Put Yourself in Your Guest's Shoes

Every good business owner knows they must put themselves in their customer's shoes and see things from the customer's perspective in order to achieve true success. As a VR home owner this is easier for you than most. After all, it is very easy to be a guest in your own home.

Things to Do and Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Show up unannounced, often: Don't tell the cleaning/maintenance staff you're the next to stay. When it's convenient for you, during a time that has not yet been booked, take the opportunity to enter your home as if you were a paying guest. This is the best way to see if the cleaning is up to par. Also, consider the following;

• Are the amenities adequate?- These are the little extras that make a guest feel special. Don't scrimp. This is where your home can truly shine.
  
• As a paying guest would you feel you got your money's worth?- You may feel your vacation home is priceless because it holds sentimental value for you, but try your best to think like a stranger. Someone who has yet to build memories in your home and for the sake of repeat customers you want those memories to be fond. Making the guest feel they got a great value is a part of that.
  

2. Check out your online listing: You need a listing that shouts "This is Your Home Away From Home! Come Stay Here!", and a picture is worth a thousand words.

• Do your pictures highlight your vacation home's best qualities?- No home is perfect from every angle. Make sure you don't accidentally post a pic from a bad angle. Just like people, angle and lighting can make all the difference.
• Do your pictures show off your home's personality?- Getting a feel for your home's personality is the best way for a guest to know if they will feel comfortable during their stay. If it closely resembles their own personality they will choose you over the rest.
• Do they stand out from the rest and are they good quality pictures?- This includes background color. some colors make your pictures pop while other drown out the content and make it look drab.
  

3. Make sure your check-out process is easy: Run through the booking process to make sure it's user friendly. You do not want your guest to get this far only to get frustrated with a difficult or unaccommodating check-out process and move on to someone else. Make sure you respond to inquires as soon as possible.

• Do you offer the convenience of credit card processing?- In many cases your guest may not have funds available in their bank account or they may want to charge their stay to their credit card for tax record purposes. Also, accepting credit cards speaks to you as a business owner. It means you meet the criteria credit card companies place on businesses to have the opportunity to represent their brand, ie; Visa/MasterCard, Discover, etc.. By accepting credit cards you are offering peace of mind. Credit Card companies offer cardholders recourse should the business they exchanged money with not be law abiding, upstanding businesses.

By going through the process from start to finish you get a feel for what your guests are experiencing. The benefits are astounding! You will reap the rewards of being in the know and will be better able to communicate with your guests to discover and meet their needs. The final result; happy guests who are willing to come back again and again as well as refer you to friends and family.