Holiday Home

Six Virtual Assistant services you must opt for a merrier Christmas

It’s time to make merry, decorate trees with mistletoes and stars, because Christmas is just around the corner. We all know that it is a busy season for Santa Clause and so it is for small business owners like you. It’s a shorter working month for you, above that you have to launch seasonal campaigns, host parties, dinners and manage all sorts of festivities. Santa manages his load of work with the assistance of his elves but what about you? Don’t worry, just like elves are there for Santa, there are Virtual assistants for you. Doing everything on your own in this festive season could be overwhelming. Now is a good time to outsource some of those piled up tasks to Virtual Assistants. It will decrease your stress; ensure quality deliverance along with timely accomplishment. In order to reap the best benefits of outsourcing you must outsource the right things. Here, we list out six such tasks you must outsource this holiday season to make the most of Virtual Assistance: Sending your clients Seasonal Greetings: Let your business clients know how much you value them -wish them a merry Christmas and a happy new year. You can easily outsource such seasonal greetings campaign to a virtual assistant. If outsourced to an expert e-mail marketer, it will run smoothly and efficiently without adding to your stress. Calendar maintenance and reminder setting: As already stated, Christmas season is loaded with festivities as well as business errands and it is likely to miss out on something important. Maintaining a calendar and setting reminders to accomplish everything on time will help you sail smoothly through the season. Outsourcing calendar maintenance will save time and make your schedule easier to manage. Settle all accounts: This season awaits a fresh New Year and it is good to start the New Year with a fresh financial account. Which means it is an ideal time to settle your payable and receivable accounts. It requires a lot of time and patience, so outsourcing this to your virtual book-keeping team will save you time and money. Gifting your clients: Just like sending seasonal e-mails to delight your clients, you may send them gifts as well. Sending gifts is again a time consuming procedure. All the tasks, right from segmenting your list of clients for personalizing the gifts till purchasing the gifts and sending them to their respective addresses can easily be offloaded to a Virtual Assistant. Social media marketing: An interesting new social media campaign is a magnet of client attraction for this season. Creating Christmas themed videos for Facebook and YouTube, initiating a contest in twitter or Facebook, making an Instagram film and other similar initiatives will help further your brand goals. Outsourcing seasonal social media marketing to expert virtual assistants will improve the engagement your audience. Making travel itinerary: After working for a long year you need a break away from the routine and to spend quality time with your loved ones. But you can enjoy the vacation only after going through a host of boring errands like booking flight tickets, finding the right hotel, hunting a suitable travel agent and the like. These errands can also be very efficiently accomplished by virtual assistants. Outsourcing the above mentioned errands will free up your time to focus on your core business and wrap up the important things on time before you leave for your much awaited vacation. You will be able to strike a balance between your work and festivities, which in turn will help you enjoy longer and happier hours with your family.

Six Virtual Assistant services you must opt for a merrier Christmas Read More »

