Latest / Thanks For Visiting / 574. 6 Ways to Never Get Guest Complaints and Earn 5 Stars

Transcript

574. 6 Ways to Never Get Guest Complaints and Earn 5 Stars · Thanks For Visiting

1:04
Sarah Karakaian: Welcome back to another great episode.
1:06
Sarah Karakaian: My name is Sarah Karakaian.
1:08
Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
1:10
Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
1:12
Sarah Karakaian: When a guest leaves you a less than five-star review, I get it.
1:16
Sarah Karakaian: The first instinct is to be defensive.
1:18
Sarah Karakaian: That defensiveness, though, is exactly what stops you from being a top-earning host in your market.
1:25
Annette Grant: Today we're covering six things you can do to prevent that bad review from ever happening in the first place, and a couple of these get us full pushback every time we bring them up.
1:35
Annette Grant: "That's never gonna work in my market," hosts will say.
1:38
Annette Grant: There are top-earning hosts in every market, and we believe these are the differences that separate them.
1:45
Sarah Karakaian: We've been hosting for over a decade, I think going on 14 years, built a multi-million-dollar portfolio, portfolio, it's hard to say.
1:53
Sarah Karakaian: And we work with hundreds of hosts who collectively generate over $2 million in monthly bookings through our private coaching program, Strategic Host.
2:01
Sarah Karakaian: Yes, I am bragging.
2:03
Sarah Karakaian: And we've helped thousands of people earn five-star reviews from the get-go of starting their businesses.
2:08
Sarah Karakaian: And here's what we've learned.
2:09
Sarah Karakaian: Here's the good news.
2:10
Sarah Karakaian: None of these are complicated, and we've got them specific, they are fixable, and most of them cost you very little to put into place.
2:19
Sarah Karakaian: What they cost you if you skip them is a bad review, and that is going to cost you a lot more than just fixing it in the first place ever would.
2:29
Annette Grant: Number one, clear, detailed check-in instructions.
2:35
Annette Grant: We use a word at Thanks for Visiting, nervcited, and actually learned that from one of my mentors a long time ago, and that is the balance of both being excited and nervous at the same time.
2:48
Annette Grant: And that is exactly how your guest feels arriving at your property for check-in.
2:53
Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
2:54
Annette Grant: They're nervcited.
2:55
Annette Grant: They've never been to your home.
2:56
Annette Grant: They're like, "Am I gonna get what the pictures actually showed me?"
3:01
Annette Grant: They are excited about the stay, they're excited about the trip, but they are nervous because everyone's heard that bad host story.
3:08
Annette Grant: That nervous energy makes them sensitive to any confusion the second they pull up to your property.
3:18
Sarah Karakaian: So the fix is being clear and detailed about how they check in.
3:23
Sarah Karakaian: Where do they park?
3:24
Sarah Karakaian: Which door do they use to enter?
3:27
Sarah Karakaian: If there's a quirk to the lock, the gate code, maybe there's a quirk to the driveway.
3:31
Sarah Karakaian: That's not something you leave them to discover upon arrival.
3:34
Sarah Karakaian: You're just going to get a frustrated guest who checks in frustrated.
3:39
Sarah Karakaian: Photos help here if the situation calls for it, but I also need you to keep it concise.
3:44
Sarah Karakaian: A guest reading a 10-paragraph check-in guide while sitting in, in their car is also not a good experience.
3:52
Annette Grant: What you need to do is go back in your memory before you purchase a property without knowing anything.
4:00
Annette Grant: Think about what you already know.
4:02
Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
4:02
Annette Grant: That the guest would never have known not been to the property before.
4:07
Annette Grant: You know that the driveway has two mailboxes, and you need to choose the driveway on the left.
4:14
Annette Grant: You know that gate sticks if you just don't lift the handle up and out a little bit.
4:20
Annette Grant: You know?
4:21
Annette Grant: You, you stop seeing those things because you live with them.
