We’ve all heard someone involved in Airbnb hospitality say that the communication part is the easy part, and focus more on the difficulties of cleaning. The truth is that communication is just as important as a clean house.
Or even more important. In fact, successful communication can forgive lapses in cleanliness, and more. Let’s take a look at the how and the why.
A guest chooses to stay in an Airbnb apartment (or Booking or Vrbo, etc.) rather than a hotel, mainly because they are interested in living as locally as possible. To stay in a home with the architecture, decor and sense of everyday life that a local has. For this reason, it is very likely that the short-term rental visitor will want to associate more with the inhabitants of the city he or she is visiting and become part of it. And who is the first local with whom he or she comes into contact, and without much effort?
Exactly. It’s you.
Many times, our visitor expects to be treated like a guest and not a customer. (This is a general principle that is good to always keep in mind). So how would you treat an acquaintance visiting your place? You would certainly ask him if he is well, what company he is coming with, what his plans are – a quiet or an intense holiday – and suggest good places to eat and visit. This is exactly what we should do to our guests.
Treat them as if they were old friends.
Without exaggeration, of course. We don’t invade their privacy, or get pushy. After all, some guests will always want their privacy. It is perfectly respectful and understandable. That’s why we must observe the degree of intimacy we can build. Something that is not always clear through the written word.
Does he respond almost monosyllabically? Did he respond to some of our kind words or maybe even some of our jokes? Is he polite? Does he use cheerful emoticons? Through some such signs, we can tell whether the person we are hosting wants a frequent communication with us or not.
However, statistics show that most guests enjoy the fact that they have a host who cares about them. A message, days before their arrival, is able to establish a good foundation in our relationship. The guest now knows that if they need something, they will have someone in a foreign country who will help them and can be relied upon – to a certain extent – to help them. Think how important it would be for you if you were travelling to Belgium or Finland and had an old acquaintance there, available at any time to help you.
A sense of security is worth as much as a clean house.
And how is this sense of security consolidated? Apart from the messages that show that we care about our guest, that we care if everything is okay, if they need something, very important is the response time of our messages. Because, what if you were interested in me in general, but the moment I locked myself in the elevator you responded after 2 hours?
And one might think, it’s none of our business or fault what happens to each guest, but the truth is that’s exactly where the game is won. When our guest feels that they have an invisible assistant-advisor-guide-friend available at all times and genuinely willing to provide solutions, then we win points. That’s when the host in charge stands out from the competition. And then the guest is willing to forgive any oversights, mistakes and unfortunate incidents.
A typical example is the following story: We had a family of guests in a villa in Chania, and on the first day of their holiday, the power company had a fault and so for several hours the house had no electricity. We contacted the company, but they could not give us a specific time frame for restoring the damage. We informed the guests that unfortunately there was nothing we could do and that as soon as we had any news we would relay it to them immediately. A few hours later, visitors asked us again if there was any progress, but unfortunately nothing had changed. We apologised again for the inconvenience, and then they said they were worried about spoiling the things they had bought from the supermarket. To reassure them, we told them that whatever they spoiled, we would buy it back for them.
The truth is that we knew it wasn’t our fault to make compensation. And the visitor of course knew it, and that’s why his exact response was : “It doesn’t matter what the problem is, what matters is your willingness to solve it. Mishaps always happen.” Of course he did not accept to be compensated, after all there was no need to. The electricity came back an hour after that. But we had earned his trust, we would be there for whatever he needed. Needless to say, he left us a good – even touching – review.
The key is in always showing that we care about our guest. But the big secret is to not only show it, but also to feel it. Because that’s how it’s real and our messages of intimacy come out effortlessly. From this article, remember 2 things:
Α. Each of our guests is like an old acquaintance visiting our town.
Β. Good communication > Cleanliness. Because an honest communication relationship can “save” a slightly soiled towel and an unfortunate “hair” in the bathroom.
Now, if you don’t feel like being over a mobile and talking to every visitor. If you don’t have the ability to talk that often and at all hours (communication is a 24-hour game that knows no holidays, birthdays, vacations), you might consider working with some professionals. Come to Hometrust. Fill in this form for a free evaluation of your property. Do not hesitate to contact us today.
Otherwise, call us at: +306977774356 or send us email.
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