It’s time to make merry, decorate trees with mistletoes and stars, because Christmas is just around the corner. We all know that it is a busy season for Santa Clause and so it is for small business owners like you. It’s a shorter working month for you, above that you have to launch seasonal campaigns, host parties, dinners and manage all sorts of festivities. Santa manages his load of work with the assistance of his elves but what about you? Don’t worry, just like elves are there for Santa, there are Virtual assistants for you. Doing everything on your own in this festive season could be overwhelming. Now is a good time to outsource some of those piled up tasks to Virtual Assistants. It will decrease your stress; ensure quality deliverance along with timely accomplishment. In order to reap the best benefits of outsourcing you must outsource the right things. Here, we list out six such tasks you must outsource this holiday season to make the most of Virtual Assistance: Sending your clients Seasonal Greetings: Let your business clients know how much you value them -wish them a merry Christmas and a happy new year. You can easily outsource such seasonal greetings campaign to a virtual assistant. If outsourced to an expert e-mail marketer, it will run smoothly and efficiently without adding to your stress. Calendar maintenance and reminder setting: As already stated, Christmas season is loaded with festivities as well as business errands and it is likely to miss out on something important. Maintaining a calendar and setting reminders to accomplish everything on time will help you sail smoothly through the season. Outsourcing calendar maintenance will save time and make your schedule easier to manage. Settle all accounts: This season awaits a fresh New Year and it is good to start the New Year with a fresh financial account. Which means it is an ideal time to settle your payable and receivable accounts. It requires a lot of time and patience, so outsourcing this to your virtual book-keeping team will save you time and money. Gifting your clients: Just like sending seasonal e-mails to delight your clients, you may send them gifts as well. Sending gifts is again a time consuming procedure. All the tasks, right from segmenting your list of clients for personalizing the gifts till purchasing the gifts and sending them to their respective addresses can easily be offloaded to a Virtual Assistant. Social media marketing: An interesting new social media campaign is a magnet of client attraction for this season. Creating Christmas themed videos for Facebook and YouTube, initiating a contest in twitter or Facebook, making an Instagram film and other similar initiatives will help further your brand goals. Outsourcing seasonal social media marketing to expert virtual assistants will improve the engagement your audience. Making travel itinerary: After working for a long year you need a break away from the routine and to spend quality time with your loved ones. But you can enjoy the vacation only after going through a host of boring errands like booking flight tickets, finding the right hotel, hunting a suitable travel agent and the like. These errands can also be very efficiently accomplished by virtual assistants. Outsourcing the above mentioned errands will free up your time to focus on your core business and wrap up the important things on time before you leave for your much awaited vacation. You will be able to strike a balance between your work and festivities, which in turn will help you enjoy longer and happier hours with your family.

Short Tail Key Word

Step Up Your Vacation Rentals ‘Marketing’ Before It’s Too Late!

Travel Industry – At The Cusp Of Change The $144 billion vacation rental industry with over million listings, has taken the travel industry by storm. According to Vacation Rental Managers Association, 24% of leisure travelers are now choosing vacation rental homes over hotels and resorts. While this affords considerable opportunity to vacation home owners, not everyone is reaping the benefits of this industry. Vacation rental owners often grapple with questions related to receiving more customers/ guests. The answer seems to lie with smart marketing practices. We have listed a few basic ideas that vacation rental owners could use. Is Your Vacation Rental Lost In The Crowd? Getting found in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, is important. Your potential guests are looking for vacation rentals and if your website shows in the top 10 search results, you are bound to have a competitive edge over the others and it will also make it easier for people to find you. With your website on top of search results, there are higher chances of increases in bookings and boosts in occupancy. Three Reasons To Begin Marketing Your Vacation Rental Now 1)According to a Google post, it takes a mere 3 to 7 seconds for a shopper to decide on a buying a product/service. Known as the ZMOT, this is the most critical phase in the marketing cycle and is far more critical than the actual advertising itself. As vacation rental owners, you will need to understand how to capitalize on this period known as the ZMOT, correctly. 