Here Are 8 Mistakes I See Airbnb Hosts Make

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Transcript from the Episode

[00:00:00] Mark: Okay. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and welcome to the Boostly Podcast. My name is Mark Simpson. I give hosts all over the world the tools, the tactics, training, and the confidence for you to get your diary bookings cut down on an overlay on Airbnb and all that jazz. Uh, let me know if you're watching live, leave a hashtag live for me in the chat.

[00:00:18] Also, let me know where you're tuning in from around the world and most importantly, give your business a little bit of a push and promote. Cause this is all about you here. Uh, I recently came across. A blog post. And the blog post was titled, so a quick share my screen. I'm a full-time traveler who has stayed in over a hundred Airbnbs here at a top eight.

[00:00:42] Mistakes that I see hosts make. It was an entitled, uh, an interesting title. You can go check it out on insider.com. But I wanted to dig into those eight mistakes and I wanted to see if you are making them and also as well, tell us what you are doing to make sure that you don't fall for these [00:01:00] mistakes.

[00:01:00] Cuz they're pretty basic. But if you are starting out. Or maybe a year in. It's so easy to to do this because you don't know what you don't know. So in this episode, we're gonna dig into these eight mistakes and we're gonna see how we can rectify it so you can get more five star reviews. Uh, so without further ado, hello to everybody who's tuning in from Cypress and from around the world.

[00:01:19] Hi, mark, all the way over in Australia. Um, let's get into it. Boostly podcast, over 500 episodes. Let's get the intro going. This is a freestyle. I'm going off the dump.

[00:01:34] Ready for my close up. Good looking. Let me tell you. Get more bookings. Ah, that'd be nice. Giving me tips. Chosen advice. Yeah. You're gonna get 'em hun. You're gonna sit back. Listen to Mark Simpson. Whoa. Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee led Bruce Lee cuz it's so hard on the tea.

[00:01:51] Is loose leaf picking up those rhymes? Don't write it. Just do a loose leaf. If you want my respect, you'll better put direct. Mm. Here are [00:02:00] the words in the podcast. That's what. All right. Hello, everybody that is tuning in live. If you're on the replay, leave a replay. Uh, we do this every, every single week, three times a week.

[00:02:11] Monday, Wednesday, and a Friday. We have a podcast that comes out. If you're not yet tuned in, uh, if you prefer 'em on YouTube, go to booster.co uk four slash YouTube. You can subscribe there, leave a forms up and a comment. If you prefer the audio version, it is available on Spotify, apple, and anywhere else you get your audio.

[00:02:30] And even if you prefer the written, you can go get the written transcription from this go to booster dot code uk four slash block. So thank you for being here. So let's dig into this, shall we? Uh, I'm gonna share my screen. Excuse me. And we're gonna dig into this block. So as you can see, uh, this chap, um, and his partner, uh, they booked their first Airbnb short term rental in 2014 and have stayed in over a hundred cents last year.

[00:02:56] He sold everything to become a full-time digital nomad. [00:03:00] Really important that digital nomad, and I'll bring that up later where it's important. And he only uses Airbnb when he travels. Ooh, should be book direct. I've experienced both. Great and disappointing listeners here. Eight things host can do better.

[00:03:13] Now, one thing that is important to to stay here. Is if anybody knows, uh, of Danny Rotstein, Daniel Rotstein, uh, he's also known as Atani Booboo or, uh, optimize Your Bmb. He's been doing this something similar for a long, long time. And again, he can definitely, uh, uh, sort of. Go along with what's being said here.

[00:03:35] Uh, so this is what I, this is what I want to do with this blog. Posts a really good one on inside, and we're gonna dig into these eight things. So what I wanna do, I know we're gonna have a lot of hosts watching and tuning into this podcast live, and we're gonna get maybe some guests as well. So host, what I wanna do is when you've been.

[00:03:51] a guest. What has been some of the biggest mistakes you see other hosts make? Please put that in the comments because then we can bounce off. This is not to call out anybody. [00:04:00] Don't say, I stayed here and it was crap because of X, Y, and Z. We're not here to do that. What we want to do is we wanna make sure that hosts aren't making these errors, because like I said earlier, you don't know what you don't know, and this chap is speaking from his experience, he's got a lot of experience, stayed in over a hundred short term rentals over a less than 10 year span.

