As hosts, you may understand why reviews are such an essential part of the Airbnb experience. In general, people are more likely to book your property if they see reviews of 4.5 or higher. These reviews are very useful for prospective guests to decide on what aspects of your property they can live with, and with which ones they don’t.
Leaving reviews can be a bit of a pain – it is time-consuming and, let’s not lie, a little annoying. However, it is very necessary and it is an opportunity Airbnb gives for both the guests and hosts to provide feedback, and the best part? You have the option to respond to each of them... and you should!
However, too often I see guests reply to only a couple of reviews, and guess what… these are most of the time the negative reviews. This is a huge mistake, as responding to only negative reviews will draw the attention of prospective guests to exactly that – the bad ones!
Responding to reviews shows that you are an engaged host, gives you the opportunity to clarify or point out areas of improvement on a negative review, and always allows you to highlight positive aspects of your property.
I will give you a couple of tips on how to review all or almost all of your reviews, good or bad.
Keep your responses short and simple. Two to three sentences should suffice.
If your guest left a 5-star review, take the opportunity to respond with a short “Hi [guest name], thank you for the 5-star review!”
f your guest left a lengthy review with positives, and a few negatives, it is your chance to respond, highlighting the positive aspects of it. Guests will more likely only look at your response and not read the long lines, missing the negative mention. However, take the feedback and improve whatever is necessary to avoid repeated negative reviews.
If your guest left a negative review, do not get defensive. Address the issue identifying it as an opportunity for improvement, and even more, respond with something similar to “Hi [guest name], I apologize for the inconvenience. The issue has been addressed.” Expand as needed, but apologizing, even when you don’t agree, shows traits of a good host. And always state that it has or will be fixed.
Always use the tools available for you to improve and get ahead in the hospitality game. We have created a set of templates for quick and simple responses for both positive and those not so good reviews. Feel free to update with your guest names, copy and paste!
Happy hosting!
Lace