2)Google is the greatest source of traffic (70%) for websites and there are no two ways about it. Vacation rental owners need to understand how to a) be featured on top sites on Google, b) have all the SEO marketing done and in place in order to be traced by the search engine. 3)In the US alone, 87% of the population depended on the internet for majority of the travelling that took place through the year 2014. This information alone is vital for vacation rental owners, because in today’s time and age it is important to understand how to scale your online presence and market your services effectively in order to rank on Google or be chosen by customers. The 8 Stepping Stones To Vacation Rental Marketing Success 1. Keywords are Important: The most important step in optimising your website is to finalise the keywords you intend to target. You must decide on the keyword for which you want to be found. Opting for short tail and long tail keywords needs comprehensive research to filter out the best ones. Long tail keywords will give you an extra edge, making you more visible and will significantly boost your bookings. Gauge your competition thoroughly before you select your keywords because it is one of the most crucial steps. Here is an example just for your reference:- Short tail Keyword – Vacation Rental Long tail Keyword: Clearwater beach Vacation Rentals With the above example you can see the difference in search volume results. The advantage of the long tail keyword is that you have lesser search volume and your visibility in getting found for such keywords are high. It is better to be a big fish in a small pond rather being a little fish in a big pond. It is wise to choose the keywords that make you visible to your niche audience with specific needs. 2. Meta Data: Another key factor to build online presence is to optimise your Meta tags with proper keywords. This is important because your audience will identify you by these tags. Give an attractive two-liner to catch the eye of your potential guests and make sure that the keywords are inserted into the descriptions. Here is a snippet of what Meta tags will look like on a search engine result:- Capture the attention of viewers with an appealing story that describes the vacation rental aptly within 160 characters (as per Google’s meta data guidelines). 3. Website Design & Aesthetics A websites’ aesthetics also affects the bookings for your vacation. Keep a tab on the website design and both, the quality and quantity of pictures. For example, replacing low quality photographs with quality pictures was the first step towards success for AirBnb. Thus, more quality pictures mean higher the chances of conversions. Keeping a 360 view video of your vacation home also gives prospective clients real-time views of your location. All these factors in combination will definitely add more value to your vacation rental and will attract more customers. 4. Call to Action: Overall, the “call to action” buttons are meant to garner some action on your website. Highlight important buttons/tabs or position it in such a manner on the website that it attracts maximum attention. Some of the “call to action” buttons on your vacation rental website can be, – Toll-free numbers – “Book Now” button – “Check Calendar” to see the availability of the rentals – Chat options – Social media links to share/ like/post tweets on your page. GetFriday, the virtual assistance company in Bangalore, India, conducted an in-depth analysis on 3000 bookings for vacation rentals. The results revealed that checking “calendars” and dates were of top interest to potential guests. You can also see the Slideshare presentation for Vacation Rental Marketing by clicking on the picture given below. 5. Push for an Ad Campaign: Google says your potential clients decide in 3-7secs whether they want to buy a product or service. If your ads shoot up in Google, your chances of being chosen are high. Go for a display campaign with pictures of your beautiful vacation rental with appropriate “call to action” buttons and other relevant details. Alternatively try out Remarketing campaigns that are even more cost effective, this would remind your visitors about your rentals. By marketing your offers and deals in your ads, you have better chances of increasing ROI. 6. Rave reviews: Customers’ decisions are greatly influenced by reviews. Guests spend

