change to give them, so me and Chloe quickly ran over to the nearest shop and got their change for them, we did this as quickly as we could as they seemed a bit confused as to why she didn’t carry change on her.

Our following task was to go to the Triana tour meeting point and promote this, I stood at the top of Torre del Oro as often people get to confused as to where they’re supposed to meet. A couple did actually come up to me and ask if they were in the right place, therefore I guided them down to the bottom and whilst doing this I made polite conversation asking where they were from, how long they were in Seville for and what plans they had for their time here (COC1). After this the rest of the customers arrived and me and Chloe took some pictures and then we were allowed to go home.

15/05/2015

Today as I had already done 3 morning shifts I had put myself down for a late, this meant that I was due to start work at 4pm. Therefore I had the whole day to get ready and we actually went to the hostel a little early to do some sunbathing before I started work. (COC3)

I was a bit worried about this shift as I had never been on the Travel Desk before however Chloe sat with me before she had to go off and do marketing. This was great as she told me some useful information that I may need to know (COC7). As we were sat there talking about next week’s rota, a customer approached and looked as though they need some help, therefore we both stopped talking to each other and asked the customer if we could be of any use. (COC1) He went on to tell us how he was waiting on a hen party and wanted to know where they could go for Flamenco when they all arrived, I remembered that Chloe had shown me a piece of paper with places written on so I got this out the desk and passed this to her. She explained them to the man and I asked him if he would like us to mark these on a map for him, he said that would be great and got out his own map. I straight away started to google where the places were as neither myself or Chloe were exactly sure, once I found each destination, Chloe marked them on the map for him and we both explained where they were in relation to the hostel. I wished him a good evening and he thanked us for our help and went. (COC9, Customer care) I felt that I had helped this customer but I was really glad Chloe was there too as it gave me more confidence and we both worked together to give the customer the answers he was looking for.

After this Chloe went off to do marketing and I knew that I needed to do the Rota for the following week as Patricia needed me to put someone on the Travel Desk every evening, therefore as I didn’t have any more time in the office this week I decided to use my time efficiently and try and get it done now, especially as we weren’t busy, this showed my self-motivation skills. (COC8). This time compared to last week it surprisingly only took me around an hour to write out the final version of the rota, I then emailed it to everyone and asked them to let me know what they thought. (COC6, Hardworking).

As I was doing this a woman approached the desk and told me that she had bought a ticket for the Triana tour yet she wanted to know if it would be possible to do it tomorrow instead. I was unsure of the answer to this yet I didn’t want to simply dismiss her so I asked her to wait just two minutes, while contacted my colleague she seemed happy enough to do this and stood waiting, whilst I sent Patricia a message. However, after a while Patricia had still not replied, so I told the woman that I’m sure this would be fine and I would simply change the date on the ticket, she seemed thankful for this and then went on her way. After she had gone, Patricia replied saying that was fine so I told her I had used my own initiative and simply changed the date on her ticket rather than giving her a new one. (COC9).

My next task was to go to one of the other hostels and try to market Flamenco, me and Syd had both been there before so it was easy to get to and did not take us long. When we got there we said hello to the receptionist team and told them what we were doing before we went to find some guests, we spoke to two girls out the back yet they told us they already had plans and after this there was no one else in the hostel, other than a man on his computer with headphones, so we decided not to disturb him. Before we left we decided to check they had enough flyers and maps and answered one woman’s questions about the tours we offer. After this we then headed back to Oasis Palace.  

Once back at the Hostel Patricia asked if I could do the Pick Up’s this means waiting at the entrance of the hostel and taking guests to the Flamenco Tour meeting point, however we waited until 5 past 8 and no one arrived, which we meant we then had to go to the meeting point. Once there Patricia asked if we could walk around a bit as there was a book fair going on, so we needed to make sure that the guests would be able to find us. A couple came up to me asking if they were in the right place for the Flamenco tour, so I showed them to the meeting point, whilst being friendly and polite and asking them about their time in Seville (COC1). The tour then began so myself and Sydney headed back to the Hostel.

My last task of the day was to sit back on the travel desk and I did in fact have another couple approach and ask about what is best to do in Seville. Myself and Sydney were really friendly asking how long they were in Seville and I recommended that they should definitely try and visit the Cathedral. They then asked what was best to do that night, so I recommended Flamenco and marked on the map one of the locations closest to the hostel that also has bars around where they can get drinks and tapas. There English was a bit broken so it was hard to communicate sometimes, however we got there and they went off for their evening. (COC10).

7/05/2015

Today was my second day within the office and again I had to be in at 9am, therefore me and Millie met at 8.20am in order to give us plenty of time to get to work, today I wore smart black shorts, a pink blouse and my name badge, I also tied my hair back and wore minimal make up, to ensure I looked smart and therefore showed good personal presentation (but also it is too hot) (COC3 COC4).  

I remembered to bring my laptop with me today (COC6). However I did forget to bring my adaptor therefore I quickly ran out and Lucy let me borrow hers, thank you! When I got to the office Dario was not there yet, therefore rather than waiting around I set my laptop up and continued with the email task he had given me the day before, this shows initiative and self-motivation, as I am able to get things done alone and don’t have to wait for instructions all the time, (COC8 COC10).

When he did arrive into the office, he said that he would like me to do a small errand for him; he would like me to take a parcel to the post office. He then explained that the parcel was for his father and that he owns a Travel agency in Italy and that his father had finally passed some customers his way. He told me to get the money from Mahdi and to make sure I get a receipt and return the change to Mahdi. He then showed me where the post office is on the map and went out to do a walking tour. I was nervous about doing this task as although it is quite simple, it is in another country and they do not speak much English in Seville, therefore I knew it would be in Spanish which means it may be hard for me to communicate. Therefore, before I left the office I looked up the Post Office on google maps to ensure I knew where it was and I then translated on my phone the word for receipt and other sentences I thought I made need (COC5).

I asked Mahdi for the money, put the parcel in my bag and walked to the post office. When I got there I was relieved to find that there were signs in English as well as Spanish telling you what you needed to do. So I pressed the button for sending a parcel, got a ticket and waited my turn. The man at the kiosk didn’t say much other than telling me how much it was, and I then asked for a receipt in Spanish, in which he nodded  and gave me one (COC1). It was quite nerve racking to begin with but it was actually a very easy thing to do, and I’m glad that I researched some words, sentences beforehand so that I could talk in Spanish. (COC10)

When I got back to the office Dario was still out therefore I returned the change to Mahdi and also gave him the receipt as well (COC7). Dario then contacted me to say that today he would just like me to continue with the TripAdvisor emails; however he would like me to do them for not just Seville but for the other places that Pancho Tours is situated so Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon and Porto. Therefore this is what I did for the remainder of the day, although I only did it yesterday, I know exactly what and how to do it, as I am now used to the system and how it works. I did have a few problems with the spreadsheet and had to spend a while sorting it out, however it now fits better and makes more sense for me to work with (problem solving).

One other thing I had to do today, was Mahdi asked me for some help as he was writing an email to a customer in English and wanted me to make sure that it made sense, I had to read through it a few times and felt a bit worried about how to tell him that some changes needed to be made, however he simply said I could make any changes that I wanted to. Therefore I was honest and changed what needed to be and although he’s not a customer, I feel that this was a good customer care as I helped a colleague out.