[00:04:21] Some of the things that he's gonna put into here are pretty valid, but you may also have some as well. So let's dig in to the first one. And again, uh, the first one is a pretty standard one. Uh, let me just share my screen. So the first one that he says is, He's experienced short-term rentals where hosts don't provide basic cookware to prepare meals leaving me to down, out, dine out more than I would like.

[00:04:46] Now, this is important in the context. It's important in the context because he is a digital nomad. He is not doing this as a holiday or a vacation. This is him as a digital nomad. Now I can speak as a digital nomad and there's so many other [00:05:00] people that can attribute to this. There are so many people now who are traveling, uh, for work patience, as they are called.

[00:05:06] It is, it is not just a 2020 trend. This is keeping going and growing. There's even a new term which is slow mad, which is people that will find a place to stay. Uh, maybe it's a city or a town, or a village or a location, and they'll stay there. Not for a week, not for two weeks, not for three weeks, four weeks.

[00:05:25] So it could be there for two, three months. Okay? So it's really important that you, you get used to this because this is what people are after. Now, obviously there's people watching, like Tracy for example, who was a, a bed and breakfast guest, house owner. The cookware may not be important, but for those who are doing short term, you know, rentals, which is like apartments, houses, et cetera, and you have a kitchen, you've got to, got to, got to, got to, got to make sure that you are providing.

[00:05:48] Basic cookware. It doesn't have to be all singing or dancing, uh, but just make sure that you've got plenty of it. Make sure it is decent and it is for precise and it's not just a toaster , [00:06:00] you know, you've gotta go out and make sure that you look after 'em because again, if you've got people that are staying for a month, they're going to be living, working, and vacationing and work in your properties.

[00:06:10] Um, and I'll go through the ones that you are giving me as well in the chat. Keep adding them in. Traces added, added a load, which is, which is. So the next one that, uh, that we noticed and what it shared about was this Good pillows make me fall in love with the home and always garner a better review. I wish more hosts had them.

[00:06:32] I mean, I can attribute to that somebody that stayed in many, many short-term rentals, uh, in the past. Whether it's glamping, whether it is an apartment, in a house, in a. Good pillows are, are everything. And obviously with pillows it's hard because everybody's got different tastes, uh, and everybody's got different, uh, things that they like.

[00:06:53] Now what are you doing to. A tribute to that. What are you trying to do to fix that? [00:07:00] Do you have some spare pillows available? For example, if, if a, if a guest needs them? So what are you trying to rectify that and what, how are you combating to make sure that the pillows aren't crappy? Uh, please let me know in the, in, in the chat.

[00:07:11] Let's go straight onto the next one. So it, alongside the pillows, it's basically good badin. Um, now when you stay at a place and you've got good bedding, To be honest, every other element of the stay could be a bit crappy , but if they get a good night's sleep, which is at the end of the day, what our core focus is, is on the place to st as an the actual bed where they get their head down and sleep.

[00:07:39] If you can make up for it there, I think that even if you are borderline freestyle review with a good night's sleep, you can definitely rectify and save up to make it a a a five. So tell me, what, what are you doing? Where do you get your linen from? How are you providing this? Obviously, uh, blueprint offers, uh, Manno are doing a fantastic job with Vista, [00:08:00] making sure of it's so easy for everybody.

[00:08:01] I do go check out Manin, but yeah, bein is, is is a big one, is a big one. And obviously this hostess talked about it. Um, and sorry, this guest has talked about too, Now the next one. Now I'm gonna say about this next one, I gotta give a bit of context as a coffee drinker, as a, as somebody that loves and needs to operate and human on a bit of caffeine in the morning, this next one for me is, is key and having.

[00:08:26] A coffee maker, a decent coffee maker with a decent coffee. Now, I would add into this in bracket's local coffee, local beans for the win, because then it shows that you are supporting local businesses. But definitely a decent coffee maker now, um, If you can do the pods, fantastic. I know people don't like the pods for the environment, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:08:47] But if you're not gonna do the pods, then what can you be doing to make life a bit easier now? Um, we stayed in a, in a short term rental in Barcelona once, and it was my first introduction to, uh, Macco pots. Those are the ones that [00:09:00] sit on the stove, I think for the next four years of my life or my obsess.

[00:09:04] Um, now we've got, um, uh, like a, a coffee maker, but you know, you can never go wrong with a, a decent cafeteria and topped with local coffee beans. I mean, if you can do local coffee beans and just have a bog standard cafeteria, it's amazing because it shows to me that you are paying an interest in local businesses.

