Hotel CSR Training/billing question...

[gonzo1510]

I wanted to ask the members here who specialize in hotels the following question :

If a contract security company offers to have their guards take customer service/relations training along with the hotel staff as an incentive to win the contract,can the security company then bill the hotel for the hours or does the security company eat those hours ?

I personally feel that the security company cannot bill those hours because it is not a requirement by the client in order to keep the contract. My friend on the other hand says that since it is work related and a guard has to come in on their off time then the hotel should be billed. I think that the contract company pays for those hours but I'm not sure....

Your thoughts..

[HotelSecurity]

I know hotels, I do not know contract security. I have always worked in-house in hotels. Sorry.

One thing for sure, at least in my province. The employee coming in for training on his time off MUST be paid.

Another thing about Quebec is that companies must spend 1% of their profit for employee training.

[gonzo1510]

One thing for sure, at least in my province. The employee coming in for training on his time off MUST be paid.

No argument here.... The employee would be paid no matter what.

[gcmc security part 2]

Sticky situation. We've done it both ways, basically it depends on the client. If you can get away with it then go ahead. If the client requests it or requires it then it's a no brainer. If your doing it to keep the client though and to make yourself look better, charging them isn't going to make you look better ya know?

[cmndr]

I wanted to ask the members here who specialize in hotels the following question :

If a contract security company offers to have their guards take customer service/relations training along with the hotel staff as an incentive to win the contract,can the security company then bill the hotel for the hours or does the security company eat those hours ?

I personally feel that the security company cannot bill those hours because it is not a requirement by the client in order to keep the contract. My friend on the other hand says that since it is work related and a guard has to come in on their off time then the hotel should be billed. I think that the contract company pays for those hours but I'm not sure....

Your thoughts..

If the contract company is doing this to WIN/RENEW the contract - they should eat the cost of the training and paying their employees to attend. This is what we would call a VALUE ADDED service and shows a dedication level that hopefully would impress the prospective Client.

The only time I would bill for this training is if my Client made it mandatory for my staff to attend. All other times, the Client gets the service as part of the contract price. Cost of doing business.

[SecTrainer]

If the contract company is doing this to WIN/RENEW the contract - they should eat the cost of the training and paying their employees to attend. This is what we would call a VALUE ADDED service and shows a dedication level that hopefully would impress the prospective Client.

The only time I would bill for this training is if my Client made it mandatory for my staff to attend. All other times, the Client gets the service as part of the contract price. Cost of doing business.

There are two issues here and it's easy to confuse them if we're not precise in our language:

1. You're right that the client would not be charged for training hours as a distinct and direct billable item.

2. However, just because we treat the training as a "cost of doing business" does not mean it doesn't get billed to the client and we just "absorb" it. ALL operating costs must be covered by your revenues, including the "costs of doing business". The difference is that these are treated as general overhead (like your office rent, or advertising expense) and are factored into your normal hourly billing rate, to be recovered throughout the life of the contract.

So, the client is not billed directly for such training hours as billable hours, but this and every other cost incurred in doing business must be built into your bid rates, so in effect they ARE billed for it. You don't just "eat" the "costs of doing business", unless you have a burning desire to go out of business.

[NRM_Oz]

Catch 22 - do you bill the client for the costs of training and take a double bite by hitting them with guard costs ?

Personally, my overheads have always incorporated a buffer zone to cover these areas - like when you bring a new guard in for say 4 hours ops training - you pay for it through your operational surplus.