Customer ServiceImprovementThe first step in improving Customer Serviceis to assess your organization. Goodassessment measures the following keyissues:

1.Making sure you know what yourcustomers want and expect.2.Being flexible in meeting customersdemands3.Treating customers like partners instead ofend-users or adversaries

4.Making it easy for the customer to dobusiness with you.5.Having a positive attitude towardscustomers.6.Encouraging customer feedback.7.Responding quickly to customer problems.8.Developing repeat relationships.9.Seeking to exceed customer expectations.

Before giving the customer what hewants and needs, you must first assure youcan perform the basics constantly andconsistently. Remember nothing will damagecustomer satisfaction more than promisesthat are not fulfilled.

Part IICustomer Service SeriesResearched by Editorial Staff

HERALD BALITA

Published by HS Inc.2168 Chino Roces Avenue,

Makati City

• • •

Editor in ChiefElaine DC Mercado

Assistant EditorsMaggie Jornacion

Mina RamelJean EstradaJoan de Jesus

Edwin CarganillaEdwin Martinez

Controlling energy in guest rooms isdifficult because to a large extent, theguests control how much energy is used.Restrictions of their energy use may makeguests uncomfortable or resentful. It istherefore essential that any energymanagement changes be made withoutcausing discomfort.

In addition, when guest rooms areunoccupied, front office personnel,housekeeping personnel and maintenancepersonnel must be aware of energymanagement when carrying out theirrespective duties.

• Under normal conditions, room attendantsshould turn off cooling systems inunoccupied rooms.

• Ensure that draperies and shades areclosed after a room is cleaned. Energy issaved by reducing heat gain.

• Room attendants should ensure that alllights are turned off, also televisions andradios.

• Use natural lighting when making up thebeds and cleaning the rooms. Limit the useof electric lighting.

• Establish cleaning schedules for lightingfixtures both inside and outside guestrooms.

• Remember all fixtures become dirty withuse, once cleaned they will produce morelight.

Energy Savings in HotelsResearched by Edwin Martinez

• Limit the amount of hot water used forcleaning.

• Report immediately any equipment thatneeds repair e.g. leaking faucet,malfunctioning air conditioner

BlessingsContributed by Elaine DC. Mercado

Should you have a bad day at workthink of the man who has been out ofwork for years

Should you grieve the passing ofanother weekend, think of the womanin dire straits working 12 hours a day, 7days a week to feed her children

If you find yourself stuck in trafficdon’t despair. There are people in thisworld for whom driving is an unheard ofprivilege

Should your car breakdown leaving youmiles away from assistance, think of theparaplegic who would love theopportunity to take that walk

Should you notice a gray hair in themirror, think of the cancer patient inchemo who wishes she had hair toexamine

Should you despair over a relationshipgone bad,think of the person who hasnever known what its like to love andbe loved in return

Should you find yourself at a loss andpondering what is life all about askingwhat is my purpose? Be thankful. Thereare those who didn’t live long enoughto get the opportunity

Should you find yourself the victim ofother people’s bitterness, ignorance,smallness or insecurities, rememberthings could be worse. You could beone of them.

Corporate SocialResponsibility

Volume 5 • No. 1

HOPE ALONG THE RILESHerald Suites’ First Medical MissionBy Mina Ramel

You are faced with corporate socialresponsibility every day without evennoticing it. It’s everywhere. When yourguests enter your hotel and choose our hotelbecause of its reputation; when investorsput money into your business because ofyour clean record. The future of business isCorporate Social Responsibility. In a complexglobal society, corporations are becomingincreasingly visible, we in the serviceindustry are not only judged on the kind ofservice we give or even the kind ofamenities we offer but on our behavior asmembers of society.

By integrating Corporate SocialResponsibility into our business we enhance

our reputation and our brand value and gaingood relations with the community,government, the service industry and societyat large. It can and should govern everyaspect of business life, the rewards both forthe corporation and the society at large, areenormous.

