Flip The Script: An Intriguing, New Approach To The Messages For Vacation Rentals

What’s in it for me?

If you’re managing a vacation rental, you can’t afford to compromise on the importance of good and seamless communication. With guests’ queries ranging from how to lock the door and navigate the property to what to do for the day and how to check-out, it is vital that you answer them all to ensure a flawless stay. In this post, we’re providing you with SMS templates that you can simply copy-paste or edit at your convenience for every stage of the vacation rental guest journey. 

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Booking a holiday at a vacation rental can be relaxing yet overwhelming. Agreed?

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The truth is while your guests are looking forward to having an amazing time, they’re equally faced with a lot of queries and doubts regarding their upcoming stay at your vacation rental. With automated messages for vacation rentals reaching an all-time high due to their extreme convenience and ease of use, it’s time to make it a central feature in your communication stack to expedite processes, eliminate manual labor, and focus on elevating the whole guest experience.

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Role Of Communication In Managing The Vacation Rentals

Communication can be regarded as the bedrock upon which the success of any institution depends. This becomes even more evident in a customer-centric industry such as the hospitality industry. 

If you have a single vacation rental to manage, it becomes easier to manually take charge of the communication. But if you have the onus of managing multiple rentals, it’s only important to automate communication. 

Guests’ expectations regarding having a personalized and hassle-free experience can be easily met with a vacation message to clients as it amplifies the quality of communication while simultaneously promoting swift service.  

This can be done through large-scale adoption of technology such as messages for vacation rentals. Swift and prompt service along with a hassle-free stay have become a norm nowadays. 

Therefore, a customer-centric industry such as this can’t simply afford to lag behind in adopting messaging for improving the quality of service. As the needs and expectations of the guests have evolved, the role of guest communication for vacation rentals with regard to the hospitality sector has transformed as well. 

While you run maintenance checks, hire an effective workforce, and market your property effectively on various platforms, it is reasonable to leave the communication task to automation to promptly respond to guests’ queries by enlightening them at every stage of the guest journey. 

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Why Communication Is Important For Vacation Rentals

Being consistent, thorough and proactive holds the possibility to make or break the guest experience and, in turn, impact your vacation rental business plan for good or bad. Therefore, in order to improve business communication, messages for vacation rentals can be of great assistance. 

Since communication directly impacts your business, the significance of technological solutions such as guest messaging is surely a great tool to be included in your arsenal.

Communication helps identify areas that need to be addressed on a priority basis, thereby allowing you to focus more on offline tasks. Let’s say, if more than half of your time goes into responding to customer inquiries, you’ll never be able to fix that broken hot tub about which your visitors have been constantly and vehemently complaining. 

In addition, apart from focusing on external communication i.e., communication with guests, local authorities, etc., it is equally important to streamline communication internally with your team. 

Once the employees have their tasks cut out and have clarity regarding their responsibilities, it automatically leads to improvement in the operations that, in turn, helps in delivering a seamless and memorable stay to the guests. 

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Why Text Messaging Is A Win-Win Scenario For All? 

Text messaging is one of the fastest and most popular ways of communicating with people due to the ever-increasing number of mobile users. Therefore, text messages for vacation rentals are perhaps one of the easiest ways to communicate with guests and can indeed be regarded as a win-win scenario for both parties. 

98% of adults in the US have a mobile phone 

and 

90% of customers prefer text messages over phone calls

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Moreover, vacation rental text messaging leads to enhancing or improving the existing quality of service being provided while simultaneously amplifying the holistic consumer experience. It’s unique or rare for a solution that’s a perfect combination of cost-cutting and time-saving along with being convenient for all.

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What Is A Guest Journey Cycle?

The guest journey cycle primarily refers to the various stages of interaction between the guests and hospitality institutions like hotels and vacation rentals. Each and every stage of the guest journey cycle needs to be smooth and hassle-free which can be easily done with the help of automated messaging. 

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Significance Of Text Messaging For Vacation Rentals

Text messaging can facilitate smooth communication and ensure a memorable stay for the guests, and, in turn, create a positive impression. If you are thinking of starting vacation rental business or improving the operability of the business, it’s high time that you contemplate adopting and integrating text messages for vacation rentals. 

Moreover, messaging templates for the different stages of the guest journey can be immensely helpful as it helps in enhancing operational efficiency and increases productivity, thereby saving a lot of time that redundantly goes into unwanted manual labor. 

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How SMS Templates For Vacation Rentals Can Prove To Be Effective

Technology has enabled the usage of automation in various operations thus paving the way for smarter and faster service. Automated communication services make life easier for everyone as it provides multi-faceted benefits which are as follows:

• Cost-effective: The usage of messaging templates can be greatly beneficial for properties such as vacation rentals, Airbnb, and so on. As it is, smaller properties can’t afford to spend a fortune on marketing and customer service. 

Thus, using SMS templates helps in cutting costs and provides a level playing field to every stakeholder irrespective of size. In addition, cost-cutting is invaluable for vacation rentals as it leads to generating revenue and increased profit. 

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• Scheduling automated text messages: Setting up automated text messages for vacation rentals or SMS templates that are suitable for various occasions and situations helps in improving operational efficiency and serving guests better. In addition, scheduling automated vacation rental messages allows 24x7 customer service that too without the presence of a person.

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• Saves time: SMS templates save invaluable time and labor that can be utilized otherwise in areas that might require immediate attention. If independent hospitality institutions expect to deliver top-notch customer service, they can easily manage to do so with the help of templates. 

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• Improves efficiency: Text messages help in elevating the quality of service and, in turn, enhance efficiency for vacation rentals. Improved efficiency also leads to increased productivity which directly leads to generating more bookings. More bookings are directly proportional to more revenue generation. 