Step Up Your Vacation Rentals ‘Marketing’ Before It’s Too Late! Read More »

Travel Industry – At The Cusp Of Change The $144 billion vacation rental industry with over million listings, has taken the travel industry by storm. According to Vacation Rental Managers Association, 24% of leisure travelers are now choosing vacation rental homes over hotels and resorts. While this affords considerable opportunity to vacation home owners, not everyone is reaping the benefits of this industry. Vacation rental owners often grapple with questions related to receiving more customers/ guests. The answer seems to lie with smart marketing practices. We have listed a few basic ideas that vacation rental owners could use. Is Your Vacation Rental Lost In The Crowd? Getting found in major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, is important. Your potential guests are looking for vacation rentals and if your website shows in the top 10 search results, you are bound to have a competitive edge over the others and it will also make it easier for people to find you. With your website on top of search results, there are higher chances of increases in bookings and boosts in occupancy. Three Reasons To Begin Marketing Your Vacation Rental Now 1)According to a Google post, it takes a mere 3 to 7 seconds for a shopper to decide on a buying a product/service. Known as the ZMOT, this is the most critical phase in the marketing cycle and is far more critical than the actual advertising itself. As vacation rental owners, you will need to understand how to capitalize on this period known as the ZMOT, correctly. 2)Google is the greatest source of traffic (70%) for websites and there are no two ways about it. Vacation rental owners need to understand how to a) be featured on top sites on Google, b) have all the SEO marketing done and in place in order to be traced by the search engine. 3)In the US alone, 87% of the population depended on the internet for majority of the travelling that took place through the year 2014. This information alone is vital for vacation rental owners, because in today’s time and age it is important to understand how to scale your online presence and market your services effectively in order to rank on Google or be chosen by customers. The 8 Stepping Stones To Vacation Rental Marketing Success 1. Keywords are Important: The most important step in optimising your website is to finalise the keywords you intend to target. You must decide on the keyword for which you want to be found. Opting for short tail and long tail keywords needs comprehensive research to filter out the best ones. Long tail keywords will give you an extra edge, making you more visible and will significantly boost your bookings. Gauge your competition thoroughly before you select your keywords because it is one of the most crucial steps. Here is an example just for your reference:- Short tail Keyword – Vacation Rental Long tail Keyword: Clearwater beach Vacation Rentals With the above example you can see the difference in search volume results. The advantage of the long tail keyword is that you have lesser search volume and your visibility in getting found for such keywords are high. It is better to be a big fish in a small pond rather being a little fish in a big pond. It is wise to choose the keywords that make you visible to your niche audience with specific needs. 2. Meta Data: Another key factor to build online presence is to optimise your Meta tags with proper keywords. This is important because your audience will identify you by these tags. Give an attractive two-liner to catch the eye of your potential guests and make sure that the keywords are inserted into the descriptions. Here is a snippet of what Meta tags will look like on a search engine result:- Capture the attention of viewers with an appealing story that describes the vacation rental aptly within 160 characters (as per Google’s meta data guidelines). 3. Website Design & Aesthetics A websites’ aesthetics also affects the bookings for your vacation. Keep a tab on the website design and both, the quality and quantity of pictures. For example, replacing low quality photographs with quality pictures was the first step towards success for AirBnb. Thus, more quality pictures mean higher the chances of conversions. Keeping a 360 view video of your vacation home also gives prospective clients real-time views of your location. All these factors in combination will definitely add more value to your vacation rental and will attract more customers. 4. Call to Action: Overall, the “call to action” buttons are meant to garner some action on your website. Highlight important buttons/tabs or position it in such a manner on the website that it attracts maximum attention. Some of the “call to action” buttons on your vacation rental website can be, – Toll-free numbers – “Book Now” button – “Check Calendar” to see the availability of the rentals – Chat options – Social media links to share/ like/post tweets on your page. GetFriday, the virtual assistance company in Bangalore, India, conducted an in-depth analysis on 3000 bookings for vacation rentals. The results revealed that checking “calendars” and dates were of top interest to potential guests. You can also see the Slideshare presentation for Vacation Rental Marketing by clicking on the picture given below. 5. Push for an Ad Campaign: Google says your potential clients decide in 3-7secs whether they want to buy a product or service. If your ads shoot up in Google, your chances of being chosen are high. Go for a display campaign with pictures of your beautiful vacation rental with appropriate “call to action” buttons and other relevant details. Alternatively try out Remarketing campaigns that are even more cost effective, this would remind your visitors about your rentals. By marketing your offers and deals in your ads, you have better chances of increasing ROI. 6. Rave reviews: Customers’ decisions are greatly influenced by reviews. Guests spend

