Inquiries languishing

[Cheryl0]

So, I have had several inquiries which, after sending additional requests for information, receiving a reply, and sending a pre-approval, the guest has not responded to.

What do I do?

Rescind the pre-approval and decline the inquiry or rescind the pre-approval and just archive the inquiry?

[Deborah0]

There is no necessary action to take after you have communicated with a guest, and then sent them a preapproval and they have not responded.  It may be that they found another place to stay, or maybe they are still thinking.  I have sometimes not heard back, thought the guest found another place, and low and behold 3 weeks later out of the blue I hear from them again and they want to book after all.  SO you never know.  

Preapprovals expire after 24 hrs, so you don't need to remove it after 24 hrs since it has expired by then anyway.  

I dont' archive conversations with guests, because I like to have all the history of all my conversations there in case I need it.  Think of it this way: in your dialogue with a guest, you are finding out about them and also perhaps screening them to see if you feel they would be a good fit for you.  If you get to a certain point with this, and then archive it all because the guest didn't respond, what happens if they get back in touch with you a few weeks later, or the following year (for a different stay) and you have lost all that dialogue?  Now you have to repeat the questions and the whole conversation because you've lost it. That is why I don't archive conversations.  

IF the guest hasn't responded, you might drop them a short note asking if they are still interested, and letting them know you would love to have them stay.  This encouragement might prompt them to reply to you.  

[Cheryl0]

Thanks Deborah,

So...if a pre-approval expires in 24 hours why doesn't the message board remoe the pre-approval status when the expiration time is reached? It's very confusing to have someone languishing in pre-approval status (at least to newbie me....)

C

[Deborah0]

@Cheryl0

Re -- removing the preapproved status indicator.    One advantage I can see of leaving the preapproved status indicator up, after the preapproval has expired, is that this lets you as the host know that you have already preapproved them, so no need to do so again.  If the preapproval indicator went away, and the status went back to "inquiry", you might forget you had preapproved them (say, if you had had many inquiries recently), and then you might end up preapproving them again.  ANd perhaps again and again!  So, to me it makes sense that the status indicators reflect actions you as a host have already taken.  

In addition, there is a different type of process that happens, when a guest tries to book on an expired preapproval or expired special offer.  If they try to book on one that has expired, a message goes to the host that the host needs to approve the booking, because the preapproval/special offer has expired.  So this functions differently than either a reservation request or a new inquiry.  So there is actually a particular, unique "channel" for the "expired preapproval" situation, which may also be why the preapproval status remains.  

[Cheryl0]

Thanks Deborah!

Is the expired pre-approval labeled as such to the customer? In my mind, if someone doesn't accept the pre-approval in 24 hours their status reverts to an inquiry and I am free to pre-approve another inquiry for the same dates. Leaving the customer thinking they can book those dates would be misleading. Am I looking at this wrong?

[Bridget0]

@Cheryl0 Cheryl, you are always avalable to pre approve another guest, in fact you can have several pre approvals for the same dates! You are just saying that you accept the inquiry guest is a good fit and that now the decision is on their end, not yours as it is with a reservation request.

airbnb strongly pushes guest to contact several hosts, if I recall correctly it pops up with 3 "similar" listings, so don't take it personally at all if you don't hear back.

Good hosting to you!

Bridget

[Deborah0]

@Cheryl0

Guests do get messages from Airbnb telling them when their preapproval will expire.  So if they are paying attention they know it expired.  If they try to book with it, I think they get a message that it is going to you for approval.  

As Bridget and Mark indicate, you can preapprove as many people as you want for the exact same dates. Preapprovals don't block dates - dates only get blocked when someone takes the next step and books, or when they issue you a reservation request (which if you decline, unblocks the dates again).