EPISODE 2: The #1 Thing Holding You Back From Insane Airbnb Profits
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The Biggest Mistake You’re Making as a Host
Your biggest mistake that is hurting your profits is getting too emotional about your Airbnb business and taking your property too personally.
Caring too much about how your guests treat your property. Don’t sweat the small things! One broken wine glass or one stained towel is not worth filing a claim over.
Micromanaging your cleaning team. There is too little time in between guests to have everything staged the way you want it. Put your business hat on, learn to compromise, and let it go!
Break the emotional attachment tied to your interior design. I get it, you took the time to carefully craft your space, but sometimes it’s not as efficient and guest friendly as you may expect.
Being bothered with less than 5 star reviews. Quantity over quality is actually better in this case. Studies show guests gravitate toward properties with more reviews than a property with only two 5 star reviews.
Airbnb Quick Tip:
Want to minimize guest calls about getting lost on the way to your Airbnb?! Test your Airbnb property address and how it loads on different apps! For example, my property works with Google Maps and Apple Maps but for some reason, Waze routes all my guests incorrectly. I leave a note in my check-in instructions stating to not route using the Waze app. The top 5 GPS navigation apps are: Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, Here We Go and Sygic with Here We Go being the #1 app for offline map navigation. But, is your property mappable for all GPS apps?! Ensure that your property works for all GPS apps.
Question of the Week: What cancellation policy should I have?
Airbnb has so many policies….HELP! I get this question often and personally use the firm/strict (these are interchangeable in my mind). Airbnb will push you to use the flexible policy, and I have vetted this policy in the past. However, it seemed like I was getting more bookings, but cancellations were made 1-2 days prior to check-in pushing me to lower my rates to get a last minute booking. I switched to the strict policy and now receive almost no cancellations. Under the strict policy, my guests are more intentional about making the dates they reserved work for them. Airbnb encourages the flexible policy, but I have seen first-hand how you receive more cancellations under this policy. I prefer for my calendar to be full with zero cancellations.
Am I the Airbnb-hole?
Grab the tissues because this week we react to a dramatic post from a guest about how rentals will not allow their dog during their stay.