4:25
Annette Grant: Your guest is seeing and experiencing it all for the first time, potentially in the dark if they are checking in in the evening after a long drive, after a long day of travel, with a car full of luggage,
4:40
Annette Grant: maybe even kids, the grandparents, the in-laws.
4:43
Annette Grant: Every one of those small quirks that are part of your check-in is a chance for the nervous half or the nervous-sided guest to take over.
4:55
Sarah Karakaian: When you're writing those detailed instructions, what I want you to do is think like a guest who has never been there, and if you need help in this, here's a little hot tip for you.
5:05
Sarah Karakaian: If you're like, "I can't un-know what I already know."
5:08
Sarah Karakaian: Okay.
5:09
Sarah Karakaian: Have a truth-telling friend.
5:11
Sarah Karakaian: You know the blunt one who always tells you like it is?
5:14
Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
5:14
Sarah Karakaian: Have them...
5:15
Sarah Karakaian: Give them your check-in instructions and see if they can find your property and check in.
5:18
Annette Grant: And do not help them.
5:19
Sarah Karakaian: No.
5:20
Annette Grant: At all, and preferably have them do it in the dark.
5:26
Sarah Karakaian: Number two, your Wi-Fi has to work.
5:30
Sarah Karakaian: It must work.
5:31
Sarah Karakaian: Slow or unreliable Wi-Fi is the same as not having a working toilet in your rental these days, okay?
5:36
Annette Grant: Or electricity.
5:37
Sarah Karakaian: Yes.
5:37
Annette Grant: Like, if they're gonna flip the switch and the light doesn't come on.
5:39
Sarah Karakaian: Yes.
5:39
Annette Grant: They, if they're going to their phone and they want to connect to Wi-Fi, needs to happen.
5:44
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
5:44
Sarah Karakaian: It's not a nice-to-have anymore.
5:45
Sarah Karakaian: It has to work, and it has to stay connected the entire stay.
5:50
Sarah Karakaian: You will not get a five-star review from a guest who wasn't able to connect to the internet.
5:55
Annette Grant: In our pre-arrival inspection checklist, this is a step for our inspector, both confirming the TV is connected and the apps are connected.
6:07
Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
6:07
Annette Grant: And they do a speed test on their phone.
6:10
Annette Grant: These apps are free for you to download, and we test this at every single turnover.
6:17
Sarah Karakaian: This matters because a guest who can't connect isn't just annoyed about streaming.
6:23
Sarah Karakaian: They can't work remotely if they need to.
6:26
Sarah Karakaian: You know that Instagram post that that drew them to your short-term rental about work from anywhere, and then they actually can't because your Wi-Fi is unreliable?
6:33
Annette Grant: Or they can't post their own Instagram reel or TikTok about your home.
6:38
Sarah Karakaian: Right...
6:38
Sarah Karakaian: in the positive way.
6:39
Sarah Karakaian: They can't send photos to family.
6:40
Sarah Karakaian: They can't look up directions to dinner.
6:42
Sarah Karakaian: And I know what, some, the people who are pushing back right now are like, "Well, just, you know, be on 5G, the network."
6:49
Sarah Karakaian: And it's like that doesn't always work either, and that is not what you promised for the stay, okay?
6:55
Sarah Karakaian: So I want you to take back ownership of this.
6:57
Sarah Karakaian: Wi-Fi touches almost everything else about their stay, so when it fails, it doesn't feel like one small problem.
7:03
Sarah Karakaian: It feels like the whole property is unreliable.
7:07
Annette Grant: Yes, and here's a hosting pro tip for you.
7:10
Annette Grant: We use our Wi-Fi password as this, like, small, let's say, just, um, laying the groundwork for them about their experience.
7:22
Annette Grant: We use in different properties, maybe the password is five star stay or happy guest.
7:28
Annette Grant: This is a small thing, but it is that gentle reminder woven into something every guest types out the second they arrive.
