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| Putting Autoresponders to Work for You Posted: 03 Feb 2015 06:50 AM PST This topic recently came up in Matt Landau's Inner Circle forum, and these two posts are based on information I shared there. If you aren't already participating, check out the Inner Circle forum or connect with Matt Landau's Vacation Rental Marketing blog. In my last post, I called autoresponders "the secret weapon most vacation rental owners ignore," explaining that adding them can save time, improve professionalism, and increase conversion rates. As an owner, I like to know that every inquiry gets a response — even those that aren't likely to convert because they fall outside my renter criteria. You can spend a lot of time responding individually to people who aren't a good fit for your property, or you can use autoresponders to free up that energy so you can focus on your actual guests.
Autoresponders work exactly as the name implies — they're automatically sent out, and the message is determined by triggers within the inquiry email, like whether guests indicate that they're travelling with pets or the number of adults in their party. To get the most from autoresponders, however, you need to use them effectively: Use rules to send tailored messages for different types of inquiries, and adjust your message until you get the results you're looking for. It's taken years of testing and tweaking the way I use them in my own vacation rental business, Sonoma Square Cottage, to get them right. What works for me may not work for you — but you need to start somewhere. Here are the templates I've developed for six common situations, as well as the most important things I've learned about autoresponders from my experience. The rules consider specific information from the booking form I use on my website, and send whichever template is more appropriate. Rules 1: The stay is too shortAt one point, I applied a seven-day minimum to rentals. However, I'm currently looking for longer stays of 30 days or more.
Ideally, my autoresponder would also explain what my minimum stay is. However, there is some regulatory stuff going on, and I prefer to keep my correspondence vague. Rule 2: The group is too bigI limit reservations to groups of eight people or less, but still get requests to host larger parties.
Rule 3: The group is too big (adults)Sometimes I receive inquiries from groups of adults who look at the stats for my property — three bedrooms, three bathrooms — and decide to try their luck any way. As you can see from the message below, however, one room is set up just for kids.
Rule 4: Their group includes a smokerThe booking form on my website asks whether anyone in the party smokes, which helps me screen for my non-smoking rental.
Rule 5: The dates are already bookedGetting inquiries for dates that are already booked can be frustrating, especially when your calendar is up-to-date, but I believe each inquiry is still worth a follow up.
Rule 6: General response for all other inquiriesIf none of the above templates is triggered, the following email is sent.
Tracking my resultsI'm a big fan of A/B tests, and I've tested all of these templates — especially the final "default" template — learning a few things along the way. 1) Keep it short and simple. Don't cram your email with information and advice — put it on your website, then take one sentence to tell them that it's there. The shorter I keep my autoresponder messages, the more quality responses I receive. 2) Help, don’t sell. This is something Matt says all the time — because it's true. This is obviously a sales transaction, but if the only thing a potential guest hears from you is BOOK NOW it won't seem very inviting. Put yourself in their shoes: what sort of customer service would stand out to you? How can you help them book a trip that includes your rental as home base? Point them to the free and helpful information you've (hopefully) added to your website, like a page of local recommendations or a thoughtful insider's guide. 3) Personalize your message as much as you can. The nature of templates is that they're standardized — mine certainly are. But many people still reply and thank me for responding so quickly, even when I'm turning them down! The #1 complaint about autoresponders is that they're impersonal, but it doesn't take much to make your message a bit warmer, like having slightly different messages for different types of inquiries and including the renter's first name in the response. A lot of owners and property managers — A LOT of them! — don't respond to inquiries at all, and renters usually appreciate any response, whether you're confirming their reservation or not. Autoresponders are an easy way to elevate your vacation rental business and step up in a way that your competition may be missing. What do you think about autoresponders — love them? Hate them? Tell me about it in the comments below. photo by Jo Naylor (CC BY 2.0) |
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