BNB Host Support Blog

Coaching Blog S1 Episode 19 - Past coaching session - types of support and sample answers

Written by Mark Smith | Dec 27, 2023 8:42:11 AM
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Mark Smith is providing feedback to Angus on a listing, suggesting improvements to make it more stylish and appealing to guests. He advises investing in professional photos, mentioning the need for reviews in the Airbnb business. Mark also suggests mentioning if the property is a villa and providing details about the internet speed, amenities like an EV charger and doggy door, and targeting long-term stays.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Transcript:

 
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Angus how are you Mark Smith here it is uh Thursday the 22nd sorry I just got tired I actually had something came up uh last night after I had te at nine o'clock um it was Bish I had a scotch fillet um and uh some rolini um okay so let's have a look at your um your listing and uh I can either be really honest or um um and we can do something constructive or um I can tell you what you want to hear so um I'm going to if it's okay I'm going to tell you what I honestly think um if that's okay uh and I don't want you to take offense just take this as um take this please take this in the right Spirit okay so there is always things that you can do and um uh I I I'm far from perfect myself so um uh I have several uh listings um and uh I've got three that are live but I've got many that are I run a Property Services Company um and I have a a hosting business as well there probably if you come back in a month I'd say there' be about seven or eight somewhere in that vicinity of properties that I'm actually managing and I've been doing this for many many years last in the last 12 months I probably um coached several hundred people by the way you can actually speed this up if I'm talking too slow so um uh look I'll just I'll just it might hurt I'm I'm sorry um I hope you take this the right way so when I don't know if you've stayed in any airbnbs but um it's it's good exercise sorry someone's messaging me um it's a good exercise to have a look at some other listings that are out there I see hundreds um every week probably um and so the first thing that hits me is the headline stylish three-bedroom home um well uh there's no pictures of the uh not that I can see here there's no pictures of the external um so I couldn't tell you how stylish it is on the outside um it it it has a um a style that's for sure um and um I I'm going to refer you like

it's um I'd encourage you you know okay well let's you've got a theme happening here if I could be if I could be honest these look a little vintage um so if that is your theme then embrace it and and go all in it's kind of um um it it looks some aspects of the house look um some aspects of the house I would say um the style could be improved um this this might be one of them um like if you're going to go retro like go retro like really go retro um I hope you get something out of this and and again please don't be offended I'm sure um you know these brick walls in my opinion they're not not uh that stylish I don't find this stylish and I um it's great that you've got a a booking um and you want good reviews um but you've got to be very honest with um your guests and set up the expectations so well they're not do they do they think that they're um does does the guest think that they're coming to uh the home of a designer like um I would never be this um this bold these are verticals uh verticals um there's nothing especially stylish about it now this piece here this could be very retro like it could be very retro um in fact you know what I'll work with you and I'll I'll um sponsor for you I have an allowance uh for some professional photos if you do something with your style then in other words invest this is what I would call uh if I could be really honest fairly plain um but your head your heading is stylish um and um I find this rather plain um and okay it's functional yes it's absolutely functional but I I don't know that I'd go to the extent of saying stylish um so I say that in love um you'll get you will get more positive feedback and what you want is reviews you need reviews in this business uh and in Airbnb you absolutely need reviews so I'm going to send you some tips um and some links to uh how to style your property uh because you've used that word and that's your that's your headline um so uh uh I would encourage you is it a villa um and it's it's uh it's mentioned that it has it's a three-bedroom home but if it's a villa then I think I'd mentioned that it's a villa because um again it's all about controlling the expectations of your client so um so there's that now um dedicated workspace that's excellent um uh and I noticed there's the desk with the orange light um so that that's good now um uh and it says you have Wi-Fi it doesn't tell me the speed so are we talking a dial up or are we talking 100 megabits per second there is actually on the app you can go to uh on on your phone you can go to a thing called amenities and um you can do a speed test I think Wi-Fi appears in a couple places I think you want to go under amenities and then find the Wi-Fi and then do a speed test and it will then get as close as you can to the router uh it makes a big difference to the speed and um if you haven't got um if you're not on 100 megabits per second plan you're on a on a 12 megabits per second plan then I'd seriously think about since you've got a dedicated workspace now I do think this this place is good and there's absolutely there's a market for it I don't know um precisely where Isabella Plains is but where's it close to uh and you you could actually um oh here we go uh you could actually um get some work from home and some long-term stays and the long-term stays uh these people are often looking for uh fast High uh yeah fast internet and personally if you look up uh where I where I am right now I have starlink and I've got a speed test on my uh on on our website it's airbnb.com snowgums uh and you can see my speed test is at 248 megabits per second and I get people that come here for a month at a time and uh and it has a dedicated workspace and uh so that's good do you have an EV charger a lot of people are looking for that as well are you pet friendly um is there a doggy door um now if you'll invest in style if you'll investing style a little bit I'm not saying invest Millions but um oh this is a double bed okay all right um if you'll invest in style then I will uh sponsor um some professional photographs um carbon monoxide detector now I'll give you a link where you can get a carbon monoxide detector for free now if you have that you can get what's called Airbnb for business um and you will get it's excellent youve got a high chair fantastic I'll come back to that in a minute but if you've got Airbnb for business um it will this property will then appear in searches uh for uh business customers and you're more likely to get booking so I'll s send you a link you can get a free um uh carbon monoxide detector courtesy of Airbnb so it's not all brutal I'm sorry mate I don't I didn't mean to um to be brutal um oh now this is this is a um mistake I'm gonna say it's a mistake you had um I think you had the sixth seventh and eighth they were the ones I looked at now you're now booked for the prime period you only got a two night booking you need to set this up so you get uh three night and four night bookings uh and an example is and so they're the more lucrative ones okay you don't want to get in the middle of a month you don't want to get a two two night booking here and it stops you then from getting a 20 night booking because in the middle of the period you've got uh you know a one or two night booking let me just see if I can book a one night stay oh two minimum excellent well that's a good start but um the average length of stay in the ACT is close to three nights so that's average so a two night stays actually below average one so what you can do is you can have a um you can you can still appear on the two night Sur purches but you can give a discount so that um if someone books two nights well like if they book three nights it's basically just as cheap um so yeah you've given away you've given away Easter where you should be getting like probably three to four nights you've you've uh taken a two night booking and on top of that so that's prime time you've also given a special offer discount I'm guessing because it was your first booking so uh that's a mistake um there's lots of tips and and tricks that you need to be up on no reviews yet so um but you're in the category of new so for the first about month um you appear in a new category and uh you do get a boost but after a month uh you won't be getting boosted and then you've got to stand out in some other way uh and style would be one of those uh reviews you want to be having festar reviews and how to you get five star reviews you give the clients what they're expecting and what they want and so if they're tot stylish and it's a bit dated um you may find that you you don't get um high ratings and with you know guests look at these things and they say oh you know um um uh good position but daggy or something like that um that's that's probably not a plus now high chair that's in um in a category of attracting families uh and that is excellent so um I would encourage you so you got a bathtub so you can appeal to families with children but um let's have a Look hair dryer cleaning products shampoo yes so you got the essentials got a washing machine you provide tals and linen I think you can do much better i' I'd encourage you to go to somewhere like an aders they have absolutely beautiful beautiful linen it'll cost you um you could easily spend $1,000 um uh just in and a Dar um on you know um there's a big difference and I I mean I think you have to look at your listing and say critically is this going to appeal to the young mom um um or the someone that's going to spend a month there um it's functional for sure but um um I think you can do better um and as I said if you invest in some linen I will um I'll sponsor you with some professional photos and this will really set the house up so you've got high chair I'd encourage you to put in more child-friendly um things such as uh kids utensils um kids uh plates um maybe a travel cart something like that um and uh it will so it's it's not just one thing it's it's many things first aid kit uh you got portable fans and portable heater um C I'm an orange right now and I I otherwise reside in the Blue Mountains these are both very cold places um oh it's the dedicated work space is in a common uh space I thought I thought it was in a uh that orange lamp was in a bedroom I might have thought there was a bed at the end of the um desk in the photo anyway

