All Forum Posts by: Bailey Kramer

Here are 4 tips to help get you a 5-star review every time!

1) Responsiveness

- This is a MUST!!

- As soon as you get a message from a guest, I call it “GO TIME”

 - This is your time to respond to the guest as soon as possible

- There is nothing like incredible customer service

- If there are any issues with their stay, it is your job to make sure you do everything you can to solve the problem as quickly as possible

2) Be very clear with your check-in instructions

- I like to say, pretend you are a first grader

- No need to overcomplicate how to check into your property

- The last thing you want to happen is for someone to struggle to get into your property

- First impressions are everything and if they can’t get into the property, there is a very high chance you just went from a 5 to a 4-star review. Crazy but it sure happens!

3) Create a welcome book (physical) or an online guidebook

- This helps the guest get all of the information they need about the property and answer any questions they may have

- Also with online guidebooks, a lot of times they have to put in their email to access. This is a great way to build an email list for off-platform bookings as well!

- Put information about amenities, how to work certain appliances, how to work the TV, garbage, nearby restaurants, grocery stores, shops, bars, and local attractions

4) Reviews

- If the guest had a great experience, you want to write a review for the guest ASAP

- The stay is fresh in their mind and then the guest will get an alert to write a review of their stay

- Neither parties will be able to see the review until both people write their review

@Patricia Taveras Glad to hear it is working well for you too!

@Leslie Anne Morris For sure! Definitely important to stick to your standards! 

Let’s talk about instant bookings.

I highly recommend turning on instant bookings for Airbnb.

I always want to make everything EASY and SEAMLESS for the traveler.

Instant bookings allow the traveler to book at their convenience INSTANTLY without having to send a request to book and your listing will rank higher in the search results.

As long as the traveler meets all requirements you have set on Airbnb, they are automatically booked at your property.

Let’s talk about what requirements you should set up in Airbnb to allow instant bookings and ways to prevent a bad traveler. 

I'm not saying that things won't happen, but in this case, you are doing your best to prevent it. 

1) Government-issued ID required - Require guests to submit government ID to Airbnb in order to Instant Book. If they don't meet this requirement, they will send a request instead.

2) Host recommendation required - Require guests to have recommendations from other Airbnb Hosts and no negative reviews. If they don’t meet this requirement, they will send a request instead.

3) Pre-booking message required - Require guests to read and respond to a message before they confirm their reservation. I like to put:

What brings you to X location? What is the age range of the group? Will you be bringing any pets? If so, what is the breed and weight of the pet?

I have found an increase in traffic and bookings by having instant bookings on! 

@Matthew McKee Thanks and glad you found it helpful!

@Patrick Drury 100% agree 🙌

1) Listing Description - This is your time to BRAG about your property and paint a picture of what the property is like and the experience guests will have at your property.

- Use bullet points as it's easier for the reader to digest

- Share amenities, bedroom layout, describe the space, attractions near the property, favorite restaurants, shops, and bars

2) Professional photos - This is an ABSOLUTE must!

- These photos will reel people into your property and ultimately make or break if a person decides to book with you

- Professional photos typically range from about $200-$500 and it all depends on your market

3) Competitive pricing - There are so many great softwares that automate this process like Pricelabs and Beyond Pricing

- These softwares are constantly updating pricing automatically based on the demand of the properties in the area

- There are also so many customizations you can play around with to do a lot of trial and error

- Highly recommend choosing to offer a discount on the first few bookings

- Airbnb and VRBO both offer this option to you as part of the listing setup process

4) Response time - The listing platforms like Airbnb and VRBO prioritize hosts who are extremely responsive to guests

- Make sure you are responding to guests as soon as they send a message

- There are software's that automate the majority of the messages like - request to book, booking confirmed, check-in instructions, check-out instructions, and more!

- A lot of guests will think you are the one sending the messages and it is really the software LOL

- Check out Hospitable or Guesty to automate messages, reviews, syncs bookings, sends messages to cleaners for new bookings, and more!

@John Underwood Thanks for sharing your feedback. 

We like to have a runner just in case the cleaner is unable to get to the property.  

You are right that a lot of the time, the cleaner can do the runner tasks and it's an extra layer of precaution for us. We never want anyone to be spread thin. 

We have a list of handymen to reach out to when damages take place, that a cleaner or runner are unable to fix. 

Everyone manages their properties differently and all about what works best for each of us! 

@Leslie Anne Morris 100% and so much gratitude for our local team on the ground! 

In running an Airbnb Co-Hosting business, your team is the lifeblood to running a successful Airbnb business.

With Airbnb Co-Hosting, you can do this 100% remotely and all about building an incredible boots on the ground team.  

Even if you are 5 minutes away from the property, your time should be focused on getting more clients versus going to the property all of the time. 

You can not be at 10 places at once or may not even be available when there is an issue.

Let’s talk about who the dream team consists of:

1) Cleaner

2) Runner

3) Handyman

Cleaners:

They are going to be your most important team members, since they are at the property the most, and cleanliness is absolutely everything.

If someone goes to a property and it’s not clean, that’s the end of the road. I'm being a little dramatic here, but if your property gets bad reviews because of cleaning, this will lead to less bookings, less revenue for the homeowner and less revenue for you as a Co-Host. A complete domino effect. 

The cleaner will come to the property to clean for each turnover, restock supplies, check for any damages, and makes sure everything is all set up for the next guests.

Runner:

They can help with taking out the trash, switching batteries, light maintenance, bringing in packages, help to set up properties, and more! 

Handyman:

They will be able to assist with any maintenance or damages from guests. 

I would recommend having 1 dedicated person for each role and as many backups on hand if your main person is unavailable. 

Remember your team is absolutely everything.