7:37
Annette Grant: These words matter.
7:38
Annette Grant: This is messaging.
7:40
Annette Grant: This is copy for that review that you're going to request after their stay.
7:46
Sarah Karakaian: Number three, insist on quality where it counts.
7:50
Sarah Karakaian: This one is about where your guest sits, where they sleep, and what they cook on.
7:56
Sarah Karakaian: I want you to buy nice or you will buy twice, and that is the standard we hold here at Thanks for Visiting.
8:02
Annette Grant: Can we change it to buy nice or buy thrice?
8:04
Annette Grant: Yeah.
8:04
Annette Grant: 'Cause you're gonna end up just keeping it one, two, three.
8:06
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah, buy nice or buy thrice.
8:08
Annette Grant: Three strikes you're out.
8:08
Sarah Karakaian: Is thrice a word?
8:09
Annette Grant: We just made it up.
8:10
Sarah Karakaian: Great.
8:11
Annette Grant: A bad night of sleep, it is one of those things you, you can't undo with a nice gesture the next morning.
8:18
Annette Grant: Bouncing back from a review about a bad night's sleep, but it's next to impossible because that review isn't just about one small annoyance or, like we said, a, a quirk about their check-in.
8:29
Annette Grant: It's about the thing they came on vacation to actually do, rest, and they didn't get to.
8:38
Sarah Karakaian: We go all in on the sleep experience.
8:42
Sarah Karakaian: A sound machine, actual blackout shades, not like light filtering, pillow options, firm and soft, extra blankets.
8:53
Sarah Karakaian: And none of these are expensive or complicated to add, but they're the difference between fine and a night of sleep that guests remembers, that guests remember and talk about in their reviews.
9:03
Annette Grant: Mm.
9:04
Annette Grant: This same logic about quality applies in the kitchen.
9:09
Annette Grant: If what the, the pots or pans that they go to cook with, if they're bad, if they're warped, if the pan has a, you know, a wobbly handle, if you have dull knives, you've made that one thing in
9:22
Annette Grant: your rental, uh, that a hotel doesn't have into a frustration instead of a selling point for you.
9:30
Annette Grant: And if a guest can't cook comfortably in your kitchen, ask yourself, like, what is the kitchen even there for?
9:36
Sarah Karakaian: Mm.
9:37
Sarah Karakaian: Number four.
9:39
Sarah Karakaian: Supplies.
9:40
Sarah Karakaian: Let's talk about supplies in your short-term rental, those consumables that really make staying with you special.
9:46
Annette Grant: Yeah.
9:46
Annette Grant: These are not just starter supplies, okay?
9:49
Sarah Karakaian: No.
9:49
Sarah Karakaian: We're in the hospitality business first, and that should be why you're in this, okay?
9:53
Sarah Karakaian: Because you want to make an impression on someone's life, and this is a life moment that you are definitely impacting.
10:01
Sarah Karakaian: And hospitality doesn't mean rationing supplies like you're protecting inventory.
10:05
Sarah Karakaian: A guest arriving and immediately needing toilet paper is a guaranteed bad first impression.
10:12
Annette Grant: Just gonna say it.
10:13
Annette Grant: Nothing irks me more.
10:14
Sarah Karakaian: This is very true.
10:15
Annette Grant: Than when I check in for a week-long stay at the beach, and there is one trash bag.
10:22
Sarah Karakaian: Ugh.
10:23
Annette Grant: One roll of paper towels and maybe two rolls of toilet paper.
10:27
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah, man.
10:27
Sarah Karakaian: Why?
10:28
Annette Grant: Therefore We supply, and so should you, enough toilet paper, dish soap, trash bags, paper towels, even laundry supplies so guests aren't caught needing the basics they would assume would already be there.
10:44
Annette Grant: Uh, think about this.
10:45
Annette Grant: The guest that arrives late after a long flight, maybe a very long drive.
