Response rates question

[Sheela22]

I have worked very hard to respond as quickly as possible to requests, but I've gotten several inquiries--  like, "Would you consider reducing the price for us, we're very clean"  or ' Would you consider one night instead of 2?" -- and In these cases, I respond very quickly, but then they do not end up booking, and the convo is over.

But Air Bnb then keeps sending me reminders to respond to their booking request even though they have not made a booking request. 

Any help/ advice on how to not let my response rate stats go down as a result of this issue?

Thanks

Sheela **

**[Name hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

[Louise0]

Don't engage, don't explain and retain your response rate by simply clicking on the 'Pre-approve' box.  This allows them to book for a minimum of two nights at your listed rate if they wish.  The rest is up to them.

[Sheela22]

Thank you! 

[Sudsrung0]

Stick to your rules, I had one recently who wanted to book one night Christmas day and extend my cancellation rules, You know thats a party in the making, 

[Gwen386]

@Sheela22 I disagree with don’t engage. If it is an inquiry,  thank the prospective guest and give your answer. As long as you have responded to the initial inquiry, you don’t need to do anything else. Just disregard airbnb reminders. 

If you get a reservation request, respond within 24 hours to maintain response rate. And, so what if you respond and “don’t make a deal.”  View it as that guest would have probably not been a good fit anyway. But you will have to either preapprove or decline. But, don’t make the mistake of not engaging.

Real-life example. In early July, a prospective guest reached out about renting my space for a month because he was coming into town to work at the nuclear plant. He had lots of questions regarding my monthly rate, if he could have his girlfriend visit one weekend, if he had to pay in a lump sum, could he clean unit himself so that I wouldn’t need to enter, and could he use an air fryer. He also wanted to know how close was the nuclear plant, laundromat, and grocery stores in proximity to my location. This was several messages back-and-forth.

So, not only did he book my apt for 2 months, he messaged yesterday and asked if he could extend his stay for another week!  

So guess what would have happened if I had not of engaged. You have nothing to lose by responding to messages. I built a relationship with this guest and he has been an awesome guest. 

[Huma0]

@Sheela22 

You do need to respond to an enquiry within 24 hours to maintain your response rate, but that's all you need to do. You do not need to pre-approve and should only do this if it's a guest you are happy to host. If the price and minimum number of nights is not suitable for them, then of course they are not going to book. 

Never decline and enquiry as it will affect your response rate and there is no need. You only have to accept/decline if it's a booking request. I am sure you know the difference.

I have no idea why you are getting reminders to respond to a booking request if it's just an enquiry. I have never seen that, only reminders to respond to the enquiry. Bear in mind that sometimes notifications are slow, i.e. I'll get a reminder to respond to a guest hours after I already responded. If you are sure it's just an enquiry, just ignore the reminders.