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431. The One Simple Change That Will Boost Your Airbnb Bookings in 2025

Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:00] Hello, welcome back for another [00:01:00]
great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.
Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant and together we are, Thanks for visiting.
Sarah Karakaian: Let’s start this episode like we do each and every week and
that is celebrating one of you, our dedicated listeners, who’s going to strshare.
com, sharing everything you can about your short term rentals that we can share
you here on the podcast on our Instagram account every Sunday to our email
list.
Annette, who are we sharing this week?
Spotlight on Shiloh Glamping
Annette Grant: This week we are sharing @ShilohGlamping, S H I L O H, and
I want to highlight a few things here. First and foremost, I love their pinned post
on their Instagram account, and I especially love the one where they introduce
themselves, Tobin and Jennifer, and they give this really just bio of themselves.
It like makes me want to go stay with them. I feel super connected to them
immediately and I just think it’s always smart for hosts to introduce themselves
in the pin. The second pin that I love is a video tour. So I think right there,
[00:02:00] boom, boom, those are two things like show me the space, show me
the hosts, sign me up.
Um, so, so take Take that as, um, a guide for you as you’re working on your
account this year. And then I love their direct booking site, Shiloglamping. com.
Check it out. It is simple. It is to the point. The thing that I really love here,
please go check it out is their FAQ section. They really just break down,
honestly, any question a guest could have.
Super, super simple and some of them are, are one word answers. Some of them
are longer, but I would, I would encourage you to go look at their FAQs
because they’ve got them covered. I think it’s a great way. Um, and their, their
direct booking site is just simple. So if you’re wanting to build your own direct
booking site this, this year, take a look at them and see how just less, less is
better.
Get it started. Put yourself out there. Well done, Shiloh Glamping. Thanks for
writing in. We hope you have a wonderful year in [00:03:00] your short term
rental.
Introduction to Instant Book
Annette Grant: This episode, we are going to focus on one thing that we see a
lot of hosts not doing or participating in, that’s leaving potentially
Sarah Karakaian: Not potentially. It is.
Annette Grant: It’s leaving money on the table. Reservation after reservation
after reservation on the table and I, you know what, I’m gonna put it out there. If
you are a host and you do not have this turned on, I would not stay with you
because I would not even see your listing. I’m putting it out there. This is a filter
I use and I wouldn’t even see your space.
Even if you have the best space on the planet, I wouldn’t see it because I use this
filter. What is it, Sarah?
Sarah Karakaian: We’re talking about instant book today and here’s the deal.
So we are, as we’re recording this, and I think we’ll still kind of be in it once this
goes live, but we are hosting our bootcamp, which if you didn’t jump in this
time, it’s okay, but we will do this [00:04:00] again and you need to join us.
It is giving us life and we have discovered that, listen, we’ve been doing this a
long time and so some things that we mentally got over years and years, dare I
say decade ago, people are obviously if they’re new to the game, they’re having
the same mindset shifts that we had to go through. But one of those it’s it is
instant book and I am floored that so many hosts are terrified of using instant
book and so we wanted to talk about it today.
Annette Grant: And I will share with you. So I am one of those reformed.
terrified hosts. And a little story here is I went to one of the Airbnb opens.
Unfortunately, they do not have them anymore. I had the opportunity to go to
the last one in LA. And this is cool, almost a decade ago. And when I say that
ticket, I think was 1, 000 to go to it.
Obviously, I had to travel there had to stay there. This one takeaway, made me
tens of thousands of dollars. And I, I encourage all of you, like [00:05:00] there
can be one idea that really is a game changer for you. And this was the idea
because I was surrounded by hosts from all over the world. I’d maybe been
hosting for 30 days.
Okay. So also encourage you, if you are not investing in yourself, you need to,
cause this is the game changer. I invested in myself to go learn and these hosts
had been doing it for a long time. And I was so scared of like instant book, like
people just instantly book my place. But when I say, I asked host after host after
host again from around the world from someone with an ADU from someone
with, you know, letting people stay in their homes to giant vacation homes.
And the answer time after time after time was like, girl, you crazy. Turn it on
immediately. When I say I turned it on before I left. And the reservation started
coming in. I did like that was game changer for, for me. So I do want to share, I
know where, I know where you’re at. If you don’t have it turned on, [00:06:00]
but here’s, what’s so great.
