One of the most important elements of great service is patience, says Martin R. Baird, chief executive officer of Annapolis, Md.-based Robinson & Associates, Inc., a guest-service consulting firm for the gaming industry. Some guests need a little more of casino employees time. And every employee has heard the same requests over and over during a days work. Patience in these and all other circumstances is important.

Bairds new book, Gaming Guest Service from A to Z uses the alphabet to explore important words to help gaming executives, managers and employees understand how critically important outstanding guest service is and how to provide it. The book has all the letters of the alphabet and each letter has a series of words that give insight on how to provide great guest service.

The following are helpful tips excerpted from the books section on the letter P.

Patience. Many of your guests are older and have special needs. Patience is particularly important to them. What can you do to remember how important it is to be patient with them, that its all about them? Guests may ask you for directions to the restroom or buffet 300 times per day. Just be patient, smile and help them.

Pleasure. Providing great service is a pleasure. You feel good when you do it and its a pleasure when the guest receives it.

Pride. If youre proud of the work you do and the place where you work, it shows. Your guests see it and so do your managers. Have pride in the work you do because it doesnt matter what your position is at your property. Let your pride shine through.

Positive. Having a positive attitude is 90 percent of the battle. Everyone has challenging days and frustrating guests. If you go into it with a positive outlook, your day will be much better. If you look at problems as opportunities for excellence, your positive attitude will make it easy to find a solution.

Priceless. Great guest service is priceless. There is no way to put a dollar value on it. Your managers cant say, You smiled, so thats $100 or You helped them find their room, so thats $150. You dont know how often that guest will come back or how many people they will tell about their great experience at your property, but word of mouth is powerful, and that makes your service priceless.

Prompt. Im talking about being prompt not only in helping your guests but also in showing up for work on time or early. If youre late, guests are forced to wait. Internal customers are forced to wait. Everyone in the chain must wait because you werent prompt. Being prompt is a critical factor in a propertys overall success.

Praise. One of the best things you can do when you see a co-worker or manager doing a great job is to give them praise. Tell them what theyre doing right and thank them. Those words go a long way toward encouraging them to do it again tomorrow. When everyone does a good job as a team, the guests will keep coming back.

Robinson & Associates, Inc., is a guest service consulting firm that provides specialty guest service training, management skills training, presentation skills training, team building programs and employee incentive and recognition programs for the gaming industry. The companys Web site is devoted to helping casinos improve their guest service so they can compete and increase revenues.