Post by High Priestess on Nov 14, 2015 3:45:10 GMT
On the new Airbnb groups, a host stated that he was afraid of confronting guests, if they were causing a problem, because he was afraid that a negative review might result.
HEre is the post:
community.airbnb.com/t5/Responsible-Hosting/Not-nice-guests-Fear-of-negative-reviews-from-guests/m-p/1720#M30
HEre is how I responded to him:
My advice is that a host should never allow the fear of getting a negative review from the guest, keep you from confronting guests about their problematic behavior. Simply put, you cannot allow yourself to be held hostage by those you have generously welcomed into your home. I think it helps to just stop being afraid of getting any negative comment in a review or some rating that is not all 5 stars. REalize that you will not always get all five star reviews. I think Airbnb's Superhost program and the resultant tendency of hosts to be fixated on star ratings actually is not helpful. I advise hosts to just do the best you can, as a small businessperson and host, and do that because you care, you care about your guests, you care about their enjoyment, you care about your home, you care about your own contentment and comfort, and you care about keeping everyone happy -- including yourself. I dont' think we as hosts need star ratings or Superhost badges to sincerely care about these things, and I actually think the star ratings system causes more stress, worry, anxiety and anger in hosts than it is worth. THe beauty of written reviews, is that the reader can understand the context involved from what they read, and they can often glean from the review, whether they think it is truthful or exaggerated, whether it is understated or overstated, whether the writer is kind or callous, tending to forgive or tending to go through life looking for problems. You mention that you are concerned with guests who dont 'give sincere reviews. I think that insincere reviews can actually be detected, in many cases. And certainly since you are able to respond to reviews, a reader of both sides of the story will have your contribution to weigh, and the more effectively and professionally you can communicate in a response, the more likely that YOU will be believed, rather than an insincere guest being believed, in any fabrications they may incorporate into a review which may be more vindictive than truthful. The issue of negative reviews has come up many times on the host forums, and what I have seen is that hosts actually can make themselves look GREAT and very professional (it can be an advertisement for how very professional you are) when you respond kindly and professionally, neutrally and concisely to a guest's negative and snarkey review. You just end up looking so much better than they do. (By contrast, hosts who fall into the temptation to write lengthy rebuttals to guests' reviews, addressing every single point in excruciating detail, and coming across as annoyed and contemptuous, do no service to themselves. )
I think the review system is actually quite good. Reviews can convey so many nuances, so much information "between the lines", and thus are transparent and open in a way that the star ratings are not. STar ratings are opaque rather than transparent, and not only does the observer not know which guest gave which star rating, but no explanation for the star ratings need be given by the guest. So I think hosts dont' really have to worry about bad reviews, ( but it's my hope that the star ratings system is overhauled.)...
I also find that having good communication skills can be very beneficial in any difficult situation with guests. Good communication means that from the start you clearly commmunicate what you are offering to the guest, and what you are not offering. WHy for instance are many guests arriving thinking they are renting an apartment, when you are offering a room? If this is happening often, it may be good for you to write your listing description to more clearly emphasize what you offer, and in initial communications with guests, to make sure every guest knows in advance what type of rental they are getting.
Good communication means that you focus on the facts, and communicate about facts, and avoid making assumptions. Good communication is actually quite an art, and not easy to attain. It's something we continually work towards. Being able to communicate skillfully, means that when you have to confront the guest about something that they are doing that isn't allowed, or some problem they are creating, you can do so cleanly, by focusing solely on the problem involved, and this can make it easier for them to respond than if they had been addressed about the issue in a shaming, unprofessional way. Of course, there is nothing that we as hosts can do if the guest has a psychological tendency to respond badly to correction or to authority figures, to react very defensively. We can only do the best we can do.
I find that it helps to confront a guest sooner rather than later when there is a problem. Waiting to confront them often means we just get more angry, and then when we're more angry, it's not going to come out so well when we have that difficult conversation. So, to try to resolve things more easily, talk to the guest as soon as you are aware of a problem.