It’s one of those lovely little slide buttons. So you can slide it on, you can slide it
off, right? So you could, you’re not committed. It’s not a tattoo. Sarah’s gonna
make me get a tattoo one day, but it’s not committed. You can get those lasered
away too, but you can just slide it back and forth, okay? So, so again, this is
something that doesn’t have to be forever.
Let’s just tell them why.
Sarah Karakaian: Let’s take a step back first. In case anyone’s listening
because they are host curious. What is instant book?
Benefits of Instant Book
Sarah Karakaian: Instant book is a feature that allows a guest to book without
prior host approval. Okay. The benefits of this is that it streamlines the booking
process for guests and hosts, and it reduces barriers to booking, especially for
last minute travelers.
Who is last minute traveler there? They have a stigma. We think that they are
Terrible humans. They, uh, are disorganized. They want to cause some sort of
problem. Party. They’re partiers. Their name is also Annette Grant. Mm hmm.
So, when I tell you this woman will travel to Europe and not have a place to
stay until she [00:07:00] lands on that soil, I mean it.
And there are. It shocked me. There are a lot of people like Annette Grant and
they are good guests.
Annette Grant: They just, I like to see the area before I commit. There we go. I
want to see where, I want to get the lay of the land sometimes before I decide.
Or, it’s a road trip and I don’t know exactly how far I’m going to get or where
I’m going to get. So, yes.
Sarah Karakaian: And the reason why both Annette and myself and other
experienced Airbnb be. Guest put that filter on of turn on instant book when
they go to book is because they don’t want to have to wait and Have a
conversation with a host they want to get because listen if we’re taking time to
book a property Whether it’s a large home for a group I don’t want to hem and
haw once I decide on what I want I want to be done and move on to the next
thing in my life
Annette Grant: Right, for example, if you want to book a hotel, you don’t have
to ask them can I book on these dates?
Right? You see they’re available and you book. So we always like to [00:08:00]
mirror as many things in traditional hospitality as possible. And the one thing
that Sarah said that I want to highlight is it streamlines the booking process for
you hosts. It’s less work on your part. Less back and forth. Um, you know,
you’re not having to go back and forth with the guest.
So imagine taking some of that stuff off of, off of your plate too.
Sarah Karakaian: One of the topics in, so our bootcamp for January is booked
and profitable, not just booked or booked in high occupancy. It’s booked and
profitable. And what we did in this bootcamp, I’ll give you a little bit of a sneak
peek is we related the booking process to that of a sales funnel because that is
what it is.
All right. If it, if sales makes you feel icky, I need you to kind of get over that
whole thing because selling is serving and you change that mindset. You have a
product, it is your property. Okay. and you are selling it online, when you create
friction in that booking process, you could be losing out on potential guests.
Okay? So, [00:09:00] so what happens there with Instant Book when you have
it turned off, you are causing friction. A guest has to interact with you and then
wait for you to respond before you can approve their, their stay. And so,
Annette Grant: The algorithm actually, I’m going to say it punishes you for
this. It does. Because instant book listings are prioritized by Airbnb.
Yes. And listings that don’t have it turned on, that’s perceived that there’s more
friction there. So think about it from Airbnb’s perspective standpoint, they want,
they want you
booked and blessed. Yeah, they want properties booked fast, quick, and before
you make a decision to go somewhere else. So the less friction there is, the
more likely they’re going to serve you up.
And we are going to give you a stat. That’s obviously stats change on a daily
basis, but if this one does not convince you that you should try instant book,
then I don’t know what else to tell you.
Sarah Karakaian: So Airbnb reports 60 percent of bookings are made
[00:10:00] using Instant Book. And then when we did our research, both
RankBreeze and IntelliHost report that if you don’t have Instant Book on, you
are missing out on 50 percent of potential reservations for your property.
And we already know how hard it is in today’s market. It is to stand out in a sea
of online listings. So by just turning that on and listen, we’re going to address
your fears. So just hang tight. But just by turning that on, you improve your
chances of improving your occupancy by 50%.
Yeah. If not 60 percent according to Airbnb.
Annette Grant: Right. And we have a laundry list of things that you can do,
but this is one of those that’s like, Hey, if you are sitting there trying to figure
out, you know, how do I make more money with my short term rental? We are
serving this up on a silver platter for you. All right? So you want to make sure,
like, are you being competitive?
