Good morning. I was wondering about followup questions after receiving a review. Specifically, we’ve received a few 4s, mostly in value. We are still superhosts and we understand that a 4 is “very good,” but are curious as to these 4s because we are one of the least expensive airbnbs in our area. So with this last 4, I just asked a private followup asking for a little more info about how we can do better in this category. I was wondering if anyone else ever does this? Responding privately when a number is lower than one might expect? Don’t worry, I’m not losing sleep over this, I just want to improve where possible. Here’s my listing: airbnb.com/h/warmnoho
Thank you!
Rachael
Value doesn’t really mean many times the price paid for the stay. I feel value refers to what amenities are offered such as toiletries, extra TP, boxes of tissues, extra towels, fully stocked kitchen, etc. In addition, I always leave a welcome basket but that’s because the minimum stay is five nights.
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This is not worth my time, especially if it’s just in a single category, and value and location and the most arbitrary. With over 600 reviews I’ve only asked about a review once. It was a 1 star review with a glowing written review and the guest saying they would be booking on their return. Obviously in error, and I asked the guest who was mortified but it didn’t get changed. I don’t know if they didn’t try or if Airbnb didn’t care. Ultimately it didn’t matter because I have an average of 4.98.
I do think if I consistently got a low rating in some category I would try to figure out why, but not the one off lower ratings.
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I’m with you on the “value” rating. We had someone complain our home wasn’t worth what they paid for it, but a few weeks earlier a guest that paid three times what the complainer paid raved about how great a value our home was!
But to answer your question, I don’t usually ask a guest why they gave us something other than a “5”.
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Never ask what you can do better on “value,” it is arbitrary.
I ask “I enjoyed hosting you in my home. I see you gave a 4 for value. Unlike Yelp, ABB considers anything below a 5* as less than desirable and can “ding” hosts. Would you be kind enough to tell me why you gave 4* in this instance? Thank you.”
The answer - always - has been ABB fees. I don’t charge a cleaning fee, I’m not the least expensive nor the most expensive in my area for a home share and my home is spotless (never less than 5* on cleanliness even with a cat on premises).
It never hurts to ask and to explain the rating system while doing so. Good luck.
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Value rating? Who cares? It’s so subjective. Of course almost everyone would like to “pay less” for everything. And you can’t assess whether something is fairly priced, unless you know what the expenses in producing something or providing a service are. Which guests don’t.
Unless a host gets consistently marked down in certain categories, there’s nothing to see or learn from there. And if a listing is overpriced, that will soon become clear in a lack of bookings.
I do agree with Ritz, though, that providing useful things and “extras” that guests are not expecting, can lead to a perception of good value. Just something as simple, if you host on the same property where you live, as saying to a guest, “I’m going shopping at the big supermarket today, is there anything you’d like me to pick up for you?” can make guests feel that they got way more than they expected.
Which proves that a lot of guests have no idea what they are meant to be rating. Like when they fail to follow the host’s directions for getting to the property or the directions for using the electronic lock, and mark down for “ease of check-in”. As if the host is responsible for their lack of attention.
It’s like giving a product a 3 star Amazon review because the delivery truck left your package at the neighbor’s house by mistake.
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Who knows what price point they are coming from?
Who knows what their income is?
Who knows what they are comparing your offering too?
Maybe the last place they stayed at had a gift basket of home made baked goods…. Hot and cold dancing girls……
I don’t care about the value rating, if I get 5s all the time, I would think about upping the price… maybe I am too cheap!
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A couple of guests have actually told me my place is too cheap. “You could charge more for this, you know.” My response was that I probably could, but it seems to attract the guests who are a good fit, and super nice, so I don’t want to mess with what’s working fine. That lovely, hassle-free guests are worth more to me than extra few bucks.
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This. 4 stars in Value is dinging us due to the AirBnB fees. Until recently, getting dinged in value didn’t hurt anything except our pride. I didn’t care if I got 4-stars in value so long as they left a five star overall review.
Now, value counts in the mysterious “guest favorite” tag.
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I operate on the belief that if people get more than they were expecting – even just a bit more – they think it is “good value,” and if they get less than they imagined, they don’t. I always look for a way to surprise the guests.
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I have always offered (not mentioned in my listing) to pick my guests up at the bus station (the majority arrive by bus).
I never did this with any idea that it would lead to great reviews, it’s cause my house is hard to find and a 15-20 minute walk from there, half of it down rocky dirt roads that aren’t designed for wheelie suitcases, or a $6 taxi ride. It saves me the stress of worrying if my guests will get lost trying to get here. And it’s only an 8 minute drive for me.
But guests have been so appreciative and think I’m so nice for doing that, that I realized it probably contributes a lot to the fact that that I’ve never had anything but 5* reviews, in all categories. (Okay, one 4 for location, years ago)
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Surprise them with a kindness → good value
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I agree with Spark, a little special surprise goes a long way. I once had guests staying over Halloween and I left them goody bags. My husband thought it was a dumb idea but I thought “Who doesn’t have an inner child in them?” They left us a glowing review.
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I appreciate the great feedback. It really is quite subjective and I’m not going to start lowering my rate because we are super reasonable. Nor will I poll guests in terms of “why a 4?” I’ll just keep doing whatever I can to make people happy and comfortable - and we are booked most of the time, so great. FYI Airbnb $$ earned is paying for a trip to Costa Rica next month.
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Had that happen a few times in France. It’s what quite a few hosts do there and when the rental is aways from the train station it is so helpful.
Or – more to the point being discussed here – not just “happy” and “comfortable,” but happier and more comfortable than they expected to be.
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More than once I’ve had guests from overseas (some visitors, some recent immigrants) who had never done kids’ Hallowe’en before, and I “let them” carve my pumpkins (thank you!), lent them pumpkin-carving kits, and invited them to the (shared) front hall of the house to join us handing out candies to the local kids. Every time we did this their very first North American Hallowe’en was totally the high point of their across-the-board five-star stay with us. Germans, Swedes, Japanese and Chinese, if I recall correctly.
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Inviting guests to join you in some activity, as long as they aren’t the kind of guests who are stand-offish and just want to be left alone, is definitely a winner.
I invited my very first guest along when a bunch of my gal pals decided to spend the day at the beach in a nearby town. Not only did she get to see another town and beach, she was a vivacious person, and ended up being the life of the party, so not only did she have fun, my friends really enjoyed her, as well.
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A Value of 4 could mean you are charging close to the maximum price possible which is a good thing! I often get lower scores for Value over Xmas/Summer when I used to jack prices up 25%.
Sounds a bit SWF to me.