How to respond to guest reviews on Airbnb! Bad Or Good
Script for: How to respond to guest reviews on Airbnb.
The host said, “Are you kidding? I hate hearing that I’m not perfect!”
Yes. True. Rather let’s learn why and how to respond to guests reviews to our advantage.
The bad ones, the good ones and the not true ones.
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Everything a guest says is just an opinion. We cannot afford our ego to react so that future guests are scared off by your anger.
Today, I’ll share one critical aspect most Airbnb hosts miss when they respond to a guest review.
Then we’ll look at a simple response you can easily adapt to respond to reviews.
Then I’ll direct you to a formula you can use to turn negatives to positives
To start.
Your response is read by all your potential or future guests.
And your lack of a response or the way you respond either sell your offer or kill it.
Be careful.
Always use the response to soft sell, create trust, get understanding and empathy from your next guest.
But how? I’ll show you.
Have a look at this response by an Airbnb Host. The guest gave her a raving review.
Excellent.
But the response is cringe-worthy.
You’ll see she clearly assumed she was talking only to her guest.
No. Again. Your response is public and intended to sell yourself and your place.
Here it is.
She may have responded to the private remarks in the review areas, used by guests to share advice to the owner only.
Now the owner responds for all to see,
I apologise for the duvet and shower profusely. And the neigbours dog nightmare! No.
NO. If you have an issue you cannot resolve; tell guest before they book. There is no need to do it at the review state.
Why would she share all this negative stuff? Baffles the mind.
Last year we planned a trip to Italy. We came across a lovely place on the beach with great reviews but….
Reading the reviews there were only one or two negative reviews.
The owner, obliviously, attacked the guest in her response.
Why? Who knows. Even if you are not wrong never sell your anger?
Here is what I suggest you do.
One. Respond to every guest review. Good, bad and not true.
Two. Sometimes guests would say much nicer things in their private response to you.
Copy these and thank the guest for saying these nice things in private and paste it with inverted commas as part of your response.
Three. The worst thing you can do is to justify your mistakes. You are not a victim.
Never say but.. Never. Victims say but. Guests don’t like victims.
Four. Always acknowledge their concern or objection. And thank them for sharing it.
Even though you may feel like stabbing him with a blunt knife.
Five. After you acknowledge their issue; turn it around to a positive.
Here is an example.
“I really appreciate you sharing. It’s sad that you had to stay given xyz” .
“As you know we are always trying to be Superhosts giving guests a 5 Star experience”.
“Unfortunately we obviously failed in your case”.
Never use sarcasm. Or doubt.
Take the punch in the face.
Continue.
“We are happy to say all of our previous guests never had this experience. But it’s no excuse”.
“I have fixed this issue immediately. Thanks again for sharing and staying”.
Now imagine a future guest reading the above. How would they react?
Would they think you are a responsible, caring host, even if you had an issue?
People accept mistakes.
They will know if the guest is going overboard. More so if all your other reviews are positive.
Sometimes negative reviews, going against Airbnb policies, will be removed.
But if they are not removed; take it on the chin.
Turn the negative review around by being positive and “accepting responsibility”.
The link below shares the simple “formula” we use. I also share various resources on how to respond.
Remember “Negative feedback, in particular, can be valuable because it allows us to monitor our performance and alerts us to important changes we need to make”. Harvard Business Review.
Regards Johan Horak
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” Bill Gates.