Vacation Rentals: Increase occupancy through Customer Reviews - GetFriday

Vacation Rentals – Increasing Occupancy Through Customer Reviews

Customer reviews influence the purchase decisions of a potential consumer to a very large extent. Validation and confirmation of a decision is a human need, which psychologists describe as social proof. When a customer is at the 3rd level of the purchase decision process i.e. evaluation of alternatives; customer reviews about a company’s offering can sway a consumers’ decision to either side. A “Think with Google” consumer report, analyzing a traveler’s road to decision making, states that 36% of leisure travelers and 42% of business travelers are influenced by travel reviews. GetFriday’s study was conducted on the basis of over 3000 customer interactions for vacation rentals and has thrown some light on some prevalent and interesting facts. It has been known for a while that positive customer reviews can tilt a potential guests’ decision in your favor. But the extent to which it influences the swing is largely unknown to individual vacation property owners. Please click on the below image to see the SlideShare presentation as well.   So here are our insights based on this survey Guests Consciously Seek Out Reviews: Our study shows that more than 20% of guests consciously cite past customers or their reviews while taking a decision about a property and even during their initial communication with the Rental Owners. The actual numbers of guests getting influenced by reviews and taking a final call on a booking based on that is much higher than we initially thought. We have also observed guests picking on the experiences of previous visitors while they seek confirmation about specific amenities like swimming pools, Wi-Fi, barbecues, shower facilities etc. Customer reviews clearly generate interest and engage potential guests. And if certain vacation rentals are more successful and more sought after than the others; customers reviews would definitely be pointed out as one of the major reasons behind it. Guests Are Wary About The Authenticity Of The Reviews: While working with vacation properties around the world virtually, our experiences have taught us that many potential customers are also wary about the authenticity of customer reviews. Hence, it is of prime importance that Vacation Rental Owners display genuine and authentic comments and provide proactive feedback to reviews keeping their target audience in mind. Hence, managing customer reviews has become even more important now, as positive/negative reviews are directly linked to the overall rating of a property. It acts as a prime decisive factor for the customers while deciding to go on a vacation. Negative comments are a part of regular reviews from customers and one should not worry about hiding negative reviews. Rental owners generally panic at the sight of negative reviews and instinctively seek methods to either confront the guest on the review forum or sometimes, seek to purge the negative comments. Instead, Rental owners should address these negative reviews as soon as possible and try to resolve the issue at hand. The smart, professional manner in which a negative comment is handled on a public forum, can convert a dissatisfied customer into an advocate for your business. Based on long-standing experiences with Vacation Rental Owners, we would suggest the following approaches to tackle negative reviews: Address The Root Cause: Most travelers are genuine and do not wish to make unwarranted comments. Address the concerns they might have had during their stay and convince the reviewer that it will not happen again. This will assure prospective guests of your trustworthiness and your willingness to solve problems. Responding to a complaint or negative review in a genuine manner is the first sign of a good business. Gather More Positive Reviews: If there is Yin, there is Yang as well. There is generally a good balance of positive reviews to offset the negative ones. A “HomeAway.com” survey states, 93% of guest reviews are positive (meaning a rating of 4 stars and above). This should assure you that a one-off negative review will not cause you harm; that is, if it is promptly addressed. Addressing the root cause in the first place and making sure that the same problem does not occur again will ensure that the quality of the service remains on the higher side and will also allow an owner to gather more positive reviews for the vacation rental house on an ongoing basis. There Is Always A Bright Side: A few negative comments peppered among positive reviews gives a more authentic look and feel to the review page. Though we do not have scientific data to prove this phenomenon, simple social logic seems to confirm it. If you had all but positive reviews, then the data looks suspect for the first time viewer, even if your service were impeccable. How Do You Get More Guests To Write Review For Your Property? 1. E-mail each guest after they leave, thanking them for their stay and inviting them to leave a review. 2. While refunding the deposit, send your guests a note, asking them for reviews. 3. Most guests are kind enough to write reviews. If they enjoyed their stay, they most probably will write one anyway. To be on the safer side, just send them gentle reminders, do not hound or spam them. 4. If possible, be there for a personal good-bye when your guests check out. This adds a more personal touch to the experience and makes it a memorable one for your guest. Vacation property owners need to treat customer reviews as another opportunity to market their property. When customer reviews are handled deftly with a clear strategy and objective, they could cause a positive impact on your business and its profits. To sum up, vacation rental businesses can significantly benefit from the power of customer reviews in increasing their online presence and driving more bookings. As a leading virtual assistant and remote support provider, GetFriday offers vacation rental owners and managers a range of services to help them collect and showcase customer reviews effectively. By leveraging GetFriday’s expertise in managing customer reviews, vacation rental businesses can not only

Vacation Rentals – Increasing Occupancy Through Customer Reviews Read More »

