Turning Enquires into bookings

[pambon]

No Windy, I'm receiving answers to MY enquiries for a rental since the 1st lady has not got back to me.

While on the subject of my holiday may I thank all you good people who pm'd me your sites with suggestions.

Sadly I was unable to accept them as, beautiful as they are, we would need a car since most of them are not within walking distance of shops for 3 senior citizens and they would all have required a long and difficult journey to arrive there; involving in all cases either/or an overnight stay near the airport of arrival plus either a change of mode of travel or a long taxi drive to reach our destination.

I am looking at rentals further south to those of you with whom I corresponded and within one hour of an international airport. Easy walking distance to shops and on a bus route to the town for visiting various locations. I may finally have found something... but am so sorry that it's not a LMH friend.

[Windy]

No Windy, I'm receiving answers to MY enquiries

Ah yes - must keep up

[olive]

My latest booking is an example of how useful it must be to chase up initial enquiries which just "die" - I don't, so I was lucky to receive this mail:

"Thank you for your reply.I am sorry it has taken a while to respond but somehow I missed your message.We would like to rent your property for the week of the xxxxxx if it is still available."

The "while to respond" was 2 days.

[Giuliana]

Hi All,
Just got 2 bookings for 2009. Things are looking up!!!!

[pambon]

Good for you Giuliana! Let's hope they'll be the first of many...

[Tocanepauli]

I just got a booking for 2 nights in our B&b from someone my mum passed on to us. The PG looks after my grandmother and told my mum she was planning a trip to France. So I said to mum get her to email me her itinerary and I could help out with her travel arangements even if they werent coming anywhere near us. We have found that if train tickets and such like are bought here, there are huge savings compared to booking from NZ.
So she did email me and they were arriving Paris getting a hire car and driving to Menerbes to their gite for a week then back to Paris and out again;
I suggested they could drive down via us in the South West, we would look after them, show them our favourite things and feed them our favourite food and then they could head off to Menerbes via Carcasonne and then back up to Paris via Lyon, the shorter route, saying that this way they got a good circuit of the country in the short time they had. I also added little titbits of info about getting a GPS, using the Autoroute and the importance of stopping for lunch at 12. I told her this was all just an option and gave her all the details I had found on Mappy about the distances from a to b.

She emailed back instantly and thanked me for my efforts and booked and even invited us to join them for their first weekend in their gite in Menerbes as it was a 4 beddy and only 2 of them.(now my first thought was that she must check with owner)

I was chuffed and am thinking about getting a standard letter of info ready to slot in to replies to enquiries for those travelling from the other side of the earth to visit this interesting culture.

Janice

[John & Yasmine FATIHA]

Hi, we are proud owners of a villa in Salé (close to Rabat) in Morocco. We bought this villa a good year ago, and are regularly renting it out. At this moment we have had only 4 or 5 short periods rented out in the last year. Although the house is on several sites and we regularly get enquiries it seems to be difficult to change enquiries into real bookings. Does somebody have good tips?

[Giddy Goat]

Hi John and Fatiha and welcome to LMH! Sorry you're having a disappointing time nabbing those bookings and am wondering if you've seen Paolo's "Sticky" yet, with some tips and a couple of extra links? It's here:

viewtopic.php?t=43

Hope these ideas are of help!

[stingray]

I'm also have the same problem. I have almost 30 enquires but not a single booking yet. Most of the enquires is just asking for availability and price. After that they have not come back. May I know what is the ratio of enquiry vs booking?

[Mouse]

hi Stingray - my conversion is round about 80%. It's higher this year for some reason - but then I've had a lot of enquiries from people who know the island well so perhaps know what they're looking for.

If you're getting enquiries then I would think your publicity/pricing etc are fine; how do you reply? do you try and draw them into conversation? Do you ask for their booking? Do you have a USP and do you 'sell' it?

How are your competitors doing? If also poorly - is there a problem with flights?
If they're doing OK are they doing something different than you?

Just some initial thoughts that might help

Mousie
x

[John & Yasmine FATIHA]

Hi Stingray,
This is obviously exactly what i mean! We also have lots of enquiries, but only one booking......And, to make the story more dramatical......This booking was made after offering € 1.000,= discount in high season for 21 days.....(so, one week free)
If we did not do that, we had NO bookings whatsoever.......
And, in fact.....We have the most interesting priced villa in the Rabat Area, considered the space and the luxury level.....
So, I think the credit crunch is debit also ......

John

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/rabat- ... ind.squery

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/rabat- ... ind.squery

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/homedi ... force=true

http://www.ihacom.nl/Luxe-vakantiewonin ... 0509_1.htm

[Margaret]

To be honest, your property is very Arab in style. I know that can be appealing to some people but, in my experience (having lived in the region), the local style is not really very appealing to Westerners. Have you looked at the other HR villas featured in the area - they have made their pictures light and sunny and even their local style is quite 'light'. They don't show the outside of their villa - yours does give an overall impression of concrete, apart from the palm!

And this paragraph is understandable and reassuring in a way, but also seems very heavy handed and negative. It would certainly make me worried about the other people holidaying in the area:
"Although we rent out our villa regularly we tend to keep up a strict allowance policy. This policy is due to past renters that disturbed our neighbours or made damages to the villa due to the way of behaviour. Our allowance policy means we strongly prefer to let our villa to families and groups of older people. Smoking inside the house is strictly prohibited! The house has several balcony's and terraces on which smoking is allowed...... The owner of the house has strict rules about the use of drugs.....they are prohibited also! We DO NOT allow use of drugs (e.g. hash) on our premises, usage of drugs could mean we IMMEDIATELY remove you and your party from our premises without any refunding..... "

It is possible that people are enquiring with you because there is not too much available in the area HR and then get put off by the detail.

[stingray]

Hi John,

Initially, I just reply them that the property is still available and give them some discount. Hopefully that they will come back. Then after reading some comments on this forum, now I try to be more persuasive by describing my vacation rental an ideal for them and more descriptive about local tourist attractions. I think the holiday rental market slowing down due global recession. I will cross my finger and see what happen in the next 6 month.

Cheers,
Ray

[John & Yasmine FATIHA]

Hi Margaret,

You think the Arab style is dis-attracting Western people, strangely enough we have more than 80% Western people renting the place! Obviously they love the style....
And, I think on we have tried to place as many pictures as possible, showing all rooms and the facades of the house.....
The text explaines we have a garden surrounding the villa.

And, about our allowance policy.......Shamefull enough we have learnt the hard way, we rented out our villa once one week to Polish people living in the UK, using extra-ordinary quantities of Alcohol and Hashies they had wild parties harrasing the neighbours and they rampaged the place. After I deducted several damaged goods from the security deposit they sarted to complain.....Even let false bad reviews.......

So, in my opinion, a warned man............
But, maybe you mean I have to do my warnings in a later stage??
Anyone else some good critics??

Anyway, Margaret, thank you very much for this reply.....I will consider it.......

[John & Yasmine FATIHA]

Hi Stingray,

I was doing the same trick. Now I am slightly changing my replies from a business like style to a more populair style with some touristic advice and even some jokes (now and then)

Not yet sure if it works!

John