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• Generates goodwill - Quality service and a positive impression are the perfect ways to increase loyalty and attract potential guests. Since a positive experience mostly translates to positive reviews, it also helps in increasing brand awareness and generating goodwill.

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How Messages For Vacation Rentals Can Be Optimally Utilized At Various Touchpoints Of The Guest Journey Cycle

A vacation rental template for messages can be a simple yet effective way to deliver a top-notch guest experience. The entire guest journey provides various opportunities for vacation rentals to engage guests at different touchpoints. The impact of messaging has been enunciated in the following sections:

1. Booking Confirmation: Sending a booking confirmation text once a guest has booked in with you can be a great way to connect with them and initiate a conversation: 

“Dear Robert, we would like to confirm your booking with us at Galaxy Inn Vacation Home from 20/02/2023 to 22/02/2023. You can check in with us at 2 pm and your reference ID is GAIN9734. Please feel free to reach out to us for any additional information.”

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2. Pre-Arrival/Booking Reminder: Once the date of booking is nearby, a reminder can be sent to the guests to remind them about their booking. Information such as the time of check-in or the reference ID can be re-sent as messages for vacation rentals. Information regarding the address, check-in time, check-in process, etc. can also be mentioned in this message:

“Dear Robert, this is a reminder regarding your booking with us at Galaxy Inn Vacation Home from 20/02/2023 to 22/02/2023 at 2 pm. We have mailed you a brochure containing all the important information to help you prepare well for your upcoming stay. For further convenience, we have prepared a welcome manual that contains all the basic information, house rules, property and attraction guides, seamless check-in process, etc. You can access it on (*the URL*). If you have any questions, please write back to us. Hope to see you real soon.” 

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3. Check-In/On-Arrival/Welcome: During this particular touchpoint, a vacation rental welcome note or message must be sent once the guests arrive or check-in. Various other important information such as Wi-Fi passwords, nearby tourist attractions, etc. can also be included in the message:

“Dear Robert, Welcome to Galaxy Inn Vacation Home. We are very excited to welcome you here and we hope you will have a great time with us. For your convenience, we have prepared a digital amenity page that can be accessed on (*the URL*). It will give you all the important information regarding the WiFi password, breakfast timings, gym and pool timings, tourist guides, local attractions, etc. Welcome drinks are available in the main hall downstairs. We wish you a pleasant stay.”

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4. Maintenance Request Response: During the course of their stay if guests are faced with maintenance issues, they can easily request assistance with just a message. In such cases, the queries of the guests can be easily addressed with the help of automated messages:

“Dear Robert, thank you for lodging this complaint with us. We’ll be dispatching someone for your assistance shortly. Meanwhile, we appreciate your patience.”

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5. Mid-Stay: A good impression created during the earlier phase will only go so far and hence it must be ensured that the guests feel at home which can be done with the help of text messages:

“Dear Robert, we appreciate your decision to select us and we hope your stay is going as comfortable and enjoyable as we  wished it to be. Please feel free to reach out to us for any assistance regarding how we can make your stay worthwhile and what activities you can do today. We’d love to recommend some amazing stuff to you. Thanks!

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6. Pre-Departure: As the check-out time approaches for guests, quick and short text messages for vacation rentals can be regarded as yet another opportunity to serve the guests and score some brownie points. Such positive experiences mostly translate into glaring reviews:

“Dear Robert, we hope your time with us has been great so far! This is a reminder to you that your check-out time is  12 pm. Please remember, we are always at your service and merely a text away from assisting you. Thanks!”

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7. Extended Stay: Prior to checking out, guests can be provided with an option to extend their stay at a discounted rate with a quick message:

“Dear Robert, we hope you’re thoroughly enjoying your stay with us. However, if you wish to extend your stay, you can easily do so with an additional 15% rate. If you are willing to avail of the offer you can easily do so by replying to this text message with a “YES” followed by the date until which you’d like to extend your stay. Thanks!”

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8. Check-Out: As the duration of your guests’ stay comes to an end, it provides you with a final opportunity to end the journey on a high. The guests can be convinced to review their stay or fill up a survey through a mobile message:

“Dear Robert, we hope you loved your stay with us and enjoyed our hospitality. We’d really appreciate any constructive feedback from your end to improve ourselves and help us deliver memorable experiences every time. Perhaps, a quick short survey on (*the URL*) will help us know your perspective better. We look forward to hosting you soon and wish you safe travels for the onward journey!”

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9. Post Check-Out: Once the guest has checked out of the property, you can follow up with them with a subtle and polite request for a review. You must make sure that your hard work and effort don’t go unnoticed. However, you must make sure that a situation whereby the guests feel annoyed doesn’t arise by unnecessarily sending multiple review reminders.

“Dear Robert, we miss you! Hope your positive experience with us will inspire others to drop us a visit which is only possible with your priceless feedback. Please make sure to share your experience with us on (*the URL*). It will mean the world to us, thank you!”

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Conclusion 

The rental service industry has been increasingly playing an important role in the travel and tourism industry of late. Text messaging is a great way to communicate with guests as it remains the most popular medium of communication worldwide. Moreover, ever-changing guest expectations coupled with the need for hassle-free and quick service can be easily met with the help of text messages. In addition, the guest experience can also be enhanced by adding special touches for vacation rentals via text message. A positive experience directly impacts your business’s reputation and in turn, helps generate more revenue.

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With GuestTouch, Craft Excellent Messages For Vacation Rentals For Every Stage Of The Guest Journey

An all-in-one messaging solution to

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• Communicate with guests during the booking process with AI-powered WebChat
• Personalize guest engagement from pre-arrival, check-in, and check-out to post-stay
• Connect with your guests and provide a contactless experience 

And So Much More…

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