Customer reviews influence the purchase decisions of a potential consumer to a very large extent. Validation and confirmation of a decision is a human need, which psychologists describe as social proof. When a customer is at the 3rd level of the purchase decision process i.e. evaluation of alternatives; customer reviews about a company’s offering can sway a consumers’ decision to either side. A “Think with Google” consumer report, analyzing a traveler’s road to decision making, states that 36% of leisure travelers and 42% of business travelers are influenced by travel reviews. GetFriday’s study was conducted on the basis of over 3000 customer interactions for vacation rentals and has thrown some light on some prevalent and interesting facts. It has been known for a while that positive customer reviews can tilt a potential guests’ decision in your favor. But the extent to which it influences the swing is largely unknown to individual vacation property owners. Please click on the below image to see the SlideShare presentation as well.   So here are our insights based on this survey Guests Consciously Seek Out Reviews: Our study shows that more than 20% of guests consciously cite past customers or their reviews while taking a decision about a property and even during their initial communication with the Rental Owners. The actual numbers of guests getting influenced by reviews and taking a final call on a booking based on that is much higher than we initially thought. We have also observed guests picking on the experiences of previous visitors while they seek confirmation about specific amenities like swimming pools, Wi-Fi, barbecues, shower facilities etc. Customer reviews clearly generate interest and engage potential guests. And if certain vacation rentals are more successful and more sought after than the others; customers reviews would definitely be pointed out as one of the major reasons behind it. Guests Are Wary About The Authenticity Of The Reviews: While working with vacation properties around the world virtually, our experiences have taught us that many potential customers are also wary about the authenticity of customer reviews. Hence, it is of prime importance that Vacation Rental Owners display genuine and authentic comments and provide proactive feedback to reviews keeping their target audience in mind. Hence, managing customer reviews has become even more important now, as positive/negative reviews are directly linked to the overall rating of a property. It acts as a prime decisive factor for the customers while deciding to go on a vacation. Negative comments are a part of regular reviews from customers and one should not worry about hiding negative reviews. Rental owners generally panic at the sight of negative reviews and instinctively seek methods to either confront the guest on the review forum or sometimes, seek to purge the negative comments. Instead, Rental owners should address these negative reviews as soon as possible and try to resolve the issue at hand. The smart, professional manner in which a negative comment is handled on a public forum, can convert a dissatisfied customer into an advocate for your business. Based on long-standing experiences with Vacation Rental Owners, we would suggest the following approaches to tackle negative reviews: Address The Root Cause: Most travelers are genuine and do not wish to make unwarranted comments. Address the concerns they might have had during their stay and convince the reviewer that it will not happen again. This will assure prospective guests of your trustworthiness and your willingness to solve problems. Responding to a complaint or negative review in a genuine manner is the first sign of a good business. Gather More Positive Reviews: If there is Yin, there is Yang as well. There is generally a good balance of positive reviews to offset the negative ones. A “HomeAway.com” survey states, 93% of guest reviews are positive (meaning a rating of 4 stars and above). This should assure you that a one-off negative review will not cause you harm; that is, if it is promptly addressed. Addressing the root cause in the first place and making sure that the same problem does not occur again will ensure that the quality of the service remains on the higher side and will also allow an owner to gather more positive reviews for the vacation rental house on an ongoing basis. There Is Always A Bright Side: A few negative comments peppered among positive reviews gives a more authentic look and feel to the review page. Though we do not have scientific data to prove this phenomenon, simple social logic seems to confirm it. If you had all but positive reviews, then the data looks suspect for the first time viewer, even if your service were impeccable. How Do You Get More Guests To Write Review For Your Property? 1. E-mail each guest after they leave, thanking them for their stay and inviting them to leave a review. 2. While refunding the deposit, send your guests a note, asking them for reviews. 3. Most guests are kind enough to write reviews. If they enjoyed their stay, they most probably will write one anyway. To be on the safer side, just send them gentle reminders, do not hound or spam them. 4. If possible, be there for a personal good-bye when your guests check out. This adds a more personal touch to the experience and makes it a memorable one for your guest. Vacation property owners need to treat customer reviews as another opportunity to market their property. When customer reviews are handled deftly with a clear strategy and objective, they could cause a positive impact on your business and its profits. To sum up, vacation rental businesses can significantly benefit from the power of customer reviews in increasing their online presence and driving more bookings. As a leading virtual assistant and remote support provider, GetFriday offers vacation rental owners and managers a range of services to help them collect and showcase customer reviews effectively. By leveraging GetFriday’s expertise in managing customer reviews, vacation rental businesses can not only

Guide for Vacation Rental Owners – Increase leads, engage guests and stand out of the crowd

