Miscellaneous This Guest Post by Terry Gronenthal is the first in a series inviting representatives of our client group – rental guests – to comment on their experiences of staying in a vacation rental home. Having spent the past six weeks selecting RV parks, based solely on on-line reviews, I was interested in how our rental clients do the same. There are roughly 40,000 pages that come up in Google when you search: "vacation rental reviews.” I’m absolutely certain that not all of them are bad. As a matter of opinion, I’d be willing to bet that not even 10% are bad. From a renters point of view, reviews can be a great source of information for both the accommodations as well as the owner/agent. When it comes down to two similar vacation rentals to choose from, reviews are some of the best ways that my family and I make a decision. A poor review can give you a “view” into the way the owner/agent handles upset clients. Benefits of Reviews: Reviews can provide the renter with a number of obvious benefits: 1. Does the place meet most/all of the renter’s needs? 2. Is it significantly AS advertised? 3. Did the renter get their deposit back? 4. What was the reservation process like? 5. Was the vacation rental owner/agent easy to deal with? Those are, typically, what one will find in a good or bad review. Pretty basic stuff; basic, but powerful. The Power of a Negative Review I think many owners/agents miss a huge opportunity when it comes to bad reviews. It has been my experience that most, and I mean a very large fraction, of the owners/agents out there are legit business owners and super-cool people. However, as in any statistical set, there are outliers. The opportunity for the owner is in how they handle a bad review. They can turn it into a benefit to the renter if they "own" it and give a best effort to resolve the problem. If there was a problem with the vacation rental and the only opinion I see is the renter’s well then I’m going to take that at face value and move on. On the other hand, if the owner/agent engages the miffed renter in a dialogue for me to see, then I may get a better understanding of the situation, the problem, and the demeanor of the owner/agent. The Dark Side of Social Networking Today’s social networking is a double edged sword. Most owners/agents see it as a way to communicate to the world “the greatness that is my vacation rental” and it is a fantastic way to get the word out about your property. However, if a renter goes on your Facebook vacation rental page after staying with you and complains, and you do nothing about it, your “sunny day” can turn rather overcast quickly. Furthermore, for the love of Pete, don’t delete that bad comment. If you want a one line bad comment to blossom into a fully emotional, completely one sided and hubristic review, delete the one liner. The bottom line is, don’t delete it, MANAGE it! Communicate. Understanding Bad Reviews Consider this: You are down to two different vacation rentals (all your requirements are met by both.) And now you are really digging into the reviews. Both sites have mostly good reviews and a few scattered bad reviews. Site 1, concerning the bad reviews, the owner/agent has done nothing to communicate their side of the story and may be resting on their "sheer numbers" (i.e. 92 great reviews 8 bad reviews.) Site 2, concerning the bad reviews, owner/agent has been proactive in their management of those complaints. They are communicating with the disgruntled renter via their Facebook Page and you get to see both sides of the story. You may not see where, in the end, the renter or the owner acquiesces and leans towards a reversal of their opinion of their problem; they may completely stick with it and it all comes down to “we agree to disagree.” However, what you do see though is an owner/agent who is concerned about their online reputation and are working diligently to manage that digital rep. Personally, I’m interested in working with someone who obviously understands that “caca occurs” and takes a proactive approach to managing the situation. If I saw an owner diligently, professionally, and courteously stating their point to a ravenous renter that goes a long way with me. Terry’s post continues tomorrow To get a free copy of Chapter Four of The Vacationers Guide to Vacation Rentals please click here
