Effective enquiry response?

[booboo]

Hi everyone, all of a sudden I feel like a little child who needs reassuring

We got this enquiry today

your property sounds lovely would you have availability for these dates and would we need to hire a car or could we use a bus to get to town? thanks very much for your help kind regards

And we responed

Dear ****
Thankyou for your interest in our property. Yes, these dates are available.
There are various options to get to the nearest village - about 1.5 km. There are a number of very scenic walks or alternatively, we supply bicycles included in the rental price. Also, most days we go to the village or the old town Ptuj and if we have guests without a car we are happy to drop them there or/and pick them up.
There is also a good taxis service which will bring you to the house. Buses go regularly from the village to Ptuj and we can obtain timetables for you.
Hiring a car obviously gives you much flexibility, but Ptuj has a train and bus station with a reliable service to many destinations.
Please dont hesitate to contact us if you any more questions. Also we are happy to phone you if you would prefer.
Sincerely,

Sorry its all take take take at the moment, as you know we are very new to this and dont have anything to give back yet!

[FelicityA]

Well, I think that sounds like a totally perfect reply so I hope you feel reassured. You have given them all the options and stated the exact distance (which is no distance at all to walk for most people) - what more could a guest possibly want...

[Jenny C]

I think that is a fantastic reply - covers absolutely everything a guest might want to know about transport options!

[booboo]

Thank you both so much! Yes, I feel a lot better now. Of all the things I took into account when starting up, I never realized the importance of handling enquiries.

Sales was never my stronge point.
Thanks again

[tavi]

Sounds excellent to me.

Hope you get the booking!

[greenbarn]

Great reply. Something I learnt fairly early on was not to be surprised, disappointed or concerned if I never heard another peep from an enquirer for whom I'd spent time hand crafting an informative reply. Some you win, some you lose, but it's all part of providing the best experience, so keep on doing it regardless!

[Wendy@NorthIdaho]

Good reply, you are a very helpful owner. This information might be something you will want to put on your website if you don't already (many guests don't bother to read it I know...)
One bit of advice, you may want to list all of their options but minimize your volunteering to drive them to and fro, might get to be a bit much and if they know off the bat they can:
walk, taxi, bus, train, etc.. they may be a bit more self reliant and that's the sort of guest you will want anyway!

Just my 2 cents,
Wendy

[Maurmc]

I suggest that you save this reply so that you have it to hand when it's next needed. You can build up a "stock" of similar answers so that you're not always starting from scratch. I save mine as "canned responses" in gmail.

[CarolineH]

Sales was never my stronge point.

Mine neither, but in my experience, just be natural and helpful and it gets easier - you get more confident as you go along. It's not a problem if you are "too" helpful to begin with, you will find a happy balance as you find out what people want and what you feel is reasonable.

Good luck!

[booboo]

Thanks again everyone, that was composed after taking on board your last lot of suggestions.

With nothing coming back from our last lot of replys.... its nice to know we have done all we can this side!

After reading a lot of posts on here, we have decided to offer all we can for now and fine tune it according to our and our guest needs.

[brenda]

I would be wary of insurance issues when offering to drive your Guests - this can be classed as a ´taxi´ service and insurance may not cover you in the event of an accident.

[kendalcottages]

I would be wary of insurance issues when offering to drive your Guests - this can be classed as a ´taxi´ service and insurance may not cover you in the event of an accident.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Brenda. Exactly what I was about to mention.

The only thing I might change in the reply is rather than "Yes, these dates are available." I might be more inclined to say "Yes, these dates are currently available."

This does one or two things:

1) instills a sense of urgency that they should get back to you should they wish to book

2) clarifies that it could go at any time (unreasonable, I know, but some people can get 'uppity' if they email back in a couple of days and you've taken a booking in the meantime and yet you said it was available)

[booboo]

Hi and thankyou both.
I did not think of the insurance issue but luckly enough, at present here in Slovenia, it is the car that is insured and not the driver, which means that anyone can drive a car with the owners permission.

@kendalcottages, thankyou for the tip!

We never got the booking in the end, they didnt reply, sent a follow up email and they responed that they would not be able to make it this year.