Communicate effectively
Communicating clearly and promptly with guests can help make for a great stay and encourage positive reviews. Use these tips to guide your approach.
Starting with the basics
How you communicate with guests helps set the tone for their stay. Do your best to:
Be available. Turn on notifications to receive and respond to guests’ messages quickly. Annette, a Host in San Francisco, says that even for minor issues, she asks guests to “contact us immediately and we’ll take care of it.”
Be transparent. Accurately portray what guests should expect. “What you tell your guests they’ll be getting and what they get when they arrive need to be congruent,” says Daniel, a Host in San Francisco.
Be open. Ask guests how you can help them feel comfortable and welcome. “There are going to be things that we as Hosts don’t anticipate,” says Sadie, a Superhost in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- Be caring. How you respond to a problem can leave a lasting impression. “You can turn a tough situation into another booking if you handle it correctly, by showing empathy and working fast to resolve it,” says Felicity, a Host Advisory Board member and Superhost in New South Wales, Australia.
Messaging at important moments
Anticipate what guests need to know to provide a smooth experience and minimize questions, especially at these moments:
Booking inquiry or request. Respond within 24 hours when guests reach out.
Booking confirmation. Send a “thanks for booking” message to connect and let guests know you’re available to answer any questions.
Arrival. Remind guests a day or two before arrival where they can find your check-in instructions in the app, and share any important notes about getting inside. Ask how everything is going within a day of check-in.
Departure. Send a note shortly after checkout thanking guests and asking them to leave a review. Review them as soon as you can.
Automating your messages
Having a good response rate helps your listing appear higher in guests’ searches on Airbnb. Use these features to anticipate and respond to common questions:
- Quick replies. In your inbox, choose from a list of templates, or write and save your own. You’ll be guided to personalize these with shortcodes that fill in guest, reservation, and listing details.
- Scheduled messages. Guests automatically receive these at certain times with helpful information for their stay. You can personalize these with shortcodes as well.
Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.