No interest or enquiries

[Claire1957]

I have listed the property since just before Christmas and so far have had 3 x 3night bookings.  I have no interest for anything else during the year accept next Christmas which is for a week!  I have reduced the price and the cleaning fee.  I am pretty competitive with others in my area with the same number of beds.  Has anyone experienced this at this time or am I doing something wrong?  I am a first time host

[Pat271]

@Claire1957  You have a nice place, good reviews, and your listing seems to be priced right. There also doesn’t seem to be a lot of saturation in your area, so that’s good. I do have a couple of suggestions:

1) Hire a professional photographer to bring out the beauty of your listing. The cost is minimal, and it can make a world of difference in your property’s appeal. Photos are what guests rely on most when making booking decisions.

2) I can’t really tell what you have to work with, but the layout of some of the bedrooms seems a bit awkward. For instance, the foot one of the beds is very close to the fireplace. Can that bed be put elsewhere in the room? What type of guest is likely to book your place? Maybe a combination of bigger and smaller beds would be better, to cater to families and singles alike.

3) Make sure the coordinates on the map are correct. Even though the guest can’t see the exact location, the map will show the general vicinity, and you seem to be a little farther out from town than some of the other listings. Nothing wrong with this - just make sure the map actually reflects where your property is.

4) You might try offering a “New Listing Discount” and price your property a little below (but not too far below) your competition for these first few bookings. After your listing gets some traction, you can raise your price again. According to a recent large survey put out by one of the dynamic pricing companies, Price and Value are the #1 and #2 considerations for guests these days.

5) You might want to look at some of the metrics under Insights (conversion, views, etc.). That will let you know the percentages of people who display your listing after the search, book your listing after the display, number of people viewing selected timeframes, and some tips on what to do if those metrics are low.

Besides the above, it could just be that January/February is not a typical time to visit your area, and you will have to be patient as people start making holiday plans. After a time, you will start getting a feel for how far in advance guests are likely to book in your area. Looking at the average lead time under Insights will help with that. It could be that the average lead time is several months in advance, or maybe in your case, just a week or two for those desiring a spontaneous weekend getaway. If the latter, I would think that things will pick up the closer you get to ideal weather conditions.

[Claire1957]

Thank you Pat for taking the trouble to reply.  I will investigate the professional photographer as I agree that would make things a lot better.  We have a King, Double, Single and a cot in the cottage, and unfortunately the single room is quite cosy so the bed is pretty close to the old fireplace, which is not used.  I think it looks worse in the photos - hence I agree with the photographer idea.  Many thanks for your tips and I will get onto them!

[Richard531]

Listen to the wonderful advice you have gotten here.

This house is actually really awesome.  But you've made so many mistakes with it.  I just wish I had the time and energy to take you through them all.  But the bones of this house, the amenities you offer, and the grounds all have fantastic potential.  

In short, you are the listing that Airbnb doesn't care about anymore. 

The good news is that you've gotten some great advice on here.

The even better news is that IT'S POSSIBLE to do a whole lot better with this house.  But will you spend the money and make the right decisions to make that to happen?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Claire1957 I think the photos are fine. I would just be patient but also consider where you could advertise the fact that people can bring their horse for coaching/riding.  Perhaps look at how expensive an advert in horse and hounds would be.

[Claire1957]

Thank you Mike and Jane, yes I had thought about that as it is an extra thing we can offer.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Claire1957 There is a dressage rider/coach thinking of doing a similar thing in Derbyshire.

[Mark116]

@Claire1957  You can check other listings around your area to see what their occupancy rate is, but January/February are generally a slow time for places where it's winter.

Your listing is lovely.  If you don't do professional photography I would recommend you retake most of the inside photos in brighter light.  I would also say that you should retake the first photo of the property in Spring when there are some flowers in bloom, I think that will significantly improve the 'curb appeal' look of the first photo.  You might even consider switching it out for the photo of the landscape.

[Claire1957]

I do agree Mark, all the photos were done just before Christmas when it was hardly ever light and I will re-do them when the sun is out and the rhodedendrums/azaleas  begin to flower.  The garden ones were taken last summer but I was thinking of putting one of them as a 'header'. Thanks so much for the feedback, greatly appreciated.

[Helen744]

Claire1957 Sometimes in the early hosting days its a good idea to listen carefully to what your guests say ,and your guests clearly state that the photos do not do your listing justice.Most people visiting your area are of course coming I assume for the delights of the nearby 'New forest 'area and the ponies . Play that up a little more and indicate distances to walking paths etcetera or places people can go for a ride. I think your place is lovely but tweak the pics a bit more and take off the sunglasses in your own pic.and maybe add some of your family . Also it is not clear if it is a 'farm stay ' and /or if you or someone else shares the property or if people can help feed the animals .... H

[Claire1957]

Thanks Helen, I think the photograph thing is the best way forward  - thank you for your other feedback too!

[Mark116]

@Claire1957  You could also look at the customized promotions.  You can pick some specific days and then offer a discount for those days only.  Depending on how much discount, Airbnb will show that as a strike through and if a larger discount they do some other additional marketing things that I can't remember.  We always move the bar down to 10% discount so only get the strike through, but this is an option that may increase your visibility.

You want to be careful though and not discount things too much in order that you don't under price the listing and potentially attract a lower quality of guest.

Good luck.

[Sudsrung0]

@Claire1957 

Personally I dont like your lead photo, As others have said you need better photo's it's worth the money,

When guest are window shopping on airbnb what would make them stop and click on your listing airbnb know how long guest stay on a page so what makes them stay? 

You could go to YT loads of video's there on how to setup your listing, 

[Claire1957]

I agree and I will get some professional photos done.  All was done in a bit of a hurry when the weather was wintry and nothing out in the garden.  Many thanks for your help and feedback

[Kia272 · Accepted solution]

@Claire1957  I think many people forget that the travel industry is a dynamic industry. There is not always going to be demand for your AirBnB, regardless of what you do. I think lowering prices and cleaning fees isn't always the way to go. I keep my price the same and just stay empty if I'm not booked. While this may sound flippant, and as if I don't need the money, that couldn't be further from the truth. However, I believe that a stay at my place is worth what it's priced at, and I'm not going to lower the price just to attract business. When the price gets too low, the not-so-great guests come to stay, and that creates its own problems. 

While you may be priced in line with the other AirBnBs in your area, they may have different amenities, different capacity, etc. I'm a firm believer in deciding on the value of my place, and then letting the bookings play out as they will. I'm sure to be an outlier with this philosophy, but that's how I feel. Good luck, Kia