How to Create Better Guest Relationships for Your Vacation Rental
If you want your vacation rental to be a success, you need to do everything possible to treat you guests right. You want to give them the 5-star treatment, even though you have just a single property. Fortunately, you will find that providing this treatment is easier than you might think when you follow some of the tips provided in this post.
Why Is Creating Great Relationships So Important?
When your guests are happy, they are more inclined to leave glowing reviews of your property. Good reviews are seen by others who are looking for a place to vacation in the Outer Banks, and it can increase their likelihood of booking your place for that vacation. In addition, the guests that you have already had are more likely to come back during their next visit to the area. Good relations are good for your bottom line. Let’s look at some of the ways that you can do this.
Provide Great Service
Often, it really is as simple as doing your job and making sure the guests have what they need. Make sure that it is easy for them to get the keys to the property or have locks with a code on them so they can get inside. Make sure the property is nice and clean, and that it is inviting. You could even offer a gift basket as a welcoming gift for them coming to stay at your vacation rental in the Outer Banks.
Providing some things to do in the house on those rainy days is a nice option, too. Consider all the “little touches” that you would like to have when you are on vacation, and make sure you provide those for your guests. This gives them a much better overall experience.
When they have a good time, they are going to want to tell their friends and family about the place, which can result in more bookings. They will talk about it on social media, and they may even write a glowing review for the property. All of this can be accomplished when the guests are cared for the right way.
Deal with Problems Immediately
Whether you or a property manager handles guest issues and complaints, it is essential that you take the time to deal with their problems right away. Even if it takes a few hours to solve the issue, contacting them immediately and letting them know that it will be resolved can help to allay their fears and give them a better impression of how you run your business. Depending on the size and severity of the problem, you might even want to consider doing something to compensate the guests for their inconvenience. It might be a gift card to a coffee shop or restaurant, or perhaps a bottle of wine.
Remember Your Former Guests
Just because the guests walk out the door and head home after their vacation, it is no reason for you to forget about them. You should follow up with the guests and make sure that they had a good time on vacation. Ask them for a review, and even offer a discount if they decide to come back and stay at your property in the future. This shows that you care about their experience, and it benefits you by creating a better relationship with them.
Consider a Guest Book for the House
This can be a fun idea, and it can make the guests feel much more connected to the property. You could add a guest book and tell the guests that they can keep a diary of their adventures in the Outer Banks and at the property in the journal. This can be helpful to future guests, and it gives you a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of your property that you could improve in the future. You could even ask the guests if you could use excerpts from the guest book for testimonials for your site.
Consider Being Pet Friendly
Many people really like the idea of bringing their pets with them when they go on vacation. You may want to think about opening your property to different types of pets, as it has the potential to increase the number of guests that book your property. You might want to set certain restrictions on the size of the animals or the number of animals allowed on the property. You might also have instructions that you want the guests to follow, such as not allowing the dogs to be on the beds or the couch.
Of course, having dogs and cats on the property is not something that all owners will want to do. It does mean that the cleaning can be a bit more difficult, and you do not want to have future guests with allergies complaining about dander that the cleaning company did not get.
Be Social on Social Media
Having a social media page for your vacation rental in the Outer Banks can be a good idea, as well. Even if it gets just a small amount of traffic, it can still be worthwhile. You can tell your guests about your social media page or pages, and ask them if they might want to follow you. Provide more than just information about your vacation property on those pages. Include items about the surrounding area, along with some photos. Ask questions and get the people who follow you to respond. It can start a nice conversation between past guests and those who might be guests in the future.
If someone asks a question through your social media sites, be sure that you answer them as soon as possible. After all, social media needs to be social.
When you follow some simple tips and you are actively trying to create a better experience and better relations with the guests, it will happen. It takes some work, but the results are well worth the effort that you put into it.