10:50
Annette Grant: They walk in, they wanna take a shower, they need to do a load of laundry, and then they're like, "Wait, I need to go shopping first?"
10:57
Sarah Karakaian: It's
10:57
Annette Grant: so annoying.
10:58
Annette Grant: If they can't do either of those things because the property wasn't stocked properly, that is not a small inconvenience to them.
11:04
Annette Grant: That's the first thing that they're gonna remember about their stay.
11:07
Sarah Karakaian: And for those who are pushing back right now, I, I'm here for it.
11:10
Sarah Karakaian: If you say, "Well, I need to make money in this business, and it's harder than ever," I just want to beg to differ.
11:18
Sarah Karakaian: It's actually having lived in, like, experiences right now with, especially with, with AI and everyone looking at Zoom all the time, we actually are in a really great position to, to offer services to our guests that they can't
11:33
Sarah Karakaian: get anywhere else.
11:34
Sarah Karakaian: And we continue to run our, our properties at a 20 to 25% profit margin, and we certainly do not hoard our inventory for ourselves and only ration out a small amount to our guests.
11:47
Sarah Karakaian: So if, if expenses are a problem in your business or you're worried about them, I really want you to look hard at that P&L, that profit and loss statement, because it's not the paper towels that you're leaving your
11:58
Sarah Karakaian: guests.
11:58
Sarah Karakaian: It is something else.
12:01
Sarah Karakaian: None of these items are expensive to leave enough in quantity.
12:05
Sarah Karakaian: What's expensive, though, is a review that mentions running out of something basic because that review sits on your listing for every future guest to read before they book.
12:16
Sarah Karakaian: And if you want our full checklist we use to audit every single property before a guest ever checks in, that is our complete Airbnb Essentials checklist, and you can grab it for yourself.
12:27
Sarah Karakaian: It's linked in the description.
12:30
Annette Grant: Number five, the forgot something basket.
12:33
Annette Grant: This is one of our absolute favorites, and I'm gonna share.
12:37
Annette Grant: This is something I learned from Sara when we first met, and I thought it was genius.
12:43
Annette Grant: And it's exactly what it sounds like.
12:45
Annette Grant: It's a basket for whatever your guest potentially forgot to pack.
12:50
Annette Grant: The way we want you to think about it is when you stay at a hotel and you, you know, check in, you go to brush your teeth before you go to bed, and you're like, "Ah, forgot my toothbrush
12:59
Annette Grant: and toothpaste."
13:00
Annette Grant: What do you do?
13:00
Annette Grant: You call down to the front desk.
13:02
Annette Grant: You can either run down and grab it, or they bring one up to you.
13:05
Annette Grant: That can't happen in your short-term rental.
13:09
Annette Grant: So what we do, it's razors, it's mouthwash, it's toothbrush, it's toothpaste, maybe it's sunscreen, Q-tips.
13:14
Annette Grant: This is the small stuff that we've all forgotten and can't easily replace without leaving to go to a store.
13:22
Sarah Karakaian: This is one of those amenities that shows up in reviews far more than it shows up as a cost on your books.
13:29
Sarah Karakaian: I've been doing this for 14 years, you guys.
13:31
Sarah Karakaian: It's not that expensive.
13:33
Sarah Karakaian: That's the first thing people say to us, like, "That sounds expensive."
13:35
Sarah Karakaian: A guest doesn't, doesn't need to use everything in that basket to remember that it was there or that it was impactful.
13:42
Sarah Karakaian: They see it and they're like, "Oh my gosh, this is so thoughtful."
13:45
Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
13:45
Sarah Karakaian: That's literally what happens.
13:46
Sarah Karakaian: Just knowing it existed in case they needed it.
13:50
Sarah Karakaian: It's like, "Yes, we're thinking about you," is a thing that they write about in their reviews.
13:54
Sarah Karakaian: Like, they've liter- Our guests have said that.
