Reviews! Reviews! Reviews!
Great reviews are just as important as having a great property because of how people make buying decisions today. While great pictures, location, or amenities influence someone staying at your rental, almost everyone is interested in past guests stays and experiences with both the home and the management/owner.
In addition to influencing prospective guests to stay at your home, reviews also increase your ranking on the booking platforms (which leads to more exposure and thus more bookings), increases the likelihood of a guest returning, and can lead to referrals. All of these things lead to the end goal. Filling up your calendar at a higher rate.
So how do we get more positive reviews?
The easy answer is to provide a great experience for your guests! Be upfront and transparent with the property through the description and photos, make sure the home is cleaned thoroughly, and make sure you are available for any questions or concerns before and during their stay. Everything is not always going to be perfect, so how you handle missteps can be the difference between a 5 star review or a 1 star review. People for the most part are understanding and realize things happen, how you remedy certain situations is typically very appreciated. Remember, people are much more inclined to leave a review after a bad experience than a great one because of the emotion those experiences create.
The second and equally important way to get great reviews is to ask! Take advantage of the relationship you have built with the guest, emphasize how much it helps out your business, and be creative. You can offer discounts for repeat stays or referrals with a positive review, set up automated email campaigns, or voicemail to text reviews just to give a few ideas.
Lastly, make sure the process of leaving a review is as easy as possible for the guest. People are busy and don’t always want to go out of their way to describe their experience or help you out. Try emailing them a direct link to where they can leave the review to minimize the process.
Provide a great experience, ask for the review, email them the link. Easy peasy.