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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, listeners. Welcome back for another great week. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:04] Annette: I’m Annette Grant. And together we’re–

[00:00:05] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting. 

[00:00:06] Sarah: All right. Let’s kick off this episode like we do every week, and that is sharing one of you, amazing listeners, who is using our Instagram hashtag #STRShareSunday. What we do is we find whoever is using the hashtag, we look at your properties, and we share you here in the podcast, on our Instagram channel on Sundays, and to our entire email list to give you a little marketing love. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

[00:00:28] Annette: This week we are sharing @thepineconehouse. All one word, @thepineconehouse. And let’s dig right in. One thing I want to highlight, and I know not everybody can do this in all areas, so I do want to give a little preface there, but they have done a wonderful job of turning their garage into a game room, or a multi-purpose room.

[00:00:53] They have a poker table, cards, chips. They have board games, puzzles, a foosball table, magnetic darts. Yard games can be found in there to take outside. Cornhole, jenga, bocce ball. The one thing I really love is they have a utility table, and it’s set up for all these different like outdoor activities so you can choose what you want to take outside and take it outside with you.

[00:01:18] And the other thing I want to say I love with their Instagram, they have so much outdoor activities. They’re on a lake, so they are continually showing the lake and things that you can do around. So they’re not just focusing on their property. They’re focusing on all the things to do around Pinecrest Lake, where they are located.

[00:01:39] And last but not least, their most recent– this is a segue into today’s episode– they have put in their Instagram that they are a guest favorite. And if you don’t know what a guest favorite is yet, we are going to loop you in today. But also a couple of more things about them that I love. They have an EV charger, which I think is going to become more and more popular as time goes on.

[00:02:06] And also they have these logoed mugs, these coffee mugs that are just darling. If you need to send some to some people, Pinecone House, we will give you our address. But I love the coffee. They have three childhood best friends sharing a coffee with amazing views. That was from a guest. So well done, The Pine Cone House, and keep up the amazing work and all five stars. They are a guest favorite. So let’s get on today’s episode, Sarah. 

[00:02:37] Sarah: And I feel like every time I turn around the Airbnb platform–

[00:02:42] Annette: Turn around every time. I’m going to have to start doing a little cameo on every show, even though you are the musical theater queen. Every time you turn around, there’s changes. There’s updates.

[00:02:54] Sarah: There’s updates. There’s changes to Airbnb, but as we know, Airbnb does a big update every year, and their Airbnb 2023 winter release, obviously, has some really interesting updates that I want to unpack with you and share with our listeners and just start the conversation about all the changes that are happening to the Airbnb platform.

[00:03:15] Annette: All right, let’s get into it. And hosts, we are heading into the end of the year. This is the time to really dig in, get focused for 2024. And I think these winter 2023 updates, this release is a time for us to recalibrate, check out our listings, see what we need to do, catapult all of us to success in 2024. 

[00:03:39] And like I said, The Pine Cone House, they are one of the new guest favorites. All right. And there are 2 million homes. They are the most loved homes on Airbnb that are getting this rating. So this is above and beyond super host status. So if you go to your listing, you probably noticed it a few weeks ago that all of a sudden you had that emblem of a guest favorite. And I’m not mad about this. I like it. I think what they’re trying to do is Airbnb really wants to compete with hotels.

[00:04:12] And Brian Chesky said, when people are asked, why aren’t they using Airbnb, it’s that they know the hotel brand, there’s consistency. And so he’s hoping with this new badge that will give that consistency. And I want to quote Brian. I love that he said this. Everyone listening, take this to heart. 

[00:04:29] “People often describe checking into an Airbnb as a ‘moment of truth’, when you find out if the home you booked meets your expectations,” said Brian Chesky. “Too often it doesn’t, and we’re changing that today with guest favorites, revamped reviews, and the new listings tab. You’ll know exactly what to expect every time you book.”

[00:04:49] Listeners, this is a homework assignment for all of us. What is our moment of truth? Sarah and I were going through once we heard those three words. They’re a gut punch of like, oh, it is the moment of truth. What is that guest saying right when they check in? Is it like, oh, it’s better than the pictures, or, oh my gosh, this is so not what I booked? Are people going back to the app and doing a side by side comparison? 

[00:05:13] So I just want all of us to say, what is our moment of truth? Are we living up to that expectation that we have on the app when the guest checks in? So that’s something I just want all of us to take out of this whole entire show. That right there is what is your moment of truth, and are you living up to it?

[00:05:30] Sarah: And I think this is a great opportunity, me included, listeners. Annette and I used to talk about this a lot back in the day, but we have our truth-telling friend, a layer of quality checks. We usually do this when we first open up a new short-term rental. We have someone who is not afraid to tell us the truth. They’re not just going to pat our egos. 

