Is this an idea?

1

So, our guests from Sweden, who were really lovely and we got on very well with, left a week ago. They haven’t so far written a Review. I know they are super-busy with a toddler, full-time jobs and a possible move to another country. I’ve had guests in the past who’ve e-mailed or written to me later and said something like “We had a wonderful time but we didn’t write a review because/we didn’t think it was important/we were very busy after we got home/we forgot …”

So I’m thinking of e-mailing them as follows:

"Dear x and y

Hope you had a good journey home and are not missing the sunshine too much! As usual, Airbnb has asked us to write a review of you as guests. This is what I intend to write:

[here follows a very flattering review because actually, they really were great! and I give them 5 stars for everything]

The host reviews and ratings are very important to our business so if you enjoyed your stay with us I hope you can, in turn, give us a positive Review. Airbnb is a rather unusual system as anything less than 5 stars is generally seen as negative, so if you have anything you would like to ask us to improve, can I ask that you add it in the private message section or write to me personally?"

Thank you so much, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your Summer.

Yours etc"

What do you think? Does it sound too cringing? Would you consider sending something like this? I should point out that our reviews have been very good, but since most people stay between 10 days and two weeks we can’t build up the number of reviews as fast as people who have lots of short stays.

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Cringing? Not in any way. Begging? No! Asking them to write something nice because you have? Certainly.

Actually it says exactly what I a lot of us would like to say.

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I like what you wrote. These things can be a tough call, but you probably have a good idea about your guests and how they might respond after spending a week with them. And I think telling them what you’re going to write about them will help guarantee a good review in return.

My husband and I have been thinking of the best way to educate guests in terms of Air’s star rating system. To that end, thoughts on this type of wording are welcomed.

Airbnb’s Star Rating System is designed to match guests with only quality hosts. Hosts with 5 Star Ratings are rewarded with higher search placement and those with 4 or less stars are demoted to lower search placement. Your 5 Star Rating should be reserved for stays in which you were very satisfied. 4 Stars or less should be used to grade levels of dissatisfaction.

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Someone posted a detailed “ratings card” on another thread. See Suggestion cards - Airbnb hosts forum

See particularly Suggestion cards - #20 by Sarah_Warren - Airbnb hosts forum by @Sarah_Warren.

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Good Morning @faheem! Or whatever time it is in Bombay :slight_smile:

I have read those threads and the rating explanation suggestion. Though very well written and comprehensive, I feel it’s too long. People are busy and you don’t have a lot of time to get your point across, at least here in the states. I’m trying to come up with something that is really short, yet very succinct. Something that conveys the true impact of the star rating system on hosts, that at the same time doesn’t sound like begging.

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I thought that was a very nice letter, clear and to the point while still being friendly. I can’t see any cringing in that.

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I think it’s fine to send it. I have ebay sellers, Amazon sellers, the NYC cruise line, Angie’s list… all kinds of people ask for reviews. It bugs some people but if they had a good time I can’t imagine they would object to this request. They may even appreciate hearing from you personally in this way.

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Thanks guys … I’ve sent it! @felixcat, we don’t have very many reviews yet (from Air anyway) as we only started with them this year and our stays tend to be quite long, between one and two weeks. And our season finishes end September - don’t know how you people who host all year do it … you deserve medals!

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From my little experience, when guests don’t leave a review, they won’t, no matter what message you send them. I tried, most of the time they don’t even answer, sometimes they answer that sure they will leave a review asap/right away , but they won’t.

They already get multiple reminders from Air.

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11

Moi aussi! La même truc
I wouldn’t bother some guests are just not reviewers

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12

Truly, I wouldn’t spend the time although the letter is excellent. I was concerned about getting reviews at first but once I’d got thirty, I reckoned that was a good enough number, especially with all the new Airbnb listings that have none.

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13

You could always just put the “star ratings explained” portion, like this:

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14

Sometimes when I’ve asked guests I thought were great and whom I liked to leave a review!
And they DID all right. Complete with a smackdown like you wouldn’t believe, but “tempered” with a few things they did like. But only a few.

Now? I never ever ask or push, unless I am entirely sure and the guest and I have agreed emphatically together that will be mutually glowing. :smile:

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15

Slippery!!! It gets them “thinking” too much! (Hmmm, we ll maybe there WERE a few things wrong!) I would never ever use this!

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16

As a guest, I consider 3 positive reviews to be more than reassuring. If it’s a new listing, one positive review is enough for me to click the book button if I like the unit.

I’ve never looked at a listing with 6 positive reviews and another with 35 positive reviews and considered the 6x reviewed unit to be less desirable than the other. I’ve never decided between 2 bookings based on the # of reviews, except when that number was 0.

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17

Well, I did write, and got a super review from them! Of course, they may well have been going to write it anyway … I probably won’t do it in future as I did feel a bit pushy, but it had the desired result!

I agree with @chicagohost about what I look for as a guest, and the number of great reviews doesn’t bother me. I’m more inclined to go by photos and also the tone of the listing can tell you a lot about the host - yes, unlike the majority of our guests I read the listing carefully!

Funnily enough, one reason I wrote to these guests was because I can actually claim that their stay with us was a life-changing experience for them! The wife was very interested in my cosmetics/toiletries business as she is a chemist and had always wanted to work in that field but was unable to find the further training she needed in Sweden. I was able to link to her an industry-respected diploma programme that is available for online study and she has booked to do it in a year’s time! So I don’t think they’ll soon forget their holiday with us …

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18

I think all hosts should be able to say in their listing, if you do not leave five star reviews for staying here don’t bother booking at all because it is not worth opening our homes to you otherwise and bearing all the liability we bear for hosting you.

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