No activity with viewing figures

[Martin-and-Phuong0]

New to hosting on Airbnb about 3 weeks now.  Enjoying the experience thus far!  We've had viewings everyday and some bookings that have come out of it however, yesterday and so far today, I've noticed zero viewings...none.   No viewings means no bookings.  We understand it's the slow season now but to have no viewings, that's concerning.  Anyone experiencing this? 

Recently we had a pre-booking request which I accepted, responded and blocked off dates.  Learned that guest has to book within an hour.  Well, she and I communicated back and forth a few times and turns out she wasn't even ready to book because she had to coordinate with her friend and they needed to pay with two credit cards.  Anyway, got a message from Airbnb to remind me about this and respond to guest (which I had already).  The 24 hours passed and guest was not ready to book yet (not sure why she would have sent in request in first place) and pre-booking request canceled.  Would this affected my placement or viewing somehow?

Appreciate any insights on this matter.

Thank you!

[Harry22]

Hey @Martin-and-Phuong0

Welcome to Airbnb

Very fast:

a) Dont bother reading the statistics, they  do not reflect the actual situation. You can check this yourself by visiting through mobile and throught desktop computer, the stats are different. I ve even had cases where the i hade more reservation than requests... (!)

I also think (im not certain) that i saw somewhere within these forums that airbnb knows about this issue and is on it.

b) Make sure you answer as fast as possible to your requests, (even if its for advsrtising, just send them back an "ok"). Also, try to approve or decline the inquiries as soon as you can. In your case, if you have answered to the guest and have even pre-aproved the reservation, i would ignore the reminder email. The airbnb mail system is not as robust as one would expect.

Since you are a new user, have a look at my post on how to promote your listings, give it a thumbs up if you like it:

25 tips to get Booked: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/New-Hosts/25-tips-to-get-booked/m-p/141233#M14496

Hope i helped,

Regards, 

Harry

[Martin-and-Phuong0]

Hi Harry,

Very helpful thank you!  Good to know stats on mobile not quite the same as on desktop.  As far as point b)....so far I've responded to everyone within an hour (even the one advertising for cleaning service) so we're good there.  Just this last request that was for pre-booking that I wasn't sure what I needed to do next after the 24 hours but I did accepted the request. 

I'll definitely check out your 25 tips to get booked! 

Thanks again!

[Bob43]

Apart from the fact that there is a "normal" fluctuation in showing up in guests' search results, not responding to "pre-approval inquiries" doesn't help you get up higher in the rankings. Airbnb recommends responding within 24 hours to keep your ratings.

In your case, you mentioned you "accepted, responded and blocked off dates". This made me wonder:

- What does it mean when you say you accepted? Did you actually click the button "pre-approve" or did you just accept in writing? Clicking this button is necessary to officially have pre-approved.

- Did you block off the dates manually? Because when you use the pre-approve button, the system will block off the dates automatically for 24 hours (which is the time frame within which a guest needs to accept, not 1 hour).

[Martin-and-Phuong0]

Hi Bob,

Yes, I did click the button "pre-approve" and system did block off the dates in system (sorry for the confusion with my message).  I was concern with what happens after the 24 hours.  When I got the message from Airbnb about following up with guest, I wasn't sure if the communication I had via email with guest would be acknowledged by Airbnb that I was responsive. 

Thanks for reminding me about the  "normal" fluctuation in guests' search results.  Just want to keep the activities going 😉

[Lawrene0]

Good news and bad, @Martin-and-Phuong0. The good: Data is delayed up to 3 days. I just looked at my own stats to verify that, and you can see that message under "Views". Take a look. So no worries about the zero views. 

I don't want to break the bad to you, but it's this: If it was a reservation request, you had 24 hours to accept or decline. I know! People don't answer you, and they waffle about payment, but you have to decide. The Help section is actually quite helpful on this matter, so do read up on it there. It didn't affect your views, but it will affect your response rate. 

Hope this helps.  

[Martin-and-Phuong0]

Thanks Lawrence!  I did accept the pre-booking within an hour so hopefully that won't affect response rate.  Good to know data is  delayed but still concerning that it's a bit "quiet".

Will take to look at the Help section about this.

Happy Hosting!