[00:05:49] They’re going to stay at our short-term rental, do all the things, and have the same process that other guests go through when they book a property. So whether that means paying for their stay, like a full price, then sending the money on the back end. But doing this really ensures that when they check in, it is aligned with what guest expectations should be. 

[00:06:09] But here’s the thing. Doing it when you’re two years old, three years old, six years old. You know what I mean? Because things do get tired. And sometimes when you’re just rocking and rolling and everything seems to be fine, Annette says, I don’t forget where you heard this, but just because you heard about a complaint one time doesn’t mean that’s the only person who’s experienced that downfall. They’re just the only person who took the time to tell you.

[00:06:39] Annette: Exactly. 

[00:06:41] Sarah: So listeners, and me included, reactivate, have a truth-telling friend, or at least just have them go check in and say, if I send you instructions, send the same instructions you send your guests on how to check in and then walk around the unit? Let me know what you think. Was it easy to find? Was it easy to check in? Did the code make sense? Was it well lit? Send them at nighttime. Get dialed in because now it’s going to be even more difficult to stand out if you are not ranked with this guest favorite listing.

[00:07:10] Annette: And with those guest favorites, there’s revamped ratings and reviews. So there’s new features to help guests understand the quality of every home. And the one thing I want to highlight here, because Sarah and I were chatting, what’s the difference between super hosts and getting a guest favorite?

[00:07:28] But here’s one of the things I want you to know, that guest favorites have superb record of reliability, host cancellations, and quality related customer service issues below 1%. So what I’m extracting from that statement is Airbnb wants to promote the homes where they have less customer service issues. 

[00:07:48] Sarah: Yeah.

[00:07:48] Annette: And I think that makes sense. They’re behind the scenes. You might have all five-star reviews, but are there a lot of issues between you and the guest? Are you calling a lot? So it makes sense why they’re in business, why they’re the best in the biz. And so just interesting.

[00:08:06] Sarah: Do you think people are going to be more excited to be a super host or a guest favorite? I guess because you can be a super host, but your property may not be a guest favorite.

[00:08:14] Annette: And vice versa. That’s what I understand. 

[00:08:17] Sarah: That’s good too. If you have a new property and you’re still earning your super host status, your property can– I wonder how long it takes to become a guest favorite after you open.

[00:08:25] Annette: I don’t think that was here, and I’m on the page with the releases. 

[00:08:31] Yeah. And one thing that I always love is that when Airbnb does these releases, it’s always dual-focused, for the guest and for the host. So let’s talk about some of the stuff that it’s making it easier for us.

[00:08:48] Number one, the listing tabs. It’s a new tab. It’s going to help make managing your listing that much easier. And here’s something that I want to chat about. Brian, also in this release, let us know there was a photo tour that was available on Airbnb, and he said only 10% of hosts were taking advantage of it.

[00:09:10] So again, this is the message for today in this episode. When these new releases come out, dig into them, make the changes that they’re making available for you. Now that there is this photo tour, go into the listings tab. Make sure everything’s up to speed. I know you can go in room by room and do the actual amenities there.

[00:09:30] So this is an opportunity. When these releases come out, I would just almost put it in your workflow of, this is when you should go into the app, see what’s new, and make some changes. Let Airbnb, let the world know that you are on top of it in making those changes. But I thought it was interesting that only 10% of hosts had taken advantage of that. So if there’s things out there that we can take advantage of, we definitely want to do that. 

[00:09:53] Sarah: I will say this goes along the lines of– I was listening to one of my favorite podcasters who talks a lot about marketing, and she was saying how whenever Instagram has a new feature that comes out, the users who use it and really go through that learning curve, the algorithm rewards them.

[00:10:15] So while I don’t have proof here, I would say that if you use a new feature, there’s always been that thought that if you’re in your Airbnb account more often– I know people will go in there and add a period and delete it. But if you actually go in there and use their features, it probably can’t hurt you either because they want you to use these features because apparently guests like it when things are laid out certain ways. So I also think it can help you from an algorithm standpoint.

[00:10:40] Annette: And we all know that AI is the buzzword of 2023. And if you feel like you’re a little left behind, you haven’t been utilizing AI, we’ll let Airbnb do it for you because you can– 

[00:10:53] Sarah: Do you work for Airbnb? Are you okay? 

[00:10:56] Annette: Sounded like it. They will do it. An AI-powered photo tour for you. So it’s going to organize your photos for you, and you can edit the photo tour at any time and add those amenities to each room. So if you have specific amenities in different rooms, go in and do that. 

[00:11:14] So if you felt a little behind the AI eight ball, go into your listing today. Let the AI-powered photo tour take place for you. And use that, and then you can feel like, all right, I’ve checked the AI box off of my list of things I needed to work on in 2023. The next thing I want to chat about, there’s multiple changes that happened, and smart lock integration is one of them, and options for co-host payouts and co-host messaging.