[00:09:21] And again, if you can do a deal with a local coffee maker, Whether it may be, it doesn't have to be like on your street, it doesn't have to be in your, in your town or your village. Even if it's just in your county or your state, then that still shows that you are, you are, uh, making a difference. And yet, like Michelle has said in the chat, you can get refillable, recyclable pods, da da da da.

[00:09:41] That's like your niche that you wanna go down and all that cool stuff. So there's loads of options, but. There's hosts out there that aren't coffee drinkers, which are fine, but just make a note that there are so many people that are now, you've got people, um, like Bill Faith, fantastic host, amazing podcasts, great coach, all that cool [00:10:00] stuff.

[00:10:00] He goes to town on his coffee Barss. He has got luxury properties and so he can go to town on him, but he gets people talking about his coffee bars online because of what they do when they go the that extra. So it is important and obviously don't rule out the tea drinkers. Um, having a nice selection of air obviously goes, uh, a long way.

[00:10:19] Now this is, this is a, this is a big one. Um, and again, I've witnessed this personally. I see it so many times and others do too. So there's obviously a lot of people that. Don't require, require you to clean when you check out because you've got the cleaning company of it. Come in and do it, and you charge for that.

[00:10:37] But there are a lot due, okay? And it's fine either way. But if you are going to require your guests to clean, you've got to make sure that you've given the necessary items to do so. , um, there's nothing more annoying than being expected to clean and then having to go do a shop for said items to, to, to clean.

[00:10:56] And this is being as if this is being picked up here. So if, if [00:11:00] he's picking up on it, you'll get picking up on it and you can pick up on it and you know what you need to do. And a lot, a lot of the times it is just a little simple, making sure you've got the necessary items, it can be done on your c. Et cetera, et cetera.

[00:11:12] So again, it's an important one. Make sure that you, that you do do that. Now, I did add the context to this whole blog was about digital nomads, and the next one is not gonna be a surprise to anybody but hosts that don't prioritize fast. Wifi will lose out on many guests. And, you know, this is gonna be more important because of the, the, the, the surge in digital nomadism.

[00:11:36] But also as well, you gotta look at what the, what the big OTAs are doing. For example, now with, uh, Airbnb, with Airbnb now they are going to sooner rather than later in the filter, be able to filter their results based on the speed of your wifi. So right now you can go into all of your properties, load up the app and [00:12:00] run a speed test, um, on the Airbnb app, and it will then rank how good your wifi is.

[00:12:07] Now it is definitely. To your benefit. If you've got quick wifi to show off and talk about, it's cuz so many people are looking for it. And with Tesla and with starlink that has come in, even now people that are in rural locations with crappy wifi can have a solution to this. And I've seen it in the local area of where I live in, in the uk.

[00:12:28] Even people that don't have any wifi can now get really quick wifi and you've got to talk about it because people need and want it and demand it. It's no longer an added benefit. It is a requirement. It is as a requirement, as having good pillows, as having good wifi, and you know, whether that pains for you to think of that or not, then it needs to be because there's so many people like this chap who are now living and working, working and living, and you know, whatever your niche may be, [00:13:00] however long you stay in this business for, if you are just getting started.

[00:13:04] The Generation Z, which is the next generation down, which are now 20. And under. They have grown up in a world where wifi has been super quick forever. They've grown up with tablets in their hand, and they need to, and they need and demand it. So if wifi isn't an option, or if you've got less than, say, 30 megabyte speed at present, download, upload, how can you.

[00:13:26] fix that. Look at starlink, look at these other solutions that that are out there. And if and when you do and you know that others in your area don't have good wifi speeds, good, decent internet speeds, download and upload, then talk about it, rave about it, put it in the title of your listing. Talk about it on your website.

[00:13:44] Mention it in your social media posts, and get other people to talk about it as well, because there'll be a knock on. Hundred percent. Okay, so we've gone through, if you're joining late. So Melanie joining in, uh, and a few of us that are joined in, we're talking about the biggest mistakes that host [00:14:00] make with their properties.

[00:14:01] Uh, for example, the chapter we're talking about here is documented eight. We've gone through hosts that don't provide cookware, good pillows, and in coffee maker hosts asking for a clean place, but don't provide the items. And then wifi. Now the next one. Which is actually the final one in this little podcast is, and I've seen it so many times, uh, especially for those who are maybe in apartment blocks, X, Y, and z hosts that don't provide clear instructions or are not communicative will make the entire stay stressful.

