Front Office
What is a front office?
Front office is the departments of the business that have direct contact with customers, candidates or clients. Usually this includes the sales, business development or account management teams.
What are the different sections of an office?
There are typically three different sections of an office, front office, middle office and back office. They each have their own service departments that they take care of. Front office staff has a more specific meaning depending on the industry they’re working in. Overall though, front office staff are in charge of representing the company and are client facing, meaning they’re responsible for the service that each customer receives.
What are the responsibilities of the front office?
Front office staff responsibilities can range from receptionists, investment banking, to driving revenue generation. In an investment bank, front office staff would be in charge of sales, trading, investment banking, and wealth management. However, in the hotel industry, front office staff are in charge of the reception area, guest relations, and concierge services. In sports businesses, the front office personnel could be team management, coaching staff of the sports team, scouts, or the media personnel.
In all of these industries, the roles for the front office are interacting with customers or clients and are an example of how the company represents itself. Even in sports, the coaching staff are presenting themselves to the public and advertisers that may be sponsoring the team, so in essence they are still a part of the front offices.