@Rebecca0
Hi Rebecca, thanks for those nice comments and I understand what you are saying. I am not talking about IB reservations which are a high percentage but, when someone comes to me with a booking request I try to pitch my message to what I feel is to their demographic.
Once a booking is in place every guest gets the same message ........"Hi XXXXXXX. Thank you for your booking and it will be our pleasure to have you stay here in our cottage on the night of January 11th and I hope we can make your stay a lovely one for you. I will be back in touch with you on the morning of the 11th to get an idea of your arrival time so I can plan my day to make sure all is ready for you when you get here.
All the best XXXXXX, see you on the 11th Jan."
I never deviate from that, but at that point the guests photo has been provided anyway.
We all realise that booking a STR is not like booking room 386 in the downtown Four Seasons, it is a leap of faith, not just for the host but for the guest as well and my desire is to make them feel comfortable with their decision to approach me.
Rebecca, this is fairly typical of how I will respond to that first request....
It breaks the ice, and immediately makes these people feel comfortable proceeding to a booking.
This is how that guest responded to that message.
A level of empathy had been established and with 10 minutes they had booked. Now I assesed that as overseas travellers using Airbnbs and seeing his profile and photo, they wanted to experience as much local colour as they could and that is why I responded that way. If he had been an image with a shaved head and a mass of tatts I still woulkd have accepted him but I would have sent a different message.
The other thing is, it is like a handshake, you build a level of comfortableness and when they arrive they almost arrive as friends...and it's a fact people do not like fighting with people they like!
Had that been two sisters coming for a wedding celebration....and elderly couple coming to visit their children and grandchildren, I would have responded in an entirely different fashion.
Rebecca, that photo enables me to build up a picture in my mind of the type of guest I am going to get. It's no big deal, and I certainly respect that it is not for everyone but, this approach has really helped me with my hosting.
Cheers.....Rob