A Customizable
Front Desk
Resource Manual
A detailed review of the tasks that are to be fulfilled by a front desk employee. Everything you
need to train and continue professional development for the front desk staff, from etiquette and
organization tips, to a checklist and worksheet templates.
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Contents
Introduction 3
Front Desk Duties 4
Main Duties 5
Greeting Visitors and Helping Them Find Their Way 5
Distributing and Preparing Mail 5
Administrative Duties 6
Front Desk Etiquette 7
Phone Conversations 7
Customer Relations 8
The Importance of Checklists 9
Daily Checklist for Receptionists 10
Housekeeping Checklists 11
Professional Email Responses 12
A Quick Overview 12
Examples 12
Best Practices: How to Handle Visitors 13
Important Numbers and Extensions: A Reference Sheet 14
An Introduction What can the Front
Desk Resource Manual
help you with?
As an office manager, you’ll want your front desk staff to
be organized and focused on daily, weekly, and monthly • New Hire Trainings
goals. To make that happen, management should provide • Staff Development Meetings
employees with clear guidelines and helpful checklists.
• Gaining Efficient Front Desk Employees
We’ve created a fully customizable manual for your use at
the office to make things easier.
This guide includes a detailed review of the tasks that
are to be fulfilled by a front desk employee. You’ll find
everything you need to train (and continue professional
development) for the front desk staff, from etiquette and
organization tips, to a checklist and worksheet templates.
3
Front Desk Duties
A Primer
Front desk administrators are essential to any business. These
professionals are often the first impression that anyone has of a
business, whether it’s a college mailroom, a doctor’s office, or other
institution. In addition to that, they are the person that everyone
goes to when then have a question and continually keep the office
in check. Truly, what don’t they do?
When you take a position as a front desk clerk, it’s important that
you can work well under pressure while maintaining a consistently
pleasant and professional demeanor when communicating with
the public. Understanding your duties, and how they affect the
day-to-day of the office’s dynamic, will make your work decisions
smarter and more effective.
Remember this: Do not minimize the impact that you and your
job performance have on visitors and other employees. Your job is
exceptionally important.
Ready to dive into it?
5
Section
Main Duties
Greeting Visitors and Helping Them Find Their Way
Again, the most important duty on your list is customer service. When a guest arrives you
should:
• Greet them warmly.
• Help them with their needs; offer them your help immediately.
• Provide knowledgeable answers to any questions they may have about the business’
operations.
In addition to in-person greetings, a front desk receptionist is responsible for answering all
incoming calls politely and efficiently. Depending on the size of the office, you may have to
deal with a sophisticated telephone system that receives multiple calls at once.
It’s advised that you ask your supervisor for a cheat sheet with important extensions and
phone numbers (refer to our Checklist section for a template). Having these numbers close
by will eliminate wasted time, allowing you to go through different calls quicker. Having a
pen and paper nearby will also be helpful when taking messages.
Distributing and Preparing Mail
As a front office receptionist, you may have to oversee the distribution of incoming and
outgoing mail. In the case of incoming mail, you should:
• Sign for priority or overnight packages as they arrive.
• Eliminate junk mail immediately and then identify mail of the highest priority.
• If applicable, first process incoming mail; enter or scan mail information into the
computer (if there is a log or application in use, ask for instructions).
• Hand-deliver each piece directly to its respective recipient or place the parcels in an
appropriate interoffice mail slot.
6
In the case of outgoing mail, you should:
• Prepare outgoing mail for pickup by the postal service or overnight courier.
• Weigh each letter and package using a postal scale and apply the proper amount of
postage to each envelope/package, if needed.
• Regularly check the mailroom supplies to maintain a full stock on-hand. Order new
supplies as needed.
In the case of outgoing packages, you should:
• Place each type of package in the designated area. UPS, Mail, and FedEx should each
have their own “place”. If a package accidentally goes out with the wrong carrier it is
often never recovered.
• Scan or write the tracking numbers of out-going packages in a log so you know what
you have taken responsibility for and what you haven’t.
• Make urgent delivery arrangements if someone in the office needs to mail docu-
ments in a rush.
Administrative Duties
As a front desk clerk, you may be asked to take care of other miscellaneous, but very
important tasks.
These may include the following:
• Prepare financial spreadsheets and create presentations.
• Manage the calendars of senior team members and organize necessary business tra-
vel arrangements.
• Order office supplies.
• File documents.
• Make photocopies and maintain working knowledge of the copy machine.
• Send and receive faxes.
• Perform bookkeeping tasks.
7
Front Desk Etiquette
Phone Conversations
Appearance
A front office receptionist should respond quickly
to phone calls and answer callers with enthusiasm
in a professional manner. A front office receptionist
should always look his/her
As a receptionist, you should always: best. You are, in fact, the first
person a guest interacts with.
• Display professional behavior, which means Personal hygiene must be
avoiding things like chewing gum or eating well attended to, attire should
during phone calls. remain professional, and overall
• Attend to the caller right away without put- grooming should be neat and
ting them on hold. orderly at all times.