Herald Suites Management hastailored many activities to benefit allemployees from the fun-filled summeroutings, Teambuilding Sessions and SportsFest to the cultural visits and the recentMedical Mission that was dedicated toserving medical needs of children in poorercommunities focusing on families living inBarangay Pio del Pilar. Management’s

Herald Suites conducted its firstmedical mission last May 25, 2002 forthe less privileged children of BarangayPio del Pilar with the participation ofDr. Pablito Trias, Dra. Khalille Gigantoni,Dr. Jason Reyes, and Dra. AileenSebastian.

A total of 300 coupons weredistributed a day before by MaggieJornacion, Wilson Borja and ArmandHife of HS together with Ms. FlorLumbag of the Barangay hall, to thepeople of Barangay Po del Pilar. Themedicine were donated by courtesy ourvalued clients: Roche Phils., Inc. andWyeth Phils., Inc. Additional vitaminswere provided by LR Imperial, Pediatricaand United American Pharmaceutical.

The location of Medina corner VillarStreets was transformed into a clinicnear the railroad tracks complete withtents, tables and chairs. Headed by Mr.Nicanor Padilla III, HS President, the set

up began shortly after7:00 a.m. with thehelp of theDepartment Headsand their respectivestaff.

After an hour,people started toqueue, residents living beside the tracksalong the railway. Roughly 200 couponswere presented during the registrationand still, a lot of people wanted to bewaitlisted since they had no coupons onhand. Additional kids reached almost ahundred, thereby completing thetargeted number of attendees to asuccessful 300.

All patients were thoroughlyexamined by the doctors and they weregiven available medications. Inaddition to the vitamins, the kids werealso treated to some candies and toys.

Some of the staff even mingled

with the children and learned that mostof the younger ones have never been toa doctor since birth, and the older onesnever went to school.

The experience made us realize thatwe should be thankful for everythingand that we should appreciate even thesmallest and simplest blessings we have.

It was, of course, worth the effortof everybody who truly participated andat the same time enjoyed serving thepeople of the riles.

Scholarship Program with Punlaan Schoolalso involves empowering youth and talentwith the proper skills to earn a living in theservice industry.

So it’s not only service with a smile,it’s not only the fun we have during theseoutings, it’s not only singing and dancingand contests and winning; it’s what goes onbeyond all these activities and the servicewe give to our guests. Have we grown asresponsible corporate citizens ourselves? Arewe now aware that WE represent the imageof the Herald Suites Employee? Do we carryit outside our workplace? And do we touchother people’s lives with our NEWselves?

The hotel’s image as responsiblecorporate citizen must be validated throughour employees and through special programsthat involve everybody WITHOUTexemptions. Think about this on your nextemployee activity or outing.

Researched by Editorial Staff

The Herald Suites Management & Staff at arecent Medical Mission

4

Newsbytes

The Business Corner By Jean Estrada

zIt is admittedly everybody’s dream to

work as one’s own boss. Who would notwant such arrangement in the long run?

This early then, you must develop yourentrepreneurship skills if the above scenariois what you seek.

So much has been written and said, andwho am I then to advise you on how tosucceed as an entrepreneur when in fact Idid not fully succeed (I refuse to considermyself a failure!) in various businessattempts in the past. Therefore, just readon, you are entitled to have your owndoubts.

Entrepreneurship, I believe, should befounded with innate enthusiasm. Coupledwith native intelligence or practicalknowledge and the willingness to learn, Isee no reason why you cannot be a goodbusinessman with these qualities andrequirements.

Returns and profits are also dependenton the amount of risks and efforts you putinto any kind of venture. As easy as allthese may sound, everything must bethought of carefully from the verybeginning- concept, approaches, strategies,alternative plans and effective actions.

Next is the search for the type ofbusiness to go into. This is likened to asearch for a pair of shoes. The shoes shouldfit snugly. Choice must also be dependenton something you enjoy. The talents thatyou may possess or anything you are good atwith a previous job or training can play amajor role. All these must be in line withyour objective- very important to guide you.Then yes, later on, the legal and paperrequirements will follow- I don’t want todwell on these just yet.

With all these considerations in place, thenit is time then to go ahead and be productive.

