Those who are looking for an apartment or house to rent for tourism, work, or any other reason that requires a short stay in a furnished place with all the comfort of their own home, need the assurance that the place is well attended and that their doubts will be cleared at the time.
If a potential guest makes an inquiry and does not receive a prompt response, he/she will most likely discard that place and continue looking for an option where attention is faster.
Therefore, in addition to including as much information as possible in the property advertisement, it is essential to have a fast, clear and friendly message response system, and therefore effective.
One of the most useful practices in this area is to have the ability to respond 24 hours a day. Property managers with a good Revenue Manager have the option to set up automated responses for the most common queries and for the moment a booking arrives, allowing guests to receive a message on the spot and, if necessary, then a dedicated communication team member to expand the information by adding data, confirmations and more elaborate messages depending on what the query was.
For example, if a guest makes a reservation, it is desirable that immediately after having made it, he/she receives a message thanking him/her for having chosen that property, along with details of his/her reservation (such as check-in and check-out dates, number of people and cost) and some important information about that property. These may be the house rules, the amenities offered -especially those that stand out compared to most apartments-, the check-in and check-out times, the address and means of access, etc.
It is likely that after the reservation is made, the guest will have some doubts and will start sending messages to clear them up. Even if what you are looking for is already included in the description of the ad or even in one of the automatic messages you have just received, it is essential to respond quickly and cordially, so as not to generate uncertainty and reduce the risk that you will decide to choose another similar option.
A Revenue Manager’s software allows you to program pre-determined automatic messages for certain instances, such as the confirmation of a reservation, the reminder a couple of days before arrival and the day before check-out, internet data and other useful information -such as nearby places to buy food or dine, typical sightseeing, important dates of the moment-, etc.
Once guests are settled in, during their stay they may need to check something or you may want to send a message from time to time to make sure everything is okay and ask them if they need anything. In that case, other communication channels, such as email, telephone or WhatsApp, can be added to the OTAs’ messaging channel. Providing one or more of these alternative channels will further accelerate communication and give the guest a sense of closeness to their host.
At the end of the stay, it is a nice gesture to communicate with the guests who have just left to thank them, ask them how everything was and if they have suggestions to improve the space and the service. This message can also be automated, while the subsequent ones that continue the conversation should be personalized, as they will contain specific content based on what each particular guest responds to.
While automated messages allow you to include the name of each guest and other information specific to their stay (such as dates and costs), it is important that your overall communication also includes personal messages, making it clear that you are talking to a real person in real time. For example, mentioning previous conversations, recommending sites or experiences based on the characteristics of the people traveling, etc.
All assertive communication before, during and after each stay will encourage positive ratings for your property and constructive feedback.
In this sense, another valuable ingredient in addition to personalization is empathy. Show interest in what guests have to say, answer their questions and provide information that you think they will find useful. Likewise, if a problem arises in the property, such as a broken appliance or a lock failure, for example, be proactive in resolving it as soon as possible, even if the situation could have been avoided or the guests are responsible for what happened.
Speed, empathy and clarity in communicating with guests at all stages of the rental process will lead to three things that every owner aspires to achieve: a good reputation, positive reviews and repeat bookings from guests who have had a great experience and decide to return to the same place.
However, maintaining this type of assertive communication with all guests when you have more than one property to manage can be a hard task for a single person, being necessary to have a communication team or, even better, to have a good Revenue Management service. A company like ListingOK, Revenue Manager company since 2023 helps you to implement this service in a comprehensive way and many others to optimize all the steps related to the vacation rental and boost your income by up to 20%.
If you want to know what a Revenue Management company like ListingOK does to evaluate the advantages they offer, you can read this article about the functions of Revenue Manager companies, which will give you an even more complete notion of their scope.
