HOLIDAY RENTALS Customer feedback: Embrace the good and the bad! How to get
Firstly, let’s bust some myths about our friend the self-catering holiday:
It’s something only Britons do. Wrong!
Beyond the UK, guests from Ireland, the USA, Spain, France, Australia, the
Netherlands and Russia are browsing for homes like yours right now.
It’s only viable in popular destinations. Wrong! It’s the fastest growing travel sector and with 110,000+ places listed in more than 140 countries, we can assure you that it’s gone global.
Short breaks and romantic breaks are just about hotels. Wrong again!
In the last year, we’ve seen a 37 per cent increase in enquiries for holidays for two. So it comes down to understanding your audience (families with babies and/or toddlers, families who can only holiday during school holidays, empty nesters, DINKIES (dual income no kids) or solo travelers?); what they’re looking for from their holiday (how you can present your home as best at catering for their requirements) and how you can wow them
more bookings? Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies of
holidaylettings.co.uk addresses the biggest conundrum in the holiday rental property business
with the presentation of your property. In other words creating and promoting your unique selling points (USPs) through fabulous photography, dazzling descriptions, aff ordable prices and unfaultable customer service (see box below on USPs). Unless you have a capital city apartment, it’s unlikely your place with be occupied more than 40 weeks or weekends of the year. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t maximise your occupancy by appealing to more than one type of guest.
Your marketing (photographs, blurb, pricing) just needs to be nimble. Advertise pricing for diff erent size parties as well as nightly pricing so it’s clear you accept short breaks (mid-week and/or midweek). T e most popular periods will always be school holiday times, but letting people know that the climate or summer season extends either side of that will attract those not limited by term time at quieter times. If your place is easily accessible for short breaks, promote local events that could attract these types of visitors in the shoulder or off seasons.
Use photographs to visualise your
off ering. If you welcome large groups, show the long dining table dressed for dinner or sunloungers around the pool. If you are particularly family friendly show a children’s bedroom with cartoon character bed linen (or similar), the playroom or just the highchair at the kitchen table.
Feedback is constantly emerging theme in our experts’ tips and, according to Only Apartments (
only-apartments.com), it is one of the things that their most popular apartments have in common: the owner actively encourages it. “There are numerous places online where a client may leave
a comment about your hotel or property – on forums such as Tripadvisor, your own website (if you have comments enabled) or on listing sites such as
Only-apartments.com where you may have your home featured – we always email every guest to ask them to fi ll in our quality form,” says Ramon Glieneke, Commercial & Marketing Director of
Only-apartments.com
“Guest comments are almost always benefi cial to your rental, so here are four tips for making the most of them:
• Encourage comments: fi rst of all by being a great host, and by politely reminding your guests that you’d appreciate them sharing their feedback. Point them in the right direction – remind them to look out for the email requesting feedback (if they’ve come from a listing site like ours), or hand out a card with the link to the relevant section on TripAdvisor
• Keep track of them: make sure that you check your comments as soon as you receive them. We email clients as soon as they have a new review, but you may also want to create searches and alerts so that you’re updated with new comments on forums
• Share them: if you receive good feedback, why not quote this on your website, other marketing materials or in social media? The best and most transparent way is to link from your website directly to the comment threads where you’re featured – this way the new customer can see that you’re open and honest
• Learn from them. Customer feedback is the best way to help you improve what you off er, stay competitive and ultimately receive more rentals – so if someone suggests an improvement, give it some thought (see below)
Four golden rules for dealing with negative comments
1
Top tips for creating USPs What existing USPs could you make more of?
• Is the property architecturally interesting? Built by a famous architect, an unusual property type • Have you taken a particular interior design route? Glitz and glamour, shabby chic, Cath Kidston... • Is there a historical connection? Famous owner/tenant, on/near a site of historical importance • Have you got enough space for entertainment? A formal dining room, cinema room, playroom, dance fl oor... • Are your grounds particularly special? Vast acreage, working farm, etc. • Is your view extraordinarily spectacular? Panoramic sea views, crest of a mountain range, place of interest • Have you had famous guests? Who are happy to be name checked! • Does the property have a particularly unique feature? Fully stocked honesty bar, disco room, private beachfront
Provided by
holidaylettings.co.uk aplaceinthesun.com | 101
provide about your property could be made clearer to avoid misunderstandings
2 3 4
Respond - say thanks for the feedback and apologise if something went wrong. Explain what you're doing to put things right
Don't get into an argument: if a customer expresses a strong opinion, it's usually better not to enter into a debate with them. Not every
apartment will be to everyone's taste, all of the time, so accepting feedback in a positive way will help you to better attract the next customer
Don't panic: it can be upsetting to receive criticism, but it won’t necessarily aff ect your sales. The occasional negative review amongst generally
positive feedback, can even be a good thing because it shows the honesty and transparency of the comments, especially if you respond constructively
Use the feedback as an opportunity to improve. What changes could be made to your property or service? Or perhaps the information you
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