[00:11:46] Sarah: You just unpacked a lot there. Let’s do the lock first. That’s the easiest and quickest, I think.

[00:11:51] Annette: I think what I want to say about this holistically is that Airbnb is doing a lot of things to try to make it–

[00:11:58] Sarah: Oh, we’re going to go there.

[00:12:00] Annette: To stay completely within the app and their pricing visibility. So smart lock integration is coming soon, at the beginning of the new year. So with certain locks, Shlage, August and Yale. You are going to be able to connect directly and automate your guest lock codes, which I think is amazing. I think it’s huge for guest safety. I think that’s an afterthought of this.

[00:12:28] I think it’s Airbnb just wanting to make it as easy as possible for guests to check in and automate that process. But for safety, I think it’s huge because now hosts will be changing them with all of the check-in, checkout process. So that is going to be a huge feature. I know pretty much since people stopped handing the keys over, the lock integration has been a pain point, and now they’re taking it to the next level, which sounds like it’s going to be free and not an added expense at all. 

[00:13:01] So this will be interesting, again, because guests are going to be able to view that right inside the app, and hosts are going to be able to give them to them. What else do we want to go through here?

[00:13:14] Sarah: You mentioned something huge, which, I don’t know if you want to unpack later or now, but the whole upgraded pricing tools. So it’s not just smart pricing. It is dynamic pricing. And you’ll be able to see what your competitors are pricing their properties at so that you can make more educated decisions on your pricing, down to being able to, you mentioned, co-host messaging and paying your co-hosts, whether it’s a flat rate or a percentage. Like you said, Airbnb is making it so we don’t have to leave the platform. How do we feel about this?

[00:13:51] Annette: I feel like they’re genius on their part. And also co-host payments, they’re a little wishy washy on this because before you could find co-hosts on the platform, you used to be able to pay the co-hosts on the platform. Then they took that away. Then they brought it back.

[00:14:06] But I think now they see that it’s here to stay. So you can co-host payouts. So you can share payouts with co-hosts. You can share the cleaning fee or the cleaning fee plus a percentage of the booking amount. And then you can also communicate with your co-host inside the app. So there’s a new inbox feature which helps you discuss and coordinate upcoming reservations.

[00:14:26] And I think what they’re doing there is they want as many hosts as possible on the platform. And for anybody that is hesitant to join the platform, they are going to find a co-host to help them with that. And now they’re making it easier than ever because before it was probably like, how do I pay you?

[00:14:43] And it’s like, you don’t even have to worry about pay me. It’s a built in Venmo, if you will. You just put that percentage in, the automatic payments go through, and then messaging, it’s like, oh, are you going to text me? Are you going to do this? No, it’s just inside the app. So they’re making it really, really easy for people to get started. But however, it’s keeping it very insular in just the Airbnb app and not really giving opportunity to other booking engines or your direct booking site.

[00:15:13] Sarah: Let’s talk about it because you and I talk about we have guests on the show. We partner with a lot of technology. They’re sponsors of our podcast. With Airbnb coming out with all of these features to keep– yes, it’s genius on Airbnb’s part because obviously they know what they’re doing. But how do we feel, you and I, as to what this means for hosting? Listeners, a lot of the industry calls us rental by owner, right?

[00:15:45] Annette: RBOs. 

[00:15:47] Sarah: RBOs, where we own and we operate our rentals. And you and I also encourage not to put all of your tools in the Airbnb tool belt because it has happened where hosts get penalized and either their listings are blocked or they’re kicked off the platform. And while this doesn’t happen all the time, it does happen.

[00:16:12] And it’s happened to me where I felt handcuffed because of something that a guest said or a miscommunication, a misunderstanding, but my own tech stack of running multiple properties is not free. It’s not cheap. 

[00:16:28] And so obviously running a business where, listeners, if you have two, three, four properties, you want to leverage Vrbo, you want to leverage Booking.com, Google vacations, all of these different platforms. How do you feel about it? How do we feel that Airbnb is making it harder and harder to make it worth it to get bookings outside the app? 

[00:16:49] Annette: Mm-hmm. I don’t know. I feel like you can take advantage of all of these new tools if you want to. You don’t have to. It’s not mandatory. And I think they’re just looking for how are they going to expand their user base and more homes? And I think that co-hosting is the way to do that.

[00:17:10] And so they’re trying to, like, what is the path of least resistance to have co-hosts join the platform and hosts join the platform? They’re making these improvements. And pricing visibility is something also. So it’s ability to compare prices of similar listings right in your calendar and making it easy for you to track local pricing trends.

