Hello. Welcome back to another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

I'm Annette Grant, and together we are. Thanks for Visiting and this is the Hosting Hotline.

That was really weird, but let's just go with it. If you'd like to get your hosting questions answered here on the hosting hotline, go to hostinghotline.com. Ask your question, and we'll answer it here on the podcast or.

Remix.

Engage with us on Instagram or YouTube and we'll answer your questions there as well.

But I prefer them to call in to be truthful 'cause I love to hear their voices.

I do too. It is fun. But today we're gonna help @mchung5611. It was a comment on a YouTube video and this person asks for a brand new listing, would you include that in either the title or description, to explain why you have no reviews or very few? I know that I look at numbers of reviews a lot and those with very few, I would wonder what's wrong and maybe pass right over them. So is it good to nip that concern in the bud and just say quote, new listing unquote, and how timely of this question, because we are in the middle of getting everyone who wants to be in our bootcamp registered. Getting their, their list of all the things and getting them all the dates and times of our live trainings. The workbooks.

It's our, it's our Booked and Profitable Listing Audit Bootcamp.

Yes. And we are going to have some very tactical feedback for your exact listing.

Yes. Because your listing is your billboard.

Yes.

Hence why this, uh YouTuber is concerned about her billboard not having any reviews.

Absolutely. So should we, they ask, should we say new listing somewhere in on the listing? And we believe that this would be a great idea if the property feels new, renovated and fresh. Right. So, but we never want to, uh. Over promise and then under deliver, right? Because remember that that check-in experience has to be on point. And if they feel like they got duped.

Right.

If they got the bait and switch, there's no bringing them back from that experience.

Because you have to understand when you say brand new, yes, you might mean brand new to you to the OTA or a brand new listing, right? But the. What you are portraying to the, the guest is not only new to, let's say, Airbnb, but it's also brand new, everything inside of it. And so we just want you to be very careful when you're saying brand new. You know, when we normally see that, um, in other, put yourself in the guest shoes when you see those words in other advertisements. They are, they are talking about, um, the, the experience and what's included. So not just because you're brand new to the OTA. So we wanna be very clear that you need to match what you, what you're advertising there.

And I mentioned the check-in process and being oversold and under delivered, but also if you're using that, you know, all caps, exclamation point in your title, and then the guest, potential guest looks at your listing and they see the photos and they're maybe not great photos, or they can tell that it doesn't look new, renovated or fresh. That can also hurt your conversion. So using the words like the, like the YouTuber asked, you know, should they say new listing? And you can, but just make sure you're backing that up with something that matches that excitement, right? Uh, next up, if it is a new listing, so whether it's newly renovated, refreshed, what have you, if it is new, especially on Airbnb. It does give you extra visibility in search.

Yeah, you're gonna get that brand new Airbnb algorithm love.

Yes. But remember, it is a test. Airbnb wants to see how is their audience going to react to this new listing. Is it going to be favorable to the algorithm, to the potential guest experience. So don't take that opportunity lightly. Really lean into your response time to the listing being optimized. And that is exactly what our Listing Audit Bootcamp is all about, is making sure that, obviously you always want to have a listing that is optimized for conversions, right? Taking that looker to a booker. Especially when it's a new listing, but good news is you don't have a lot of reviews yet. Yes, someone might pass over it, but remember you will get served up in the algorithm. So you do have that, and then you have to kind of like this YouTuber is saying, take it to that next level and overcome the objection. That's, that's in marketing, right? That is what this question is all about, is how do I overcome this subconscious objection that a potential booker might have, because I don't have a lot of reviews. So how can we build trust when we don't have a lot of reviews? And the first thing I can think of, Annette, is obviously being very responsive to guest questions.

Absolutely. And then also, again, communicating with them in your listing description, letting them know we're a new listing. We wanna know if you have any questions, we're here to help. So just the way that you're communicating with a guest throughout your listing and um, throughout that communication is a very, very important, and you wanna be open and confident, but you don't wanna overexplain yourself. Don't be too needy. Mm-hmm. You know, um, I, I like less is more and no news is good, good news, um, in, in my world. So just be there to help. But here's the thing. Someone gives you that constructive criticism or they really ask you something you've gotta be prepared to deliver. So if you're not in that area, you know, if you're not right next to your home, if you're a remote host, like you need to have some backup plans. I mean, you always need to have them, but don't give these first few guests. I mean, you've gotta be ready to make sure, um, that you're taking care of it. Hopefully you've pressure tested your property ahead of time too.

One of my favorite marketing lessons that I've learned from people. Way more experienced than me is when you wanna overcome an objection is just to meet that objection head on. So you could say, instead of, we're a new listing list, know if you have any questions, we're here to help. You could say, wonder why we don't have very many reviews. I mean, what an interesting hook. And then the next line can say, while we're a new listing on Airbnb, we're not new to five star hospitality or whatever that vibe is that you wanna get, but you don't have to beat around the bush when it comes to what you think the objection is. And I agree with this person, like for me, reviews are everything. And it's not just the overs all review for me. I go to the bottom and I see what kind of reviews they got on cleanliness 'cause cleanliness for me is, is huge. So if you don't have any. I'm just supposed to trust you, but I see that hook where you're kind of meeting what my thoughts are right away, and then how you can overcome them. With we know that cleanliness, comfort, and safety is your priority, and that is why we have done X, Y, Z. Right? Like, so just say something that you don't see other hosts say on their listening descriptions, especially if you have to overcome some objection like that and just say it.

Yeah. And I like in, in the question it was like, I know I look at the number of reviews a lot. Wonder what's wrong, or Passover, this is where you could say, Hey, I've stayed in. You could name how many places. And that's why I beca I decided to become a host. Absolutely. Like letting, letting other people know that you've had that, um, experience is really helpful there.

So. Brand new can help if it matches the guest experience, but most important is focusing on that responsiveness and always delivering that flawless first experience, whether it's pre-booking or post-booking. And if you are at all intrigued by this little nuance of your listing and how it can help improve or hurt your conversions, you've got to make sure you join us for our Listing Audit Bootcamp. We will not have another bootcamp like this this year and it is great to go into the rest of Q3 and Q4 leading into next year with a listing that is optimized and every detail is shined up. So thanksforvisiting.com/bootcamp. We wanna see all of you there 'cause we are going to be there live and we get to interact and like this podcast we actually get to like. See your faces. It's so fun.

Yeah. So if you're one of those hosts listening, and I know you're out there that still has brand new somewhere in your listing because you've said it and forget it, because I see them all the time, I'm like, why are you saying brand new? Because you've been hosting for 10 years on this front.

You have 200 reviews.

And I'm like, that's no, you gotta tell me what's brand new. That just shows me that you said it. Forget it away. So if you have brand new, it's okay in your listing somewhere, we'll fix it. Today is the day to sign up for the bootcamp and then we're gonna remedy it.

With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

I'm Annette Grant, and together we are. Thanks for Visiting.

Talk to you next time.