• Be thorough and attentive to the caller’s ne- *Company Dress Code should be
eds even in hectic times. well-defined and communicated.
• Keep personal conversations to a minimum.
Even over the phone, people can hear you when
you smile. Smiling when you answer the phone
helps to set the tone of the call and helps to calm
angry callers.
Please answer the phone using the following
method:
1. [SMILE]
2. “Thank you for calling the front desk, YOUR NAME
speaking.”
3. “How may I help you?”
Customer Relations
Not matter what industry you are in, you’ll always
encounter angry customers. It’s imperative that you
master the act of handling unhappy visitors.
A few pointers for dealing with disgruntled customers:
• Don’t take it personally! They are probably not
mad at you, so do not try to defend yourself.
Start by just listening to their whole story while
acknowledging them quietly.
• When the customer is at the peak of expressing
anger, sorrow, or distress, show concern for
them silently.
• In this battle, you and the customer are on one
side and the problem is on the other. Work toge-
ther to solve the issue.
• If you encounter a loud and abusive customer,
respond by speaking softly and with a very ste-
ady tone.
• Make sure that you are addressing the technical, administrative, and emotional
aspects of the customer’s concerns.
• It does not matter who created the problem or what transpired before the customer
got to you. Tell the customer that you’ll resolve their problem and will apply your
personal effort to achieve results.
• Always remember that you can speak to a manager if things start to feel out of hand.
• If you ever, ever feel threatened with bodily harm, walk away immediately. Do not
be afraid to call for help.
8
9
The Importance of Checklists
As a receptionist, the reception area is your responsibility from the minute you get to
work. Everything from cleaning to organizing and dealing with visitors is your shared
responsibility with other fellow front desk clerks.
No matter how long you’ve been doing your job, it’s always good to have a checklist you
can follow for each and every one of your responsibilities. The more organized you are,
the better.
Having such lists is also a great help if someone is covering your shift. It’ll ensure that all
tasks are carried out properly without having to worry about duplication.
In this next section, you’ll find checklists and templates that you can customize as
needed.
10
A Daily Checklist for Receptionists*
MORNING SHIFT EVENING SHIFT
Everyday c Check phones for pending messages. c Turn on the answering machine before
leaving the office.
c Pass on any relevant messages.
c Fill up paper trays on fax and printer
c Check fax machines and distribute any
machines.
pending faxes.
c Put visitors book away.
c Ensure that visitor book is ready to use.
c Ensure that all visitor information is put
c Receive and distribute mail.
away securely.
c Prepare outgoing mail.
c Ensure that you leave the reception area
c Ensure that reception room is tidy. tidy.
c Turn reception computers on. c Turn reception computers off.
c Go through the daily cleaning checklist c Empty all garbage bins in reception
before clocking out. area and review the daily cleaning checklist
before closing the office.
c Get confidential waste ready for collection at
Mon/ Thu
______.
c Organize and develop additional to-do lists c Refer to the cleaning checklist to
Friday
for the following week. complete remaining cleaning duties.
When
c Tidy up the conference room. c Tidy up the conference room.
Used
*Customize if necessary
11
Housekeeping Checklists
Daily Cleaning Checklist
Daily cleaning lists will address communal areas of an office: the reception or lobby areas and
workspaces (offices or cubicles).
• Empty waste bins, wash as needed and add new liners
• Use standard glass cleaner to wipe down all glass areas
• Damp-wipe hard surfaces with mild disinfectant
• Clean walls and painted surfaces as needed
• Wipe down door handles, light switches, and baseboards
Weekly Cleaning Checklist
A weekly cleaning list will ensure a more thorough cleaning of all communal areas in the office.
Getting this done on a weekly basis will create a healthier work environment for employees and
guests of the office.
• Vacuum and mop all floor areas
• Clean glass windows inside and out
• Throw out old foods in the communal refrigerator, and then clean and disinfect.
• Empty and disinfect all trash receptacles and add new liners
Monthly Cleaning Checklist
Monthly checklists only address items that will not endanger the health or safety of the office
population if not cleaned on a daily or weekly basis.
• Vacuum all fabric chairs (clean as needed)
• Vacuum all vents
• Dust all high surfaces
12
Professional Email Responses
A Quick Overview
There are different ways to respond to emails professionally, depending on your intention with the
email. Emailing for acknowledgment requires very succinct responses, but most other circumstances
will require carefully crafted answers.
Also, always acknowledge the emails you receive, even if you cannot fully reply within 24 hours of
receiving them. Let the customer or coworker know that you are on top of it and will get back to them
as soon as possible.
A very important last tip: Never forget to spell check and double-check for grammar mistakes!
Examples
A simple acknowledgement
A more detailed response
Best Practices: How to Handle
Visitors
Have the reception team discuss the most frequently asked questions (as asked by office
visitors) and, together, come up with the best answers.
Use your responses as a guideline when on the phone or answering emails; that way, everyone
is on the same page.
Sample Question Sample Answer
Important Numbers and Extensions: A Reference
Sheet
Name Title / Office Phone #/ Ext. #
Feel free to print and use this entire eBook for your front desk staff or use it to create one of your own!
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