Turning Enquires into bookings

How to communicate with your potential renters - how to turn site visitors into enquiries, and enquiries into bookings.
Giuliana
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Turning Enquires into bookings

Post by Giuliana »

What percentage of enquires usually turn into bookings. I get loads of enquires from "really interested people" and then they don't even reply to my e-mail :? The prices are on the web sites so they only ask for availability. Am I missing something here :?
brenda
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Post by brenda »

We generally find that the 'really interested' enquirers are the ones we never hear from again and the bookings come from people who scarcely show any interest at all!

If I get 2 or 3 gushing emails from someone with more and more questions I can virtually guarantee that suddenly the emails will stop and I'll never hear from them again.

People who just contact me to confirm that price and availability is as per the website generally book.

For us some sites e.g. Owners Direct result in few bookings in relation to enquiry numbers, other sites such as Homelidays and Spain-Holiday have a very high conversion rate.
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Brenda wrote:.. some sites e.g. Owners Direct result in few bookings in relation to enquiry numbers, other sites such as Homelidays and Spain-Holiday have a very high conversion rate.
Does anyone have any theories as to why different sites give differing conversion ratios ?

Assuming all else is equal (calendars/prices up to date).
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Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

I agree totally. I have an email conversation in my Gmaoil inbox that is 22 emails long 11 in, and 11 out. Questions about distance from the pistes, chef at home service, ski school for children, restaurants in the village open early in the evening, nearest airport, you name it. After another week, they replied that they would be unable to come as work had not approved thier holidays.
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Mountain Goat
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Post by Mountain Goat »

We've got an initial 14-page guide to our village and 7-page ski briefing which seems to either answer every question (or put them off altogether more likely).

Any new questions we add to the briefings. Knee deep in nappies and all-terrain sprog buggie details (plus photos) at the moment - she won't let go - I was out there in a snowstorm measuring the ******s yesterday.

MG
Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

Giuliana - do you just write basic facts in response to their questions? If you don't do it already, it can help to dress the answer up with a bit of extra information, encourage them to contact you again if they have any other questions etc. As well as answering very quickly of course. Most people send enquiries to lots of places at once (I know if do) and you need to make your answer stand out from the rest.

It has just taken me a month to nail down a 2 and half month booking for next summer, including lots of questions AND supplying bank and other referees, whom he did contact. It was worth it to get the money in the bank - by that stage we insisted on a bank transfer for full payment in order not to have credit card fees - bank transfers from the US were another chapter in the saga!
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Chianti
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Post by Chianti »

Giuliana
Your situation will be slightly different from ours because your property cost much more to rent. Most of those who come through our ads have already made up their minds to book and just check on the availability and cost. They don't normally ask any other questions.

We send out a letter headed email thanking them for their enquiry, offer the info they wish and ask them to let us know if they would like to proceed with a booking. Like Margaret suggests, we make a nice comment about our area. They often reply within a few hours stating that they would like to book and asking for our T&C's and a Booking Form which is the next stage.

Those who don't book often tell us why, not now coming to Italy etc.

Our conversion rate is pretty equal amongst our ads.

My guess is that many who enquire about larger, more expensive properties may not yet have the approval of the rest of their group and that may be why many don't convert to bookings.
Chianti

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Martha
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Post by Martha »

What do you send in reply? Similar to Margaret's suggestions,
I have a big template email from which I cut and paste whatever seems relevant to the enquirer - e.g. 2 families with grandparents get quite a different reply from 10 singles. If i've got time, I check my stats - you can usually figure out which one is the enquirer, and then link them up to relevant content on the site that they might have missed.

I often include a comment about the area or maybe an event that's on at the time they are visiting.

I agree with Chianti that larger properties are often subject to lots of people's opinions too..
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
Giuliana
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Post by Giuliana »

Dear Martha,
I got this through Homelidays-[i]Vorrei prenotare la tua casa vacanza. Come posso procedere?
Mi confermi il prezzo e la disponibilità?
pouvez-vous me dire si la maison est disponible du 27/12 au 03/01/09.
merci pour votre réponse rapide.Nous sommes trés intérressés[/i].
I wrote back 4 hours later
Thank you for your interest in Villa Giuliana.
The Villa is still available for the dates that you have chosen. The price for the week is of Euro 500.
Please visit our web site for further information and photos.
Look forward to your reply,

He stated he also spoke English so I wrote in English.
Am I too blunt :?
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Chianti
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Post by Chianti »

Martha has made a very important point which I don't think has been mentioned before in connection with enquiries. You can, as she's said, generally tell who are the interested parties because they've spent some time viewing most, if not all, of the pages on your website. That means they know what is on offer and are not likely to ask lots of questions.

Some of those who contact you may well be "dreamers," people who would love to stay in a property like yours but are unlikely to have the funds to do so. By making an enquiry and get a response it fills their email box and makes them feel as if the possibility were real.
Chianti

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret »

Not too blunt, no. Not making the best of the opportunity to establish a connection with the guest? Yes, I think so. We get lots of enquiries like this which turn into bookings. Perhaps say something about New Year in your area? Writing too much can just as easily turn off guests and as writing too little and I am personally not a fan of copying and pasting extra text as I would prefer to vary the words just slightly each time to avoid sounding too mechanical. But then we get a lot less enquiries than many people on here (just over 300 in 2007, which I am happy to answer individually)
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Since I keep the availability calendar up to date, the enquiries are containable and I do as you Margaret and answer each individually - I think you've made a very important point.

I could do a standard copy and paste job, and personalise it as I go along, but it's almost as slow as starting from scratch - and there's the risk that you'll leave something in that you meant to take out, which gives the game away immediately!
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Chianti
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Post by Chianti »

Juiliana

May I suggest just a slight variation:

Thank you for your enquiry. Yes the Villla is available for the period 8 July - 22 July and the cost for that period of 14 nights is €1000. If you would like to make a booking then please let us know and we will send you our Terms & Conditons and a Booking Form.

Then a nice sentance about your area or that time of year

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Kind regards


The only difference is the above example is just a wee bit more personal. I also always re-write the dates and mention how many nights as it avoids mistakes. I found recently a guest added a night but forgot to mention it, by putting the number of nights in the message and checking their Booking Form it makes it very clear. I never refer back to the website but sign off with it.
Chianti

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Martha
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Post by Martha »

It's not too blunt, but I think you're missing an opportunity to sell the dream a bit more - you could give them a bit more information about the temperatures, what is nice to do at that time of year, do they have kids? Here's what we have for families, etc etc. - A few restaurant and bar recommendations for new year perhaps? and you have a log fire! nice in winter...

Also some people like to put in something about the next stage which may be a good idea....

oh yes and I always confirm back to them the arrival and departure dates!
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pepsipuss
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Post by pepsipuss »

I think the two most important influences on conversion rates are the size of the property and how many such properties are available locally. There are generally fewer people looking for larger properties but if relatively few properties are available in the same area the enquiries will result in a good conversion rate if the price is right.
We have far fewer enquiries for our house (sleeping up to 10) than we do for 3 apartments that we look after for friends, each sleeping 4, but our conversion rate for the house is very high indeed whereas for the apartments we do a lot of replies to no effect, regardless of how warm and fuzzy the replies are! I can usually tell which ones are sending out loads of enquiries because the properties are all listed separately on one site, where the owners' info is not visible to the customer, and I get an enquiry from the same person for all three if all have availability. Interestingly, sometimes they quote different dates in each enquiry, and not only when we are showing different availability!
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