um private yard yes excellent dog friendly no private entrance not included how does that work um so I'm not 100% sure but look it's great that you're up um but to make this very successful um check in time maximum six guests think about a floor plan as well um if you can put your hands on a floor plan Angus i' I'd very much encourage you to do that look I'm sorry to be brutal um I I'm sorry to be brutal I I certainly don't mean uh for any offense uh I will send you some links to um uh some sections of What's called the complete guide to hosting now if it didn't work and if there wasn't millions of people that um there was not millions of people that actually host properties and everybody know what works it's uh if these style things didn't work they wouldn't be on the website promise you so look I hope those have been somewhat helpful you can rewatch this uh if you need to and if you've got any further questions I'll happily help you with a zoom call why don't you um do the reading on uh styling go and visit a Dar uh if you spend the money I I'll give the photos they'll be easily worth 6700 you invest I'll sponsor you I want you to succeed I have to tell you honestly what what I'm thinking um we'll just have one other look at your profile as well um uh I would put in some more particulars about you um uh you know tell the story so um tell the story yes uh we want to tell the story about Angus who's Angus uh this this very little detail I don't know what you you do for work where you've studied um it helps uh our guests to uh build a connection with you ah so Angus is a public servant Angus is a lawyer Angus works as Chef oh well I'm F you know um all those things I don't know what what you do Angus but um it's uh hosting uh hosting is about uh connecting with people travel is one of the very few things we've gone through covid and we've had all these isolations and lockdowns travel is one of the very few things that you can do where you can go and connect with people and people uh want people that are coming to Airbnb are staying in uh they could stay in hotel but they're choosing to connect with a person and they want to know about you and they want to know about your story so let's let's really get enthusiastic about your listing and I'll help you I would love to help you uh I'd ask that you um take on board those um that constructive feedback we try to build a better platform so that everyone prospers thanks very much good luck uh Angus if you've got any questions I'll send you a link to a zoom if you want to have any further conversations with me uh very happy to do that cheers mate bye
 
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