Do you phone enquirers?

[Alvaro]

Hello. After a very poor conversion rate of 1 out of 13 genuine enquiries, I have been thinking that maybe it would improve by phoning instead of emailing. What do you think?

[Nemo]

No, I would find that very offputting as a guest, unless they have phoned you in the first instance. Email enquiries get email responses unless they ask you to ring with more information. Remember they may be looking at dozens of properties so they probably won't know who you are out of the many!

[Normandie]

Normally I wouldn't but occasionally if they deliberately supply a phone nr in the body of the enquiry and they've asked questions too, I do phone. I can't really be 100% sure but I think on the maybe half-dozen occasions I've phoned, they've always booked.

[Marks]

If an enquirer supplies a phone number then I take that as a sign they are happy to be contacted. I do phone but only if it is easier to respond to questions that way.

When I first started I phoned everyone

[Lindisfarne]

No I would never phone unless the e mail exchanges got so busy that a call was warranted

[Moliere]

Agree with Normandie and Marks - if they give you a phone number and ask a number of questions, it is often beneficial to phone. It gives you a chance to establish a rapport, convince them you're a fine example of humankind and that you do in fact exist!

Specialising in disabled-friendly holidays, I often had to phone people to confirm that we could meet their needs (and in some cases, alas, that we could not) but the result was very positive for all concerned - the guests felt more relaxed and we knew we could accommodate them - and nearly all converted to firm bookings.

Mols

[B&B netherlands]

only recently after being in business for almost 4 years, i rang someone back for the very first time. the lady couldn't figure how to send me an email. she also couldn't tell me her email address

she wanted 3 days, then 5 days, on short notice, but hadn't booked a flight for the specific dates... so i advised her to do that first... then she booked... and requested late arrival... (after 22 pm)... dutch but living in the uk... every bl**dy time she asked: can you phone me back please?

i was shocked afterwards when i received my telephone bill


and yes, she was the wellknown 'not too easy guest'; requesting brekkie at 9 am, still asleep, i put it in her room anyway - then total silence up to 11 am... the day she left my cleaner came early (a 1 hr trip!) to serve her breakfast, expecting her to leave as discussed with mrs x: before 11 am, so that my cleaner could strip the bed etc. - i was in paris.

so i had no address except for a phone number in my telephone (which stays there until i remove it, which i did after she left and i was back home)

found a worn rather .... ehm... smelly t-shirt she left, of which i disposed (my cleaner missed it, she was cross to have to wait until 1 pm when mrs. x finally left, to be able to do the room - it was her only day off work! so she did me a big favour; if i had been home, i would have taken care of breakfast etc. myself of course!)

surprised, to say the least: 8 days after she left i received a postcard! 'thank you for your great hospitality, i returned home safely! ps: could you store my t-shirt for me...?'

no address on the postcard, of course.

[kendalcottages]

I don't phone (unless they specifically email with 'please call me' of course!) but sometimes wonder whether I should.

No, I would find that very offputting as a guest, unless they have phoned you in the first instance. Email enquiries get email responses unless they ask you to ring with more information. Remember they may be looking at dozens of properties so they probably won't know who you are out of the many!

I'm with you, but one could argue that that's good reason to 'phone - an opportunity to sell yourself a little more than the rest. Just a thought...

[booboo]

Remember they may be looking at dozens of properties so they probably won't know who you are out of the many!

I would imagine that would be the case also regarding emails?

How do you make your email stand out?

[Beachcondo]

I do occasionally phone if there is something in the email that entices me to do so. They are extra personal in their tone, ask many questions etc.

Sometimes they are really grateful, sometimes they are mostly confused. It might be a higher conversion rate on my phone calls, but then that might have occurred anyway (see the reasons for me calling)

[delilah]

Hi, i'm trying to keep it all by email, but when responding to the initial enquiry, i always put the link to our website in. Quite often, they then book

[Nemo]

Hi, i'm trying to keep it all by email, but when responding to the initial enquiry, i always put the link to our website in. Quite often, they then book

I too always have my website link in my email. However, my website is not up to your standard by a long way, so that doesn't necessarily have any influence on the booking rate!

[peyre blanque]

We're quite new to this game (game...huh!) but If there's a number we always phone. From our point of view we want to know what kind of people we're likely to be dealing with - you do get a 'feel' for it - and to be sure that our place will suit them: so we ask ages of children and what kind of place they're looking for.
Apart from this I firmly believe it shows a real interest in welcoming them and (I hope) takes you towards the top of the list they undoubtedly have.
To be fair with only one property we started last year we don't get a huge number of enquiries (OD, HA (now dropped as useless - one enquiry and no bookings last year), HL started this year) so we have eight enquiries and four bookings this year so far.
I'm a believer!

[Unibond3]

It's a tricky one, but here are a couple of personal observations which you may or may not find useful.

First of all, are you confident when calling? Don't do it if it makes you feel nervous - it'll put the potential booker on edge too.

I find that if you do call, it works best if you respond as soon as the e-mail arrives. The customer's mind is still in the 'book a holiday zone'. Leave it too long before you call and they'll have moved on to something else and may therefore be irritated or will at least procrastinate until they are ready to give the matter their full attention again. Otherwise, a friendly but not over the top e-mail that clearly answers all their questions seems to get a goodly response.

[e-richard]

Good points Rick.

...it works best if you respond as soon as the e-mail arrives. The customer's mind is still in the 'book a holiday zone'....

The problem with that if you're responding to an enquiry via one of the big listing sites is that the email could arrive at your desk anything up to an hour or more after the guest has sent it, so be ready for that.