Is it worth sending a follow up email to an enquiry?

[brenda]

Exactly how I feel LV.

I am a very caring owner and answer all enquiries promptly and politely telling people not to hesitate to contact us again if they have any queries. Our website says that all enquiries are replied to within a maximum of 24 hours and for enquirers to contact us again if they do not hear from us within this period as it means we have either not received their initial request for information or our reply has got lost somewhere in Cyber Space.

IMO that is enough.

[Marks]

I always reply promptly, politely and within an hour of the enquiry arriving (unless overnight and then by 9am the next morning). I also follow it up 4 days later with another polite email asking if I can help further and if they have any questions. More often than not I don't get a reply but several follow ups have resulted in bookings. So yes, I think it is a good idea and no it doesn't smack of desperation.

[kendalcottages]

Just to be clear, I wasn't for one moment suggesting that someone who doesn't follow up an enquiry also doesn't care.

I can see both sides to this one and, when the discussion last cropped up (not very long ago), I was probably more in the "let it go" camp. Now, having tried following up on a few occasions (spurred on, in part, by using management software that allowed me to easily keep track) and generally received positive feedback when I have, I've changed tact. I won't do it with every enquiry, just the ones that seem to have more chance of resulting in a booking.

I completely respect the alternative stance and can see where you are coming from LV, but for me it's a missed opportunity that doesn't smack of desperation. Each to their own, I suppose, but this does seem to be an issue where there's a very clear divide between owners.

[la vache!]

I won't do it with every enquiry, just the ones that seem to have more chance of resulting in a booking.

Ah, but that is different for me too. If I have a really specific enquiry, asking all sorts of different information and they also say how interested they are - I might follow up (and do on occasions). But for the majority of general enquiries, I don't. It all depends on the keeness of the original enquiry. Most are more general.

[stork]

Depends - in the beginning I often did it as I feared our reply could end in a spamfilter. Now it depends very much on the tone of the inquiry, but I usually the follow up by phone if I have not phoned to start with.

I think (hard to know for sure) I have gained a couple of bookings over four years - very few have seemed offended, in particular when I have told the spamfilter-story.

On a related note, I always send out a "now booked" email to B if A has confirmed a booking overlapping B's inquiry - and possibly make aware of alternative dates.

[MyVRZone]

We send a short follow up email to those that have not opened the email that we sent them - just in case it got caught by their spam filter.

We generally get good responses from guests that we've followed up on - none that have ever complained, most say nothing or thank us.

The followup is sent automatically 24 hours after I sent the initial response, if they haven't opened it, so I don't really need to do anything manual to maximize the rental opportunities.

We probably end up sending a followup for 10 to 20% of the emails that we send, so that's a significant portion of emails that are not being seen.

Cheers,
Neil
www.myvrzone.com

Just to be clear, I wasn't for one moment suggesting that someone who doesn't follow up an enquiry also doesn't care.

I can see both sides to this one and, when the discussion last cropped up (not very long ago), I was probably more in the "let it go" camp. Now, having tried following up on a few occasions (spurred on, in part, by using management software that allowed me to easily keep track) and generally received positive feedback when I have, I've changed tact. I won't do it with every enquiry, just the ones that seem to have more chance of resulting in a booking.

I completely respect the alternative stance and can see where you are coming from LV, but for me it's a missed opportunity that doesn't smack of desperation. Each to their own, I suppose, but this does seem to be an issue where there's a very clear divide between owners.

[Giddy Goat]

I too wouldn't like being chased - but then, as a holiday maker I am one of a rare breed it seems who does reply to the first response to our email enquiry by letting the advertiser know (if we have decided the property is not suitable) that we have found somewhere else and thanking them for their help.

That is the way I like to be treated as an owner - better still would be that they booked of course!

I realise however that many people don't use the same method to search for a holiday venue perhaps as we do and are more open as to area - thus send out loads more enquiries.

That being a possibility, maybe it is worth my reviewing our no-chaser policy!

