How do you remind guest to leave a review?

Hello Family,

I hope you all are having a great day.

Is it okay to ask or remind guest to leave a review after they’ve checked out? I have a guest who’s checked out over 7 days ago, still no review from him, even though he said he would be leaving me a nice review.

I want to remind him, but do not know how to phrase it without sounding off.

I don’t chase reviews, once you have some that will pretty much paint a picture as to what a good host you are anyway & guests will likely only read the last 2 or 3 on the first page anyway. Unless you’re struggling to hit the 10 for Superhost qualification I would not risk sounding desperate and risking a bit of a stroppy review from someone who feels “chased”.

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Thank you. This is actually a new listing. And i’m actually banking on the first review for tgis listing to help other guest make a decision.

If you’ve already reviewed them then they get nagged by Airbnb to write their review. Personally, getting bugged to leave reviews or opinions pushes me in the opposite direction, i.e. I deliberately do not review. My view is if I wanted to leave a review, I would have done.

From experience, never bank on a guest leaving a review. If they do great, if they don’t, it’s just part of the gig.

JF

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Great. Thank you. I do appreciate.

There are loads of topics here about that very subject. It’s hard to generalise but it seems that most experienced hosts are against the idea. As John says, Airbnb nags them anyway.

The best result isn’t that the guest leaves you a review; the best result is that they become fantastic regular guests and recommend you to everyone they know. That’s a much better goal to work towards :slight_smile:

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If you MUST remind them… remind them while they are staying with you. We tell them right at check-in – “We try to offer you a 5-Star experience, we hope you’ll award us 5-stars when it’s time to review you visit with us.” Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Seven days is nothing…They may still be one vacation elsewhere. They DO have 14 days to respond, after all.

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I agree with others that I wouldn’t advise anyone to ask for reviews except in special circumstances. One might be if someone had a long stay and I really need that one review I’m going to get for that stay. I host lots of one night guest and over 80% of them review so reviews come quickly and easily for me; others are in a different situation. Others have pointed out that Airbnb sends multiple review reminders.

I am a fan of the the approach of asking people for help in order to not “sound off.” Maybe he isn’t checking his email? If you kept a copy of his cell number (always advisable) then perhaps text him and say something like. Also consider if he is still on his trip he may not review until he is home and settled.

After I send my review-I message the bg guest and tell them “I have just left you a _☆ review! Thank you for being excellent guests!” I usually get one back within a day. Anyone who hasn’t reviewed after a day or 2 usually doesnt leave one for me. I dont bother chasing them… theyve moved on already.

I ask my guests to send me a message/text when they check-out so that I know when they’re gone. When they send the message, I respond with a message something like this.

“Thanks for staying with us. We hope you have a safe trip home. If you can spare the time, we would appreciate your honest feedback when Airbnb sends you a reminder to review us later today.”

The message varies a little with each guest, but that’s basically it, and I don’t send another reminder. I submit my review the guest after I’ve cleaned the house, which is usually the evening of checkout, but sometimes the following morning.

So far, this seems to be working. Only my very first guest didn’t leave a review and she sent me a message a couple weeks later to apologize. One guest that was a business traveler left a review after about 10 days. Every other guest has left a review on the same day as checkout.

Send them a 'thank you for your stay" and take the opportunity to ask for a review. I usually say something like "If you have the time, I would appreciate a review. "

I set the expectation for a review early on, when the guest says how nice the place is or thanks me for going out of my way for them I say something like, you are welcome please remember that when you are writing your review.

RR