13:56
Sarah Karakaian: "They had this basket full of often forgot items.
13:59
Sarah Karakaian: I didn't need anything, but it was so cool that they had it."
14:02
Sarah Karakaian: We've got a full video on building this out, and it's linked in the description below.
14:08
Annette Grant: And we know what some of you are thinking right now.
14:11
Annette Grant: What if the guest just steals everything?
14:15
Annette Grant: But I wanna ask you, how is it stealing if you were offering it to them in the first place?
14:21
Sarah Karakaian: Ooh.
14:22
Sarah Karakaian: Well, Annette, I didn't mean for them to take the whole basket.
14:25
Annette Grant: Yeah.
14:25
Sarah Karakaian: But.
14:26
Annette Grant: It doesn't happen.
14:27
Sarah Karakaian: No, it doesn't.
14:28
Sarah Karakaian: The basket is mentioned in our reviews so like, so often that even if they did take the entire contents of the $20 basket, like, I'm fine with it, okay?
14:36
Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
14:36
Sarah Karakaian: But it has not happened to us.
14:38
Sarah Karakaian: It has not.
14:39
Sarah Karakaian: The money that is, that being, that as being a five-star host, a guest favorite, a super host, that you earn from getting reviews like this is well worth that rare stay where someone might clear out the basket.
14:51
Sarah Karakaian: Which again, like I said, has never happened to us in the 14 years of hosting.
14:56
Annette Grant: Number six, being a proactive and thoughtful host.
15:01
Annette Grant: Your guest is in an area that they don't know, and they have no way of knowing what you know already about your own neighborhood.
15:09
Sarah Karakaian: If there's a street cleaning near your property, tell them before they park so they're not coming out to a towed car.
15:16
Sarah Karakaian: If there's a road closure for a marathon or a local event, message them ahead of time with an alternate route.
15:22
Sarah Karakaian: Don't let them find out while they're sitting in traffic.
15:25
Sarah Karakaian: This is a message you send before it becomes their problem, not something you wait for them to ask about.
15:33
Annette Grant: The difference is communicating with your guest instead of letting them figure it out on their own.
15:38
Annette Grant: A guest who gets a heads-up about the street cleaning, they feel like you're looking out for them before anything's ever gone wrong.
15:46
Annette Grant: That guest who gets towed feels like you let them walk into a problem you could have warned them about.
15:52
Annette Grant: Same neighborhood, same information you already had.
15:55
Annette Grant: The only difference is whether or not you shared it.
15:58
Annette Grant: It comes down to that communication.
15:59
Sarah Karakaian: One of my favorite mentors and bosses, Francois, said, "You have to anticipate the needs of your guest."
16:09
Sarah Karakaian: And that is a need, to not have to experience any of that friction before they arrive.
16:16
Sarah Karakaian: This is the thoughtfulness that gets a guest to leave you five stars the moment their stay ends.
16:22
Sarah Karakaian: So clear check-in instructions remove the confusion.
16:27
Sarah Karakaian: Working Wi-Fi keeps them connected to everything else in their life.
16:31
Sarah Karakaian: Quality where it counts protects the one thing you cannot undo, a bad night of sleep.
16:36
Sarah Karakaian: Supplies mean no one's making a store run upon their arrival.
16:41
Sarah Karakaian: That forgot something basket covers what they didn't pack, and being proactive means they never had to find a problem on their own that you already knew about because you gave, you not only gave them a heads-up, but you
16:53
Sarah Karakaian: gave them what to do instead so they don't have any friction upon their arrival.
16:59
Sarah Karakaian: Inside Strategic Host, this is the kind of detail we work through property by property, client by client.
17:05
Annette Grant: Join us live and see how Strategic Host will make you more money.
17:08
Annette Grant: Link in the description of this video.
17:09
Sarah Karakaian: And with that, I am Sara Karakaian.
17:11
Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
17:13
Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.