Dec 16, 2011

Away From Home on the Holidays – 8 Ways to Increase Bookings at Your Rental This Christmas

1: Research your market. This sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many people don’t. One of the best ways to do that is by plugging yourself into the social media sphere. You can invest in tracking software that lets you key in specific phrases or attributes and go hunting for chatter about them – which in turn leads you to the people who would be best fitted to your market profile. If you use an agent to rent your property, they should be able to research the market for you at no extra cost.

2: Review the listings your property has on the internet. Are they up to date? Could you improve the photos, or tweak the text? Now more than ever, only the best listings make it through to sales. Customers need to know as much as possible about your rental property before they decide to stay there. Make sure you have clearly outlined all amenities and upload plenty of great looking shots of a cosy interior!

3: Get on Facebook. Create a Facebook page for your rental property, and develop a fan base. When you send rental information to confirmed bookings, make sure you ask them to join up with you on Facebook. The more people who come along for the ride the more exposure your property will receive.

4: Don’t overlook the possibilities of video. Post video footage for your property to bring it to life – and make sure you upload it to YouTube as well as on your own pages. The more exposure you get in the video sites the more people will potentially see your property “in action”. Take the time to develop a proper promotional video, using seasonal music and incorporating the essential information about your rental.

5: What’s the selling point that sets your rental apart from everyone else’s? If you are looking specifically to drive custom over the festive period, then make your selling points festive ones. For example, you could decorate the place yourself and point out in your promotional material that the property is all set up for a fabulous family festive break. If you want to go all out you could even include a gimmick like welcome stockings.

6: Keep on top of your enquiries. It’s basic practice, I know, but plenty of rentals fall foul of not doing it. You’re busy, of course – but if you don’t seem enthusiastic about getting new custom, those potential visitors will go somewhere else. Invest in software that responds automatically to initial enquiries and your potential customer will feel that they are valued.

7: Get ready for Boxing Day! The festive period doesn’t finish after Christmas, and Boxing Day is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for rental enquiries. Thousands of potential customers have exhausted the entertainment possibilities of their own home and are desperately seeking somewhere else to go for a post-festive break. If you are not ready to field their enquiries with dispatch, you could miss out on the good stuff.

8: Find out what your customers want for their holiday. The most successful rentals anticipate their customer’s requirements and give them to them. Again there is plenty of software available to help you do this more efficiently – even virtual guest book software, which collates comments for you so you can build an easy picture of visitor trends – both in terms of the kinds of visitors that like your rental, and in terms of any positive or negative trending about the overall experience of staying in your property.

The above article is written and composed be Britney Danila who is associated with many travel and living communities as their freelance and staff writer. She writes articles in her free time which are related to Golf Holidays, exotic vacation plans etc.

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