Vacation Rentals Directory

Thanks for calling, please hold... for 3 days

Thursday, July 29th 2010 - comments (1) Comment

Thanks for calling, please hold... for 3 days

Just a bit fed up today.

It's been a busy year and it took us until this week to decide whether or not to take a summer break. We decided to follow the fashionable approach and opted for a staycation - this time in Cornwall. Having explored a little of Devon, we thought it might be fun to explore further south and hit the seaside.

Our search began by trawling a number of UK holiday rental websites, looking for property with late availability. It wasn't too hard to pin down and we ended up with a couple of cottages shortlisted.

So we dutifully emailed the owners because we had a couple of questions...

The first came back within an hour - we'll call her Mrs Happy. Unfortunately she was booked. However it was a bright and friendly message, apologising profusely and asking us to remember her in future. An all round great lady - probably a brilliant host!

Unfortunately the second owner has left us hanging... for 3 days. We'll call him Mr Lazy. Suffice to say we probably won't get a reply at all.

Now you might blame us for booking late - fair enough. However having edited a popular rentals site for over 8 years, we know in truth this is far from a rare occurrence at any time of year.

Some owners are brilliant and some are plain terrible at responding to enquiries. But remember every hour that passes moves customers from "buying mode" to "getting on with the rest of my life mode" - slow response times are a booking killer.

It isn't unknown for Mr Lazy's to complain about a lack of bookings, when in reality they have had streams of enquiries. Dig a little further and you find that their response times are woeful.

So could we make a plea for a few more Mrs Happy's?

Get a Blackberry or an iPhone or whatever else you need to stay in touch. Aim to respond within hours... not days. And remember that EVERY enquiry is a sales opportunity, regardless of your availability.

Ahhh... rant over, that's better. On with the search...

(As for Mr Lazy... I might name and shame him here if I'm still grumpy enough by Friday.)

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comments (1)

19th August 2010 16:10 GMT | United Kingdom Jenny Hunt wrote...
While the internet might help you find a property the expectation of an instant reply is very unrealistic and if you look at things from the owners point not a good one. Dont forget that an owner is inviting a stranger into their property no matter that money is involved. If someone ( a guest ) is going to make such a 'quick' decision about one of the most expensive purchases in their year then perhaps they are not so desirable . Owners wish to get to know potential guests and 'jumping' on the first one that comes a long is not how he majority think- Again Rental site marketeers trying to project their world onto reality I think



 

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