176. How Your Virtual Assistants (or manager) Should be handling Your Short Term Rental Bookings

You made it. You successfully set up and advertised your short term rental property and you are ready for your first guests. The day has finally come and all of that hard work is about to pay off. You are slightly nervous though since you know just how important the initial reviews to any STR can be. The guest arrives and… they can't get it! Even though you sent them the carefully laid out check in instructions, created a unique digital lock code for them, and were there for them every step of the way.  They just can't, for whatever reason, get the lock to open. Let me save you the trouble of guessing why… user error! Yes, as simple as it is to use digital locks these days they are all different and STRs attract guests of all ages and nationalities and sometimes our guests just can't seem to enter the codes right. Leaving off a digit. Not entering a pound sign or hitting an unlock button. Trying to open the door before it's actually unlocked causing the "smart" lock to jam up. From the tens of thousands of guests my team and I have managed in my own personal portfolio I can tell you that lots of reasons pop up that could lead to a bad guest experience. The entry example just happens to be the most common reason a guest will call you. And worse… sometimes they call you a bit frantically because they have been traveling long hours, they're exhausted, and it's late at night. So… things happen. Whether you are self-managing your property or you have a team helping you, you have to be prepared for anything and most importantly you have to know how to handle it. The better we manage our properties the better our guests' experiences will be and the more money we will make.    As we kick off the 3rd episode of this 4-part series, this week we will be going in depth on all things you or your property manager SHOULD be doing during your guest reservation, from arrival until check out. What happens if there is an emergency? What if the guest wants to change their reservation? The guest can't sleep because the neighbor is being too loud? The best way to respond to a guest? We will cover all of that this week as well as:  Guest management tips during the reservation Handling common issues Monitoring home security  Following up Upselling reservations Altering reservations Involving OTA support when needed Effective communication Robot Response Vs. Human Response Response times Keeping it written  Knowing your property Making informed decisions If you are interested in partnering with me and my company "Midtown Stays" fill out a few quick questions here and I will personally reach out to you via zoom to find out more and chat. Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well. Get a copy of my 12 proven house rules to protect your property from almost every negative situation (highly recommended)  You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live events, short-term rental playbook, Instagram, and more!