[00:17:32] They’ve had smart pricing, but this is the next level. And it is potentially, let’s say, the Wheelhouse, the PriceLabs, these add-on products, they’re trying to compete with them. Same with, they’ve made some upgrades to their guest guide. And so I think they’re also competing with these other products that are out there that hosts are paying for and just trying to bring it all in-house. But again, like you said, Sarah, it’s like all your eggs in one basket, all your tools in one toolkit. It’s like, wait a second. I would just–

[00:18:04] Sarah: Pause and really think about it. And that’s why I think Annette, you’re right. If a majority of your bookings happen on the Airbnb platform and you’re a growing host and you’re really strategically feeling out how you want to grow, understand the tools that are available for you within the Airbnb platform, but then understand that you have options outside the Airbnb platform, and start taking on additional expenses when it makes sense for you and your business.

[00:18:29] We can’t tell you what you should do because everyone’s business is so different, but I do understand there are hosts who are like, why do I need “booking direct” when everything is right here in Airbnb and I don’t need to go outside of it? Then I just do caution you because it does happen where you are handcuffed and Airbnb gets to tell you the way things are run within your hosting business because, truly, they own the reservation essentially. Except for when they don’t own it and then you’re your own legally because they don’t want to help you, whatever that situation might be.

[00:19:00] And then we can also talk about the earnings dashboard. That got an improvement. That got an upgrade, where listeners, you can now track upcoming and already paid earnings with a clear breakdown of how much each payout is calculated, and then you can use the search and filters to find a transaction or create a custom earnings report as well.

[00:19:19] Remember, though, that Airbnb doesn’t know all of your expenses. So while the earnings report is helpful to really make sure that you understand your numbers, you have to plug in the stuff that Airbnb doesn’t know. And that’s what it takes to actually run your rental.

[00:19:34] Annette: I think overall, this is the message too. With the guest favorites, all of our listeners, I know you are so focused on your guests and giving them great value that this is just showing that the cream of the crop is going to continue to rise to the top. Airbnb is going to reward you. That guest favorites is huge. They want these reviews and ratings to really make a difference. 

[00:20:01] Sarah and I chatted about it before the show, that just always leave five-star reviews for every guest, and there are guests that leave five-star reviews for every host, no matter what. So I think this is just a way to really delineate that and give some reliability there.

[00:20:20] Again, I’ve said it at the top of the show, but Airbnb, in this article, said, “Guests have told us that with so much variety, it can be hard to know what they’re going to get. This is why many people prefer hotels, and it’s the number one obstacle preventing them from booking an Airbnb.”

[00:20:36] So that’s the message for all the listeners. Let’s not make it this crapshoot if they’re going to get what was really in the picture. And I know there’s listeners out there, Sarah and I already said, we have our own work to do. There’s probably a room that doesn’t have that piece of furniture anymore, or you did do an upgrade, or maybe you need to do an upgrade, but I think this is the perfect time for all of us to take note.

[00:20:58] But go through and update your listing tab. If there’s some investments that you made and your guest doesn’t even know about it, let them know about it, but let’s make some upgrades to our listings. Let’s spend some time, whether it’s us or getting that truth-telling friend about the moment of truth. But I think we should be excited about these changes because Airbnb is focusing on the guests. We should focus on the guests. And hopefully, we’ll all be guest favorites. 

[00:21:28] Sarah: Do this with what you will. Brian Chesky also wants to– does he want to get up to 8 million homes or he wants to add 8 million homes?

[00:21:35] Annette: I think it was add 8 million.

[00:21:39] Sarah: Regardless, he wants to add a ton of homes to his platform. And so here’s where my thoughts go, listeners. It’s like, okay, Brian. If you add all those properties to your platform and then you’re also having hosts stay within your platform and not need to leave, obviously, he’s going to be creating host competition within his own platform more. And so I’m wondering, how is he going to help keep occupancy up for all of the Airbnb users if he’s also trying to increase homes on the platform?

[00:22:09] And I guess as I say that out loud, it’s if he helps hosts understand that they have to have a better check in process, higher quality stays, that people will trust short-term rentals more and go to that app more versus a hotel. But I don’t know because I know there’s a lot of chatter around Airbnbust and people having slower booking times in certain markets. And so it’s all interesting.

[00:22:39] Annette: Let’s do it, though. 

[00:22:41] Sarah: Listeners, we would love your feedback. What are you taking away from this? Always feel free to email us. We’re at hi@thanksforvisiting.me. We want to hear from you. You can also go to hostinghotline.com and ask us your questions with your voice. It can be in regards to this new update if you’ve got questions about how it relates to you and your hosting business. 

[00:23:04] If we don’t have an answer, we’ll reach out to our network of expert friends and CEOs in the industry and get you answers. But with that, happy updating your Airbnb listings. My name is Sarah Karakaian 

[00:23:18] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:23:20] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting. 

[00:23:21] Sarah: Talk to you next time.