P.S. The Executive Office A.K.A the oldBUSINESS CENTER is clearly living up to itsold name with Jean and Ate Lilia startingthe ball rolling. A classic example of willpower (i.e. read for purposes of additionalearnings) is the coop-like lending schemeinitiated by the 10-girl team of HS. No needto expound on this though as everybodypatronizes this by now. And again, whowould beat the ever-thriving food businessof Ate Lilia which she herself started. Well,more luck guys!

Successful Top Producers’ PartyBy Maggie Jornacion

How do you measure success inholding an event? An easy answer wouldbe in terms of guest turnout. But thisyears Corporate Appreciation Party wasnot only successful in numbers but also inthe quality of attendees and the feedbackwe got from them.

Themed Karaoke Night, Japanesehead honchos from among the top 50accounts invited for the awards nightwere all jam packed at the Patio last April19, sharing the fun and excitement asthey graciously sang the night away whilewaiting for their turn to be recognizedand awarded.

No, we were not complaining and thiswas not referring to the heavy white hardhats we had to wear while performing duringour Sales Blitz last March, but to the tunepopularized by singer Kyle Minogue whichwe had to use. The seemingly contagiousbeat made our steps and individual spiels onthe latest updates/happenings in our hotelstick in the minds of our audience.

Dubbed as the Hard Hat Blitz,(coinciding with the Construction Week aswell) the Sales and Marketing Department,headed by Ms. Elaine Mercado, trouped tothe Makati, Sucat, Alabang, Laguna andCavite areas in our work overalls. We wereable to visit 50 accounts in this 5-dayactivity. Throughout the duration of thisblitz, Ms. Jean Estrada (choreographer cumstar dancer) participated in this enjoyableundertaking.

As a follow-up to our Third QuarterStorm Sales Blitz, the Construction Blitz thistime highlighted the value-added featureswe now offer to better serve our guests: aJapanese restaurant Hatsu Hana Tei andTrionfi Coffee Shop, privilege cards entitlinglong staying guests with discounts to nearbyestablishments and other upgraded facilities-all for the comfort, convenience andpersonalized service of our dear guests, asalways.

Like our previous sales blitzes, weconsidered the last one a success in its ownright, judging not only from the recall wegot but more importantly from the bookingsmade after.

See you in the next sales blitz then!

Can’t Get YouOut of My HeadBy J. De Jesus

Entertainment was provided by thedynamic duo Monette and Rose plus 10lady escorts who assisted in entertainingthe Japanese guests. Hatsu Hana-Teiprovided the sumptuous buffet.

Rohm Apollo Semiconductors Phils.Inc., ran away as the Top producer of theYear 2001 followed by Isuzu PhilippinesCorp. and ATMAK Corporation. Plaques ofappreciation were given as tokens for thetop producers while gift certificates ofovernight accommodations andcomplimentary lunch and dinner wereraffled out to the rest of the attendees.

L-R SanTech Philippines:General Manager Art Jacob,

Account Executive MaggieJornacion, Purchasing

Manager Mr. MitsuoFujimaki, Administrative &Finance Manager Mr. Toru

Yamaguchi, AssistantAdministrative ManagerMr. Koji Furukawa andSales & Mktg. Manager

Elaine DC Mercado

Hong Kong- This magnificent city oflife, which is obviously a blend of Asian andWestern cultures, promises you a good time.There is still so much to do or go to in thissmall destination. A traveler may opt to joingroup guided tours or go on his /her ownand explore the place as there is abundantchoices for hotel accommodations and publictransportation (buses, trains, cabs- It is justinteresting to note at this point that ownersof taxis or taxi fleets are the most affluentpeople in this place.) You may even preferto walk to some of your destinations.

Whether it’s your first time or your fifthtime in this place, sites worthy of visits mayinclude: Victoria Peak, the Harbor, OceanPark, the malls and the night-market-all-you-can. One thing you should not miss also isto try all the food you can stomach, down tothe street food which may seem exotic atfirst glance.

You may also consider taking a side tripto China from HK. You may reach Shenzhenby land in less than an hour or may prefer togo farther to Beijing or Macau and spend anight or two there to maximixe your stay(visas may be arranged easily with yourtravel agents.)

