Keeping up your ratings

[Kath9]

Hi fellow hosts!

Well, after seeing my overall star ratings start to slip recently due to the ridiculous changes to the review system, my ratings have just gone back up from near to the point of losing Superhost status (4.8* overall) to 4.9*! I think my strategy may be working and just want to share it with you (I have done so before on other posts but that was the 'trial' stage - I am now seeing results!). Thanks to those other hosts who have shared similar ideas to this.

Firstly, I have put the following blurb on the first page of my guest manual - it is just underneath the house guidelines and Wifi password and I ask all my guests to spend a moment reading this page when they arrive (I'm hoping that the Wifi password prompts them to actually do so!)

Secondly, I now send the following message to all my guests once I have reviewed them:

Dear xxx, thank you so much for booking with me - you were wonderful guests and I hope you enjoyed your stay as much as I enjoyed hosting you. I have left you a 5-star review and hope you can find the time to write a review for me so I can continue to offer my home as a budget-friendly, safe and comfortable place for other guests. Thanks again - it was really lovely meeting you both! Best wishes, Kath 🙂

This message hopefully prompts them to leave a review (in order to keep up the minimum 50% review rate) as well as letting them know I have given them 5 stars in the hope they reciprocate. (Of course, this is only for guests who I have actually left a 5-star review for - I won't be sending this message to guests who have received less than 5 stars). While it does feel a bit like emotional blackmail, I think we do need to educate our guests as most of them don't realise that the overall star rating is based on the 'expectations' question and many guests will just say 'as expected', which only gives you 3 stars overall (even if they have given you 5 stars for everything else). 

Please feel free to do something similar with your guests in order to keep up your ratings. Happy hosting 2019!

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4

I must be lucky as these things don't affect me. It must suck for hosts who are in a constant state of anxiety.

"...when you get up around a couple of hundred reviews you will feel the same..."

Does that statement come with a condescending head pat too?

It's quite bold to assume you know how a complete stranger will feel, so no, I will never "feel the same" because I don't go into hysterics when I get rated a 4 instead of a 5. I laugh it off.

Millions of stays are hosted each year in spite of the weird things ABB does, so something must be working. I'm not worried. It also appears many of the successful hosts posting in the forum are still getting steady bookings, but continue to complain that the world is ending.

[Kath9]

@Suzanne302, @Sarah977, @Robin, admittedly, my impression about the 'expectations' question came from another Level 10 host a while ago, so you're right, it could just be a rumour. I recently reviewed a stay as a guest and, as you say, the first two questions were: 'How was your stay at x's place?' (with a star rating out of 5) and then 'How did your stay at x's place compare to your expectations?'. I really have no idea how the overall rating is then calculated, whether it is from one or both of these questions - perhaps there is an algorithm that calculates it based on both. I just wonder why they bother having both of these questions and I do know for a fact that many hosts (including myself) have got 5 stars for each individual item and then only 3 or 4 stars overall, which does seem strange. Why they don't calculate the overall star rating based on an average of the individual ratings, as they do for guests, beats me.

Anyway, I think it is still good to educate guests about the rating system as a lot of guests appear to think it works in the same way as hotel ratings. I also think the post-checkout message is helpful to prompt guests to leave a review as I was only just scraping above the 50% review rate. I honestly think people are becoming 'review-weary' with all the things we are expected to review these days, and many people probably don't realise how important it is for us hosts to keep our Superhost status.

[Suzanne302]

@Kath9

100% agree!

My theory, which isn't worth much, is that the "how did the stay meet/exceed expectations" question is completely for ABB internal statistics to monitor hosts. Maybe if a host gets too many "below expectations" they will be flagged or something. But it's pure speculation. I see that a lot in this forum and then misinformation runs rampant!

I've been hosting since May 2018 and had just over 40 stays, but what I've learned is that I stay booked. And other hosts I've seen who are very upset and post in the forum about things not being fair, they are also staying booked. I was booked solid the first three months I started and I had no Superhost status! And I got my first 3 bookings when I still had zero reviews.

Superhost, reviews, etc. play into you getting booked. But so does location, time of year, and pricing.

I do love the idea of educating guests on the importance of reviews and I think you've done a great job with your letter!

