Find out how you can save time on guest communications, whilst ensuring that your guests remain prepared and informed. They enjoy their stay, and you spend less time on the end of the phone!
Thanks for joining the conversation
Thanks for joining Andy and Tyann for our AMA: “How to communicate more efficiently with guests”
We’ve added a recording of the event in case you missed it or want to revisit some of the points we discussed. You can also head over to the blog to see our key takeaways: 11 ways to communicate more efficiently with vacation rental guests.
We’ve also picked out the AMA highlights and their timings below.
Key takeaways:
Most of my experiences of staying somewhere is that the person I’m staying with doesn’t communicate: it’s once on booking, and then almost at the time that I’m about to show up. But there’s nothing in between. It’s that moment of tumbleweed, that deserted town. It feels very much like that as a guest. It’s such a shame – there’s so many opportunities to communicate. And given that there are so many things that you want to communicate, it’s nice that you’ve got this whole span between booking and arrival. – Andy
The thing I have the most response on is, as soon as my cleaner texts me to tell me that she’s done, I text the guest to let them know that we’re ready, and they can go in any time they like. Last weekend, my cleaner knew there were some traffic hold-ups about two miles away, and so I was able to alert the guests that they might be held up. And I got a really big thank you from the guests for that. – Graham Stow
We’ll send a text or phone call right after our guests arrive – we reach out, say we hope that they arrived safely and that everything’s good with the house. Just to open up that communication line, to let them know that we care, we’re there, and we’ll respond. And I really think they appreciate that. – Tyann
I usually send out the guidebook thirty days prior to their arrival, so they have time to look it over. Because of COVID, I want to make my guests feel like they’re ok. So I send them an email that asks if they have any questions or concerns. And I get a lot of “thank yous” from that. We text them hello, goodbye and thank you, and we have a survey that goes out the day after they’re gone. – Tammi Olson
AMA highlights:
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02:48 – The best way to set the stage for low noise levels
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06:08 – Communicating clearly when monitoring guest behaviour
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08:20 – How to handle noise from neighbouring properties
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10:30 – How to get guests to do the things you need them to do
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12:15 – The value of repetition in guest communication
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18:50 – Handling guests who just won’t leave
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22:12 – How to build communication about departure times into your processes
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26:08 – Is there such a thing as too much communication?
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26:48 – The window of communications opportunity between booking and arrival
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31:30 – Building your digital guidebook into your communication flow
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36:32 – How to create a human connection – letting your guests know that you’re there for them
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48:16 – Using deep links to direct guests to your digital guidebook
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53:24 – Motivating guests to look through your guidebook
Interested in using Touch Stay digital guides to support your guest communications? Try a 14-day free trial to get a feel for what it could do for your business at touchstay.com.