[revdev]

I think if a person has emailed about a your/my property, and then hasn't replied to the first contact, you are well within the limits to send a follow up.

They did initiate the contact after all, so how can they get the hump by an owner following up. I'm sure some might, but you see what I mean right?....

Although I'm new to this business, you do seem to get a feeling for the one-hit wonders though

cheers

[KAB-Dennis]

I do ........but am more selective now

I send follow up emails to guests who have inquired about off/shoulder season rentals then if I have a prime week as we move closer I might send follow up for that

I also say that I want to ensure that they received my email and it did not end up in spam

[KAB-Dennis]

Neil pardon me if I appear technically challenged

You note about guests not opening up your emails and then sending a follow up email

Is it similar to the pop up I receive somtimes in OE that says do you want to alert sender that you have opened/read the email. I usually say no

Is this the style you refer or does your system allow the owner to see something else

Thanks
K

[MyVRZone]

Hi Kathleen,

It's actually a different method - all of the links in the email are special and effectively re-direct through a tracking system - the guest does not notice anything other than the link itself looking odd.

The links look a bit like the "tiny url" shortened URLs that people often use so that they don't get truncated in email readers to the point where clicking on them does not work. I was doing that anyway and this allowed me to track when they are clicked at the same time and integrate that in to the management system.

The owner can see a summary of what's happened with the email in terms of clicks and opens in the management system and history display - especially useful when the same inquirer comes back. Here's a screenshot of the hover information that is shown as you look at the incoming inquiries list:
http://www.myvrzone.com/Help/lessons/Pa ... ymbol.html

The reminders system allows you to choose the conditions under which to send a followup-email. I wrote up this article on it a while back rather than add details here:
http://www.myvrzone.com/blog/do-emails- ... -get-read/

Thanks,
Neil

Neil pardon me if I appear technically challenged

You note about guests not opening up your emails and then sending a follow up email

Is it similar to the pop up I receive somtimes in OE that says do you want to alert sender that you have opened/read the email. I usually say no

Is this the style you refer or does your system allow the owner to see something else

Thanks
K

[Beachcondo]

That's a good feature Neil!
Especially for us who receive hundreds of inquiries every year.

I looked at your VR Zone about 6 months ago and you have thought about a lot of things.

[964kevin]

I follow up after a bout 1-2 weeks, a little late some might say, but as I have had varying enquiries phone txt email ect, some people tell me they send may enquiries and then wait to see what comes in, hence the 1-2 weeks.

Why do I follow up, well it has worked a couple of times, and I wnat to know what the other person is doing as I keep a spreadsheet of enquirers dates and costs etc, it allows me to decide on the who what and when.

I also think its a little rude to enquire about my home, then not bother to say thanks for the info.....



Kevin

[Giddy Goat]

I also think its a little rude to enquire about my home, then not bother to say thanks for the info.....

Yes, that irks me too as I wouldn't do it - but with the volume of holiday rentals having grown a lot since we started renting our property 7 years ago, increasingly I am receiving standardised enquiries instead of the personalised ones - and the sender of course is simply cutting and pasting it and sending it to loads of owners. There's no excuse even so when an owner replies in a non-standardised format, not to reply - even with another standardised email: "Thank you for your quick response but we have now found a property" would be better than a deafening silence!

I suppose the flip side is that there are many owners (none here though!) who don't bother to reply to someone enquiring about dates already booked.

[Darko Kontin]

Let me just jump into this topic out of the blue

We also make follow ups to guests. In the middle of the season we wait for about 2-3 days before following up, and out side our main season we expand it to 5-7 days.

We never wait longer than that.

We have prepared text for such replies but they look personalized with only couple of adjustments.

On few occasions the follow up email reminded the guest of us and in the end they made a booking. So I don't see any reason why anyone should not use this practice.

And I agree with Giddy that evan if the requested period is book owners should reply to guests. I was surprised how many such inquires ended up in reservations for a completely different time period or requested accommodation. Don't under estimate the flexibility of your guests