The competition is fierce to get traveller’s to book direct on your website and not with Airbnb & Vrbo. Here are five proven tactics to turn your lookers into bookers and take share away from the OTAs.
Best Price Guarantee
Flexible Payment Terms
Clear + Explainable pet & security deposit policies
Mobile friendly instant booking
Flex Search or user-friendly quote errors
Best Price Guarantee
Most property manager websites already have cheaper rates than OTAs through the absence of a traveler fee or lower rates but few websites publicize this and have a “best rate guarantee” on their website and it’s not included with a call to action near the booking button.
Flexible Payment Terms
It’s proven that offering a 24-hour free cancellation period & offering deposit policies will boost booking conversion. Based on an experiment we ran at VacayHome Connect in 2016
We increased Booking.com reservations 50% when we moved to a 25% deposit and free 24-Hour Cancellations
Clear Policies
Guests should not require a law degree to interpret your policies in the booking process. If it’s more than two lines it’s too complicated.
The two most important policies to explain in the booking path is your pet policy & Security Deposit or Damage Waiver policy.
SideNote: I love seeing crazy rental agreements because there is always a great story behind it. Nobody adds “No Snakes” on their website unless somebody showed up with a snake.
Modern Websites
Responsive Website for Mobile Devices. Over 50% of visitors are searching on their phone or tablet & sharing your listings on mobile devices. Travelers also expect to be able to convert and book instantly online without having to go request or call you.
Flex Search or User-Friendly Quote Errors
Vacation Rentals normally have restrictions so your website needs to be able to convert travelers that search for restricted days either through a booking engine with flex search or intuitive quote error messages.
If a guest puts in a five-night stay, but the property is only available for seven nights Saturday to Saturday most booking engines would just return the property is unavailable and the traveler would bounce.
A smart booking engine should let the guest knows they need to check-in & checkout on Saturday & be able to flex search & price the 7-night stay.
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