[Emilia42]

@Kath9 

From a perspective as a guest this is my view on a 5 star in all categories but a lower star overall: There are so many other aspects that go into a stay other than just check-in, communication, accuracy, value, and location. I’ve talked about this before but on 2 separate occasions I have been an Airbnb guest where all those aspects of the stay were perfect but the bed and bedding/pillows were so uncomfortable that I barely slept at all. Now this may just be me and I have a very high standard for sleeping arrangements. Because I am a host and know the review system all too well I gave these hosts both 5 stars across the board but trust me I really didn’t want too. If Airbnb ever does decide to average the totals I hope that they create more sub categories for things like “comfort” “amenities” etc.

[Sarah977]

@Emilia42  That's why the star rating system is flawed, IMO. It's reasonable to rate overall 4* if the bedding situation was so terrible you could barely sleep, but other guests looking at the star ratings have no idea why it was a 4* experience for you, nor would the host unless you mentioned it in the review or sent them private feedback. It seems much more useful to speak to the lack of comfortable sleeping arrangements, or anything else not covered under the other star ratings, in the written review

[Emilia42]

Agreed @Suzanne, I have encountered the review system a few times in the past 8 months and I am always asked the star rating. In fact, it is in the body of the e-mail I receive from Airbnb asking me to complete the review. I always rate the host 5 stars but answer "about the same as I expected." The hosts still receives a 5 star rating from me. But I have read a few hosts here having a different experience. I just wish Airbnb would pipe in to confirm!!

[Sarah977]

@Robin4@Kath9@Suzanne302  I just had a guest who had had 4 other airbnb stays. Two of her hosts had reviewed her and the reviews were good. As she was here for 5 days and we interacted a lot, I asked her if she had left reviews for the other places she had stayed, and she said no. She was shocked when I told her that hosts are rated on the % of guests who leave reviews and that not doing so could tank a host's rating or cause them to lose Superhost status.

She left me a very nice 5* review 🙂

[Marilyn43]

Thanks Kath,

Yes, it's getting harder and harder to meet the standards. Even though I KNOW my place is spotless I sometimes still get 4 stars for cleanliness, for example, with no reason given. People just don't like giving 5 stars.

I had a 4 star review today and the only reason given was that they would have liked earlier check-in, but didn't even ask if this was possible which it would have been if they'd only asked.

I am sincerely considering giving Airbnb the flick and just going with other companies, even though their rates are higher. Guests on here do not rate their stay based on the price they pay. Airbnb guests, generally speaking think themselves 'privileged'.

[Majida0]

Hi Kath! Good one indeed. I was just wondering if we should disclose what star rating we have given them (guest) . If you have rated them 5 star then they will be compelled to reciprocate iwith the same star rating and what if you have rated with a 4 or 3 star then they may do the same on reciprocal basis 🙂 So shouldn't we should keep it a secret untill they see it for themselves? Just wondering 🙂 

[Sandra856]

Hi @Majida0 🙂

My impression is that @Kath9 will only mention how many stars she gave in the "Thank you for staying email" if she gave 5 stars. If she gave less than 5 stars she won't mention it 🙂

[Kath9]

Hi @Majida0, I know what you're saying and I do feel slightly uncomfortable about doing it. I give nearly all my guests 5 stars anyway and I feel that if they know they have been given 5 stars, that might feel better about giving 5 stars to me too. I definitely won't be sending this message out to guests I give less than 5 stars to.

[Sandra856]

Thanks a lot  @Kath9 !! I have now made a copy for my room 🙂

[Penny75]

 Thanks Kath for that advice. I think I will take it. I was upset to lose my Superhost Status, which I had since the beginning. This was beduase we no longer did short term due to changes in rulesand so therefore did not get enough 5 stars as there were not enough bookings.  Then we added a small room that we can do short term in .  And I did not encourage people to leave reviews and the importance of the five stars! I am at 4.8 and everything else is way above the average, so it was a disappointment.  I think it is a good idea to let them understand this is not the same review system as with a hotel!

thanks for the tips. I will try it and see what happens. 

[Kath9]

@Penny0, you're welcome. Please let us know how you go with it.

[John1080 · Accepted solution]

@Kath9, I love the chart and am going to incorporate it myself I think! Thank you! 

In my pre-check-out message to guests, I include the following message:

"Thank you for your stay with us! We hope you enjoyed your stay, that you had a 5-star experience and we look forward to reading your review!" 

So far, I have an 86% review rate and a 100% 5-star rating, but I am always concerned someone will not understand the rating system and leave a 4-star review, so this chart is going to come in very handy!