Word of Mouth. The Holy Grail of Advertising. The most desirable of all types of promotion. Word of mouth is very difficult to track, generate, or study because it’s simply the natural behavior of a person talking about their experience. It’s happening all around us incessantly. From our partner’s review of a new toothpaste to a friend’s lavish vacation, we’re constantly the recipients of word of mouth advertising.

Word of Mouth advertising can be good, bad, ugly, or indifferent.  The power of word of mouth advertising is in the fact that someone we know is giving us their firsthand experience of using a product. If your best friend tells you about a fabulous restaurant, aren’t you more likely to check it out? If your sister goes on a great getaway, aren’t you curious to learn more about possibly visiting that destination? On the flip side, if your coworker tells you that a movie is bad, does it keep you from going to see it? If your mom tells you that a cleaning product doesn’t work, would you avoid buying it?

Of course, the feedback of our circle helps determine our actions. It’s not the only consideration we make when faced with a choice, but it oftentimes is the most powerful call to buy the product, see the movie, visit the restaurant, or do just about anything.

Word of Mouth 2.0

When faced with a decision about something we don’t know anything about, and our network doesn’t have any experience with either, what do we do? We look to the review. Reviews are the 21st century answer to word of mouth advertising.  Reviews give us an easily digestible way to determine if something is a good fit for us. They give us the confidence and courage to try something new because it worked out well for someone who went before us.

Reviews are the MOST IMPORTANT part of your rental business. This can’t be overstated or overemphasized. If you have terrible reviews, why would someone come stay with you? If you have mixed reviews, why would someone come stay with you? The short-term rental business is competitive and there are too many hosts with five-star, glowing reviews who will take your business every time if your reviews are mixed or bad.

Create Value

So how do you get great reviews?

Your guests will do the heavy lifting of positively advertising for you if you do the hard work of pleasing them throughout the stay. What does it look for a host to satisfy a guest so much they get an enthusiastic five-star review?

The host provides an exceptional VALUE.

Value is simply the belief that you got your money’s worth—or more than your money’s worth.

How do you create value in your short-term rental? Here are five places to start:

• Great service. This means quick responses to inquiries for booking and guest questions. Always being kind and positive.

• Price. Make sure your price is competitive and reasonable when compared to the competition.

• Manage Expectations. Be upfront about the good AND BAD that may exist in your rental. Our apartment gets road noise in the morning-so I say that in the listing.

• Go above and beyond. We do a thorough deep clean every time a guest departs. I leave coffee, filtered water, and snacks in the apartment. I make sure there’s soap, shampoo, and little extras a guest might have forgotten. These things don’t cost me much, if anything, but always make a lasting impression.

• Delight your guests whenever possible. Think about ways you can delight them. Maybe it’s letting them check-in early, leaving the lights on for late arrivals, providing thoughtful extras, or some other gesture, but these small things aren’t overlooked.

Ask and You Shall Receive.

If you do these five things, your guests will notice and appreciate the effort. The key is to ASK for a GOOD review. People are busy and may not recognize how important a review would be to your business-especially if you’re just starting out. Therefore, make a point of asking for a good review. You can do this in the following ways:

• When guests check-out, you can thank them for choosing to stay with you and ask they leave a good review if they were satisfied with their stay.

• Leave a note, create a sign, or mention in your guestbook how much you appreciate good reviews.

• Send a message 2-3 days after their stay asking for feedback if they had issues or a positive review.

Reviews are the heart and soul of your business. One bad review won’t wreck you, but it’s imperative that guests only have good things to say about you and your property. In the case they don’t, do everything in your power to keep them from leaving a bad review. I’ve issued refunds to guests who made a mistake in their reservation just to keep them happy. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of heartache. Put the guest first, create an exceptional value, and you’ll earn every one of those five-star reviews.