[00:14:33] Now, the one that obviously hits home the most is arrival. We had the situation a year ago. We arrived in Andora. And anybody who's ever been to Andora being to one of the main sort of locations in Andora is it's all apartment blocks. It's all, uh, very crappy parking. And we had zero instructions on how to find the apartment number.

[00:14:54] Um, we had obviously the free boys, me and Laura. It was a very long drive from Southern Spain to where we [00:15:00] were. And, um, we tried to contact the host. Um, it was. An awful experience. Crappy, crappy, crappy experience, right? And. If you properly have dialed in digital guidebooks into your business, touch day, hostfully, et cetera, and if you have members of your staff that are available to communicate to, I mean, if you haven't grown a team yet, or if you're not interested in growing a team, obviously it's gonna fall back to you.

[00:15:25] But how, if you have grown your team and your plan is to grow your team and you've, you know, you've obviously studied, uh, who not how and clockwork and all those cool things, those cool books, then. Somebody that is able to help and to communicate with it just makes that guest experience so much better.

[00:15:39] And if you do it better than everybody else, then you will get the reviews, you will get the five stars, you will get the feedback, you will get the recommendations. . Now, if you're currently not got a, a digital guidebook, please do get one. If you're, or if you're not currently using someone like Dove, which has those automated messages that go out all hos hospitable, then I really do recommend it even to the [00:16:00] point of where if you can just record, uh, a quick video.

[00:16:04] So grab a gimbal, which is just makes it steady cam. Grab your phone, put it attached to one of these gimbals, and just do a walkthrough from where the car park is to where the property is. And it can work in so many different ways. You can use it for check-in, you can use it for social media. I stayed at a place, uh, down in Cornwell, uh, this summer and until I arrived, I never realized how close the property was to.

[00:16:28] To the, to the, to the port, to the beach, and also to the parking and all. It literally was we grabbed the camera, we'd walked on a gimbal, we sped it up, and it, it documented it really, and it went on TikTok, it went, it did really well on TikTok, but it's also used in the, in the digital guide box as well. So it's a simple things to do, how you can use video.

[00:16:46] Written word, et cetera, to help with this. So it's just like anything, I, I obviously come from a sports background, sports coaching background, and I always say the team that provides the best communication will win timeout if you, every single time, if [00:17:00] you've got better communication and it comes into business as well.

[00:17:02] If you clearly. Communicate with your guest, then you will have less headaches. Those headaches that we're talking about, and everybody can think about it now, the 11 o'clock ring at night saying, Hey, I can't get into the property. Uh, what's the code? If you could clearly communicate that, then it, it, it eliminates that 99% of the time, there's always gonna be that 1%.

[00:17:24] So this is where I throw it over to you. Um, Right now. And if you wanna go check out this blog, it is a good one. Uh, go onto the insider.com and type in host airbnb, host com mistakes. Uh, I throw it over to you now. What are the biggest mistakes that you see other hosts making? Again, don't name 'em , don't name 'em outright, please.

[00:17:43] Uh, but just sort of what have you experienced along the way? Um, We've got a few here saying that, um, tea and coffee not being supplied, places are not clean. That's just a big one. Lights that don't work. Um, [00:18:00] Towels that are too small. Michelle's hubby is six foot two. I'm a fellow Tarley, and yeah, I can definitely relate to that.

[00:18:07] Let us know again, um, what your biggest mistakes that you see hosts making. Leave it in the chat because this is, this is something that we can, we can bounce off so you're watching on YouTube or Facebook or whoever. Leave it in the comments and, and we can, we can help this situation. So you. Have a crappy review.

[00:18:26] Again, as always, my name is Mark Simpson, given host of tools or tactics to training and the confidence to go increase their Derrick bookings, thank you so much for, for stopping by and for tuning in. And if you could do me a massive favor and just share this video or share the link to the audio with a friend in a Facebook group and just try and spread the word of the book Derek Movement that we are, we are created here over 500.

[00:18:48] Uh, we've got some amazing news coming up very, very soon. Some big announcements, uh, and some, all of the cool things that are going to be going on a podcast is out every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So we've got [00:19:00] all of the content to really help you drive your dire bookings, drive more profits, and cut down on your over reliance on Airbnb and all those things.

[00:19:07] But for now, stay proactive. Don't be reactive. Let's go and get some dye bookings. Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee led Bruce Lee cuz it's so hard on the tee Is loose leaf picking up those rhymes? Don't write it, just do it loosely.

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