A trip to HK is thus a more practicalalternative as the place is like a minuteversion of London, New York, Beijing orTokyo rolled into one! Start saving andspend your money wisely on travel, alearning adventure on every occasion.

One last thing you will always notice inHK…and dami palang Intsik dun talaga no!?

But then again there is a myriad ofhighly recommended vacation destinationswe can enjoy here in our own country. Itwould be nice to discover and appreciatethese first. Go north, go south, you maynever go wrong :)

Karaoke We see it around us, we oftengo to these places, but do we bother toknow its history, where it came from andhow it evolved? Let’s all find out so read on.

Karaoke is a word formed from puttingtwo Japanese words together KarappoOkesutura. Taking its shortened form: kara,which means “empty” (without vocals) andoke (orchestra) and you come up withKARAOKE and a fad is born.

There are many stories connected withhow karaoke started. One school of thoughtcontends that it was in 1974 when theowner of a small snack bar in Kobe got madafter a performer failed to appear. So he puton tapes of music and asked people if theywanted to sing. The people loved it and thesnack bar found a new way to provideentertainment almost for free.

Another group places the developmentof the concept much earlier, in the 1950s,with the American TV show, Sing Along withMitch. This show featured a chorus and thewords to the songs across the bottom of thescreen, and a bouncing ball. It was a fun

KARAOKE AND ITS HUMBLE BEGINNINGSby Maggie Jornacion

way for theJapanese tolearn English.

From itshumblebeginnings inKobe, the fadbecame sopopular thatpeople started to complain, since they werelistening to other Japanese singing. Karaokehad become popular as a typical way forJapanese businessmen to relax and go to abar with some colleagues to have a drinkand enjoy themselves singing. But it madenoise.

That’s why in 1984, in an abandonedfield of the Prefecture de Okayama, in theeastern zone of Kansai, an entrepreneurconverted an old railroad car into a Karaokebox where people could get drunk and partyand sing all they wanted. Today, there aremore than 100,000 karaoke boxes in Japanand karaoke bars are in almost every majorcity in the world.

Big or SmallBy J. Estrada

Most of us employees pre-judged our summerouting last April 27-28 (1st Batch) & May 4-5(2nd Batch) a “ monotonous” one. Why? Becauseeverybody said that we had already gone toBonito Island the previous year... so what’s newthis year?

Well, we were all wrong! Unexpectedly… itturned out to be an extremely exciting andmemorable summer experience especially with our“game” male co-employees and managers as well.

The First batch had successfully participatedin activities like “Bikini Open”, “Sing-A-lis (dyan)”and “Video-Oke Challenge” to entertain everyonewhile the stars and the moon up above werewatching.

Headed by Ms. Elaine Mercado and Mrs. VickyTorres, we (girls) encouraged all guys toparticipate in our first Bikini Open, but since theyalso wanted to show their ehemm...(muscles)

lifestyles

HONGKONG

Edwin “dudes” Rivera won the title Bikini King ofthe Night (tuklaw) while Mr. Edwin Martinez alsogot the title Mr. Body V-tiful. 2nd Batch awardMr. Ronald Mendoza as the King Cobra. On theother side.

Engr. Lucero courageously showed his talentas he conquered the video-oke champion title. (odiba! may I sing daw oh!). Unfortunately the 2ndbatch failed to have this contest due tounexpected technical problems with their VCDplayer. Theu were pleasantly surprised by acelebrity personality (daw) who went to Bonito tovisit them early afternoon of Sunday - May 5, 2002- well guess who it was? It was JAMES BOND!riding his “jetskie”.

It was really an unforgettable summerexperience and we all have one word to say,THANK YOU. Thank you for giving us the chanceto be part of this family.

do you know that...Corregidor is a national shrine and it was an Island citadel named “The Rock”. Thiswas the last tower to fall to the attacking Japanese troops in 1942. The Place acquiredimmense significance as a symbol of the determined resistance of its Filipino and Americandefenders. Now, if we could only schedule a cultural/historical visit to Corregidor.

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