Why it’s so important to respond quickly to guests
The most successful Hosts respond to guests’ messages as soon as they receive them. In fact, having a good response rate can help your listing appear higher in guests’ searches.
A fast response is especially important before booking, when guests might need more info to make a reservation, and around check-in and checkout, when guests might need a quick reply to questions. We asked Hosts who maintain a lightning-fast response rate to share a few tips.
Being more responsive
“Double-check that your Airbnb app, SMS, and email notification alerts are always active, so they’re visible on your mobile when a new message is received,” says Omar, a Superhost in Mexico City.
From there, try out Airbnb tools to automate your responses. Kath, a Host in Albany, Australia, likes to use quick replies. “They’re a huge timesaver and prevent me from having to write the same thing over and over again,” she says.
Scheduled messages also come in handy, particularly for check-in and checkout. Keshav, a Host Advisory Board member in New Delhi, India, sends a scheduled message 24 hours before each check-in that includes instructions for accessing his place and other arrival info.
“If I don’t see the guest when it’s check-in time, I send them another message to ask, ‘Hey, do you have all the information? Here it is again, in case you’re trying to find the location,’” Keshav says.
How response rate is calculated
Your response rate is the percentage of new messages from guests you’ve answered within 24 hours in the past 30 days.
This includes replying to a new inquiry from a guest, and accepting, pre-approving, or declining a reservation request.
Taking more than 24 hours to respond will decrease your overall response rate and increase your average response time.
A key part of hosting is staying connected to your Airbnb account and replying to messages quickly. Doing so improves your response rate and helps your listing appear higher in search results.