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Hi,
Can you share with me what you are using for answering repeating customers’ questions?
I’m mainly interested in something where I can put the details of the property and maybe answers to few common questions, so I don’t need to spend time answering these basic questions about the property.
Would appreciate any lead, thanks!
I have a bunch of saved messages in Quick Replies.
As Gillian mentioned, I too use quick replies. You can find the icon to access if you go into a booked guests message feed and then elect the icon to the left of the input box.
You can create all your messages there and you can even use special code so that Airbnb will plop in dates, names, etc.
For more info, search Airbnb and the forum on how to use.
@zagent I’m showing some screenshots here of what the “quick replies” system that @gillian and @Lynick4442 mentioned. When I discovered these, it was a huge relief because up until then I’d been saving standard replies in a document that I had to open up and personalise each time!
So in this first shot, you can see my exchange with a recent guest, telling him about check out time and what they need to do. This is a “quick reply” where I have a generic message in the system that ABB personalises for me by entering the guest first name and my check out time. See at the bottom where my cursor is hovering over the “quick replies” icon?
So, if you click on that icon, you’ll get to a menu like the one below, where you can access a pre-saved list of quick replies. As you can see, I’ve created replies for all kinds of standard situations, like responding to an Instant Book request if they have sent enough information, or responding if they haven’t sent enough information. I have options I can choose depending on the guest situation.
For example, I have created 2 possible replies to a refund request. I haven’t actually had a refund request yet, but I drafted these after reading the excellent advice on this forum. You can’t see the full text here, but I drafted these with very precise language about when they would receive a refund if I decided to grant one.
I also have a message that I send 4 days before they come to stay, because I use the “moderate” cancellation option. 5 days before their stay is the last time they can cancel, so after that period is over is when I start engaging with them about their check in time and have them choose a code for their smart lock:
I’ve developed a lot of these messages based on advice I gleaned from this forum. Others, I develop after I’ve responded to one guest – like one guest asks for restaurant recommendations, so then I save my reply as a “quick reply” I can use for future guests.
Now, if you click on “manage” in the top right corner, you get to a menu that looks like this, where you can edit any of your replies, and you’ll get an option to have the system automatically insert stuff, like guest first name, check in time, check out time, etc.:
I use a combo of Quick replies and Hospitable.com (previously smartbnb), but my advice? Do not rely on them. Personalize your messages. Make your guest feel like you’re present and engaged. It greatly influences their experience and their review.
I have things that I write repeatedly (instructions for the door, etc) in my “notes” app. I can go there and copy and paste it into a new “note”, use the applicable part, personalize it and then paste it into the message. My guests really seem to value a personalized experience so I try to make each message unique. I understand why hosts would use an automatic system but it wouldn’t work for me. And I guess it’s from my lifetime of healthcare work that I learned to “mimic tone” and that isn’t possible with an outside service.
I do not understand this. Do your guests compare the messages you send with each other to see if they are differently worded? How many ways do you know to write ‘the entry code is xxxx’ anyway?
Seems to me that ‘personalizing’ can be easily accomplished with the stored messages - and the shortcodes can personalize with names, times, dates etc.
As others have said. saved messages are very useful.
Or, think about it, it takes about ten seconds to write a real message - ‘yes. we are about a thirty-minute walk to the beach’.
Because you have your phone with you 24/7. you can quickly respond to guest inquiries if you are on the beach, in the dentist’s chair, in the supermarket, or whatever.
That depends on your location and property. Since we’re in a bucket-list vacation destination and usually have multiple people stay for a week, it’s common for guests to ask 10-15 questions before they even book. (I always wonder how many of those questions are really make-or-break for them.)
I frequently spend 10-20 minutes answering all their questions, and only a few of them are ones that everyone asks.
My favorite one is “Is it safe?” because I want to assure them that we are not less safe than most places they visit, but not lure them into thinking they can do stupid sh&t.
If they are asking 10-15 questions before they book, are they not answered in your listing? If no, then you need to work on the information contained in your description, etc.
I look at questions asked as a way to make your listing more valuable to the casual skimmer, someone looking through listings might see yours and have the same questions and if they are answered before they have to ask, it makes your listing more valuable. Asking about checkout? Put it in the listing. Asking about specific amenities? Highlight them in your description.
May I ask what questions are unique all the time? Out of 10 questions a potential guest asks, are there really 5-7 questions that have never been asked before?
Some are, some aren’t. Most of what they ask is not about our home, but about activities, transportation, airlines, recommended restaurants, passports, visas, general safety, whether zika or dengue is going around right now (even though they are inquiring about nine months from now), etc.
I’m a big believer in making the writeup as simple as I can. PEOPLE DON’T READ. They ask questions instead of reading the listing. And our price is high enough that I don’t get smarmy and reply “Read the listing, you b*tthead”
I’ve gotten that question, too. In my case, I consider it a reasonable question, as I only host solo guests and it’s a 20 minute walk to town and the beach. Half if it down not well lit dirt roads. I answer that none ofmy guests has ever had a problem, nor have I, but that of course I can’t guarantee anyone’s safety and they should take the same precautions they would anywhere, especially somewhere they aren’t familiar with, and that they can easily take a taxi if coming home after dark.
People read all these horror articles about Mexico that make them fear they’ll get gunned down just walking down the street, and are unclear on geography. One guest in her 20s messaged a few days after she’d booked, saying her mom was freaking out about her coming to Mexico, as she’d just read about some cartel shoot-out. I had to tell her that Mexico is a huge country and that incident happened 2000 miles from here.
I didn’t mean to sound dismissive of anyone that asked that questions. It’s just hard to answer and walk that line of reassuring them without overpromising to the point that they don’t take precautions. So it’s not a question I can dash off and answer in the same time as “the grocery store is a 5-10 minute drive from the villa”.
These all could be part of your guest guide. I fail to see why you need more than putting their name in front of a list of recommended restaurants, or general safety information, for example.
Yes, I understand. I didn’t mean that you made it sound dismissive, I was just saying I get the same question, too, and in both our cases, it probably has a lot to do with guests not being familiar with the country. It’s not like they’re just travelling from one American city to another.
I have a complete website with all the information anyone could want and I won’t duplicate that! However, all these questions are asked BEFORE they book when I cannot send them to the website without risking getting booted off AirBnB.
Why not put all that information onto your airbnb listing?
Two reasons:
I don’t doubt that.
I just looked and I have 8 different ways saved to my notes app about how to use the entry code. Some of them include emojis 
(which is not 'my style). It’s hospitality and it’s my job to make sure that people feel 100% comfortable and welcome. I have the skills to make it happen and I like it. It makes me happy and it’s quite literally the easiest job I’ve ever had. So, why not?
I use quick replies on Airbnb but I personalize each message before I hit “send.” As a guest I can tell when I’ve gotten an automated message…it comes immediately. It’s better than nothing, that’s all I can say for it.
