All about quotes: How to turn inquiries into bookings
So, you’ve received a new inquiry on your rental – congratulations! Your listing is obviously doing a great job at attracting potential guests. But don’t get too excited – after all, it’s not a booking quite yet. In this post, we talk about how to take these inquiries and convert them into rock-solid bookings. You might think it’s all up to the traveler, but there’s a lot you can do to increase your chances of securing that booking. Plus, how many inquiries you convert into bookings is an important factor in determining how high you rank in the search results on TripAdvisor. So get this right and you’re likely to reap the benefits in the form of even more bookings!
INQUIRIES INTO BOOKINGS: 3 MUST-DOs
Maximizing your chances of converting an inquiry into a booking starts even before you receive it. Here are three must-dos:
1. Check your availability & pricing
2. Respond promptly
3. Send a quote
Did you know?
Owners who respond to an inquiry within 6 hours are 2x more likely to turn it into a booking.
HOW QUOTES WORK: REPLYING TO AN INQUIRY
Quotes are simple and straightforward, thanks to your owner dashboard. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to how they work, along with some tips to help you turn as many into bookings as possible.
Step #1
Go to your Inbox and find the inquiry. You’ll see the traveler’s message and all the inquiry details, including the dates, number of guests and the total amount you’ll earn from the booking.
Tip: Did your guest ask a question with their inquiry, about pricing for children or pets, for example? Make sure you give an answer so your guest can pay as soon as they receive your quote!
STEP #2
At this stage, you can edit the quote if you need to. Select the Edit quote on the right hand side to review the total cost. Here, you can make adjustments like including discounts, adding fees and more.
Tip: To change things like your damage deposit or how much the traveler pays upfront, you’ll need to go to Booking policies. Save changes here and the quote form will automatically update.
STEP #3
Include a reply. Your message template appears already in the message box, automatically personalized with your guest’s name.
Tip: You can edit the message templates by going to Listings > Messages templates.
BEFORE YOU HIT SEND!
- Did your guest ask a question with their inquiry, about pricing for children or pets, for example? Make sure you include an answer so your guest can pay as soon as they receive your quote!
- Is everything correct? Check once more that all the details are in order. You don’t want to cause confusion by sending another quote to correct a mistake.
- Do you want to personalise your message? Adding a personal touch can sometimes make the difference. Edit your message templates in Listings > Messages templates.
HOW QUOTES WORK: CREATING A QUOTE FROM SCRATCH
You might want to send someone a quote even if they haven’t sent you an inquiry. Maybe they’re a returning guest, or perhaps—like lots of travelers—they like the security and reassurance of paying through TripAdvisor. For these situations, you can create a quote from scratch quickly and easily in your dashboard – all you need is the guest’s email address. Go to your Inbox and you’ll see a “Create new quote” link in the top right.
This will bring up a simple three-step process where you can enter/edit all the details, including:
- Guest details (e.g. email address)
- Check-in and check-out dates
- Number of guests
- Rental cost
- Any additional fees (e.g. cleaning)
- Damage deposit
- A message for your guest
Once your guest has paid, you’ll have a confirmed booking in your calendar. We release your money 24 hours after the check-in date, and you can expect to receive it in 3 to 5 business days, depending on your bank.
The rental cost is automatically calculated using the rates you’ve set, but you can update this manually (if you want to offer a discount, for example). The final step is to send the guest a message.
Remember, the quote will use your standard message template and automatically bring in details like the names of your guest and the property – just one more way that makes the process quick and easy for you.
BEFORE YOU HIT SEND!
- Did your guest ask a question with their inquiry, about pricing for children or pets, for example? Make sure you include an answer so your guest can pay as soon as they receive your quote!
- Is everything correct? Check once more that all the details are in order. You don’t want to cause confusion by sending another quote to correct a mistake.
- Do you want to personalise your message? Adding a personal touch can sometimes make the difference. Edit your message templates in Listings > Messages templates.
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