"Right now I'm only annoyed....but later I'll be livid...!"
HEre is the post:
community.airbnb.com/t5/Responsible-Hosting/Not-nice-guests-Fear-of-negative-reviews-from-guests/m-p/1720#M30
HEre is how I responded to him:
My advice is that a host should never allow the fear of getting a negative review from the guest, keep you from confronting guests about their problematic behavior. Simply put, you cannot allow yourself to be held hostage by those you have generously welcomed into your home. I think it helps to just stop being afraid of getting any negative comment in a review or some rating that is not all 5 stars. REalize that you will not always get all five star reviews. I think Airbnb's Superhost program and the resultant tendency of hosts to be fixated on star ratings actually is not helpful. I advise hosts to just do the best you can, as a small businessperson and host, and do that because you care, you care about your guests, you care about their enjoyment, you care about your home, you care about your own contentment and comfort, and you care about keeping everyone happy -- including yourself. I dont' think we as hosts need star ratings or Superhost badges to sincerely care about these things, and I actually think the star ratings system causes more stress, worry, anxiety and anger in hosts than it is worth. THe beauty of written reviews, is that the reader can understand the context involved from what they read, and they can often glean from the review, whether they think it is truthful or exaggerated, whether it is understated or overstated, whether the writer is kind or callous, tending to forgive or tending to go through life looking for problems. You mention that you are concerned with guests who dont 'give sincere reviews. I think that insincere reviews can actually be detected, in many cases. And certainly since you are able to respond to reviews, a reader of both sides of the story will have your contribution to weigh, and the more effectively and professionally you can communicate in a response, the more likely that YOU will be believed, rather than an insincere guest being believed, in any fabrications they may incorporate into a review which may be more vindictive than truthful. The issue of negative reviews has come up many times on the host forums, and what I have seen is that hosts actually can make themselves look GREAT and very professional (it can be an advertisement for how very professional you are) when you respond kindly and professionally, neutrally and concisely to a guest's negative and snarkey review. You just end up looking so much better than they do. (By contrast, hosts who fall into the temptation to write lengthy rebuttals to guests' reviews, addressing every single point in excruciating detail, and coming across as annoyed and contemptuous, do no service to themselves. )
I think the review system is actually quite good. Reviews can convey so many nuances, so much information "between the lines", and thus are transparent and open in a way that the star ratings are not. STar ratings are opaque rather than transparent, and not only does the observer not know which guest gave which star rating, but no explanation for the star ratings need be given by the guest. So I think hosts dont' really have to worry about bad reviews, ( but it's my hope that the star ratings system is overhauled.)...
I also find that having good communication skills can be very beneficial in any difficult situation with guests. Good communication means that from the start you clearly commmunicate what you are offering to the guest, and what you are not offering. WHy for instance are many guests arriving thinking they are renting an apartment, when you are offering a room? If this is happening often, it may be good for you to write your listing description to more clearly emphasize what you offer, and in initial communications with guests, to make sure every guest knows in advance what type of rental they are getting.
Good communication means that you focus on the facts, and communicate about facts, and avoid making assumptions. Good communication is actually quite an art, and not easy to attain. It's something we continually work towards. Being able to communicate skillfully, means that when you have to confront the guest about something that they are doing that isn't allowed, or some problem they are creating, you can do so cleanly, by focusing solely on the problem involved, and this can make it easier for them to respond than if they had been addressed about the issue in a shaming, unprofessional way. Of course, there is nothing that we as hosts can do if the guest has a psychological tendency to respond badly to correction or to authority figures, to react very defensively. We can only do the best we can do.
I find that it helps to confront a guest sooner rather than later when there is a problem. Waiting to confront them often means we just get more angry, and then when we're more angry, it's not going to come out so well when we have that difficult conversation. So, to try to resolve things more easily, talk to the guest as soon as you are aware of a problem.
"Right now I'm only annoyed....but later I'll be livid...!"