In an age where almost everyone aspires to embark on a holiday, Vacation Rentals have come to rule the roost. Privacy, security, flexibility are the specifics every traveler loves. Vacation Rentals offer such benefits to everyone; be it an avid traveler or a backpacker. No wonder, this sector has seen a significant boom in the recent decade. From a nondescript start, Vacation Rentals have come a long way to dominating the recreation space. It’s springing up in literally every tourist hotspot in the world. It has become a lucrative business and provides employment opportunities to many. But how does a vacation rental property owner stand out from competition. We compiled a list of best practices from our long experience and hundreds of interactions with property owners, property managers, guests, cleaners and even property neighbors in many popular destinations. Our survey has brought out some very interesting facts. And if you are a vacation rental owner these are certainly actionable points for your business. You can also view the guide by clicking on the below image (Slideshare link) as well:   Weekends see a surge in inquiries Our study shows there is generally a 37% increase in inquires during weekends. A Google survey conducted with 5000 consumers found that 74 % of leisure travel begins with online research. Vacation rental owners must be ready for increased traffic during weekends, as most customers begin their online search with undecided plans. The opportunity to influence their decision to book your house significantly increases if you are better prepared to handle the surge. Increase chances of booking by 2X Our study shows chances of booking confirmation increases 2x times if booking enquiries are responded within one hour. Let us do the math Combining the results of our survey 1. If your house on an average gets about 5 enquires a day, you will see this increase by 37% during weekends, i.e 7 enquires per day. 2. If your normal booking confirmation rate is 2 out of 5 enquires, then our study tells you, there can be 2X increase in booking confirmation if response rate is within one hour. This will mean 12 confirmations coming out of 14 enquiries on weekends. Isn’t that something to really focus on, if you are a vacation rental owner? The paradox of calendar management Our survey finds rental owners rank calendar management as their top priority problem or issue to contend with. While guests looking to book rentals also mention the calendar as the first place to check before a booking decision is made. So calendar management is a double priority. Vacation rentals will see significant increase in booking confirmations, if the calendar is maintained with complete information. Though maintaining the calendar with updated availability at all times is a difficult task, remember that it is of prime importance to a potential guest and could mean the difference between a booking confirmation or a dropout. What influences a booking? When we asked guests about the factors influencing their booking, two points stood out – 1. Higher quality pictures leads to decision making while booking. 2. Higher number of pictures give confidence while booking. A Google study confirms that 42% of travelers get inspired by YouTube videos of their prospective travel destination during the decision making process. So it is important to visually appeal to guests. What amenities do guests want? Our study shows cleanliness of the house tops the priority of every potential guest. We recommend a gap of 5 hours between a check out and new check in for the property to be cleaned satisfactorily. And surprisingly Wi-Fi accessibility at rental houses is also being requested as a prerequisite during enquiry by many guests in recent times. Google’s traveler survey finds 94 % of travelers like to stay connected even during a vacation. We recommend vacation rental owners consider installing Wi-Fi at properties. These best practices can make your business stand out amongst competition and get your better ratings on a consistent basis. Identify new revenue channels Constantly searching for new channels of revenue can increase your return on investment from property and help you find new segments of guests. Weekend pricing Our study finds guests do not mind paying higher prices for weekend. A different pricing for weekends can be a new revenue channel for your business. An average difference of 10 % between weekend and weekday pricing is not seen to have an adverse impact on guests deciding on bookings. Peak season pricing Our study finds a higher peak season price can have significant benefits. Our survey also finds that a small discount at the beginning of peak season can help you fill bookings for the entire peak season very quickly. 3x increase in leads Our study finds that listing your property on multiple sites can increase your enquiry leads by 3x. Provide multiple payment option It is noted from our study that customers prefer properties which offer multiple payment options like PayPal, Credit Card, Debit Card and also paying through Cash. This flexibility can provide a steady stream of customers thereby an assured revenue flow. Of particular interest is cash in hand option preferred by some guests, providing this option opens up a new segment of guests8o your property, while also gaining the confidence of other prospective guests. By following these simple tips, you can improve you vacation rentals income as a property owner significantly. And you would be surprised to know that many of these activities can be effectively outsourced to a competent virtual assistant so that you can sit back and relax, while the job gets done.

Guide for Vacation Rental Owners – Increase leads, engage guests and stand out of the crowd Read More »

In an age where almost everyone aspires to embark on a holiday, Vacation Rentals have come to rule the roost. Privacy, security, flexibility are the specifics every traveler loves. Vacation Rentals offer such benefits to everyone; be it an avid traveler or a backpacker. No wonder, this sector has seen a significant boom in the recent decade. From a nondescript start, Vacation Rentals have come a long way to dominating the recreation space. It’s springing up in literally every tourist hotspot in the world. It has become a lucrative business and provides employment opportunities to many. But how does a vacation rental property owner stand out from competition. We compiled a list of best practices from our long experience and hundreds of interactions with property owners, property managers, guests, cleaners and even property neighbors in many popular destinations. Our survey has brought out some very interesting facts. And if you are a vacation rental owner these are certainly actionable points for your business. You can also view the guide by clicking on the below image (Slideshare link) as well:   Weekends see a surge in inquiries Our study shows there is generally a 37% increase in inquires during weekends. A Google survey conducted with 5000 consumers found that 74 % of leisure travel begins with online research. Vacation rental owners must be ready for increased traffic during weekends, as most customers begin their online search with undecided plans. The opportunity to influence their decision to book your house significantly increases if you are better prepared to handle the surge. Increase chances of booking by 2X Our study shows chances of booking confirmation increases 2x times if booking enquiries are responded within one hour. Let us do the math Combining the results of our survey 1. If your house on an average gets about 5 enquires a day, you will see this increase by 37% during weekends, i.e 7 enquires per day. 2. If your normal booking confirmation rate is 2 out of 5 enquires, then our study tells you, there can be 2X increase in booking confirmation if response rate is within one hour. This will mean 12 confirmations coming out of 14 enquiries on weekends. Isn’t that something to really focus on, if you are a vacation rental owner? The paradox of calendar management Our survey finds rental owners rank calendar management as their top priority problem or issue to contend with. While guests looking to book rentals also mention the calendar as the first place to check before a booking decision is made. So calendar management is a double priority. Vacation rentals will see significant increase in booking confirmations, if the calendar is maintained with complete information. Though maintaining the calendar with updated availability at all times is a difficult task, remember that it is of prime importance to a potential guest and could mean the difference between a booking confirmation or a dropout. What influences a booking? When we asked guests about the factors influencing their booking, two points stood out – 1. Higher quality pictures leads to decision making while booking. 2. Higher number of pictures give confidence while booking. A Google study confirms that 42% of travelers get inspired by YouTube videos of their prospective travel destination during the decision making process. So it is important to visually appeal to guests. What amenities do guests want? Our study shows cleanliness of the house tops the priority of every potential guest. We recommend a gap of 5 hours between a check out and new check in for the property to be cleaned satisfactorily. And surprisingly Wi-Fi accessibility at rental houses is also being requested as a prerequisite during enquiry by many guests in recent times. Google’s traveler survey finds 94 % of travelers like to stay connected even during a vacation. We recommend vacation rental owners consider installing Wi-Fi at properties. These best practices can make your business stand out amongst competition and get your better ratings on a consistent basis. Identify new revenue channels Constantly searching for new channels of revenue can increase your return on investment from property and help you find new segments of guests. Weekend pricing Our study finds guests do not mind paying higher prices for weekend. A different pricing for weekends can be a new revenue channel for your business. An average difference of 10 % between weekend and weekday pricing is not seen to have an adverse impact on guests deciding on bookings. Peak season pricing Our study finds a higher peak season price can have significant benefits. Our survey also finds that a small discount at the beginning of peak season can help you fill bookings for the entire peak season very quickly. 3x increase in leads Our study finds that listing your property on multiple sites can increase your enquiry leads by 3x. Provide multiple payment option It is noted from our study that customers prefer properties which offer multiple payment options like PayPal, Credit Card, Debit Card and also paying through Cash. This flexibility can provide a steady stream of customers thereby an assured revenue flow. Of particular interest is cash in hand option preferred by some guests, providing this option opens up a new segment of guests8o your property, while also gaining the confidence of other prospective guests. By following these simple tips, you can improve you vacation rentals income as a property owner significantly. And you would be surprised to know that many of these activities can be effectively outsourced to a competent virtual assistant so that you can sit back and relax, while the job gets done.

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