And this is one of those things. If you’re not using it, you’re not. You know,
you’re not putting yourself in the most, um, competitive space that you could be.
Sarah Karakaian: [00:11:00] Let’s address your fears because I know you are
all right now talking back at us while you’re on your treadmill or in your car and
you’re like, but ladies.
Annette Grant: And that’s okay. And guess what? Overarching to this whole
thing. You do you. Oh yeah. It’s your business. It’s your business. You can do
whatever you want, but if you are looking to get more bookings, looking to get
more bookings. Yeah. Um, We’re trying to help you here.
Sarah Karakaian: All right.
Addressing Fears and Misconceptions
Sarah Karakaian: Let’s address fear number one, which is attracting problem
guests.
And I’m assuming that’s what popped into all of your heads. It’s what popped in
my head all those years ago. But here’s the reality is Airbnb does provide you
with safeguards. And if you do not believe me, we are going to share this
information that is coming directly from the Airbnb site. Okay. But there are
safeguards that you can put.
So.
Um, you can put additional, there’s a button where you can actually again put
additional requirements. Yes. But we already have the verified ID requirement
that Airbnb has across the board.
So let’s say you go [00:12:00] to your listing and you choose to turn on
Instabook, which by the way, you know how the new Airbnb listing editing tool
has like everything kind of broken down in chunks.
Yes. An entire chunk is dedicated to instant books. So that should tell you
something right there. Because Airbnb, Brian Chesky is all about design and
nothing is by mistake or overlooked when it comes to their UX, to their, the
experience you have along their website. So that tells you something. You can
turn on instant book to automatically accept bookings.
You can turn it off to manually accept or decline booking requests. So step
number one is just turning it on. And then to address your fear is that guests
with negative reviews who have had incident before, they can be blocked if you
turn on the need for a good track record. Okay? So if it makes you nervous, turn
on the incident book and then turn on the good track record option.
Annette Grant: Completed a stay without incident or bad reviews. That’s right.
And I’m gonna, I’m gonna let them in. We don’t have that even turned on right
now. [00:13:00] I don’t. So just to, just to share that with you.
Sarah Karakaian: Um, I’ll tell you why actually. Everyone, I think I’ve
admitted this to you before years ago, but I have a bad review on my Airbnb
account as a guest.
Oh, that’s right. Okay, I was staying in Joshua Tree and when I tell you I bought
cleaning supplies because I wanted to leave the place better than I found it.
Annette Grant: You did break a house rule.
Sarah Karakaian: Yes and no. In their fairness. Yes and no. Yes and no. It was
no pets allowed. Okay. And we were going hiking, and my friends wanted to
bring their dog, so they approached the front door, knocked on the door, I
answered the door, we got our stuff, and we left.
But they had cameras on the front door, and they saw that my friends brought a
dog, we did not go inside, like, there was no, like, inside situation. They left a
scathing review that I broke rules.
Annette Grant: Can’t you get that removed?
Sarah Karakaian: I didn’t even try. Okay. Because of course, in true Sarah
fashion, I responded to that review.
in length. But anyway, I [00:14:00] wouldn’t show up. I wouldn’t show up in
your instant book. Like, I wouldn’t be able to book your place because I have a
three star review from this, from this host. So I’m just, I’m just saying, okay.
Annette Grant: Well, I also like, um, uh, someone actually during our
bootcamp was like, Hey, I’ve even welcomed guests that have 10 great reviews
and then stay wasn’t great.
Cause maybe they brought someone with them. Maybe they were going through
a hard time, who knows? So you can do, you can turn good track record on and
you can also create a preset message with questions for guests to respond to
when booking, if that makes you feel a little bit more comfortable, but that’s
also some friction.
Sarah Karakaian: It is friction, but I want you to take baby steps if you’re
coming to this episode nervous. Okay. So it’s a pre booking message. You can
say like, tell me why you’re coming to town or tell me that you agree to the
house rules. But I can tell you that Airbnb already tells you welcoming guests
with instant book.
I’m reading this right from their website. All guests must agree to your house
rules before booking. And if you’re uncomfortable with an instant book
[00:15:00] reservation, you can cancel the reservation now. If that happens, if
like, let’s say someone instant books, you then communicate with them, which
is sometimes what we do, if they say nothing and they just instant book, I have
trained my team, our guest service agents, to engage and just like make sure are
they communicative, ask them after they book why they’re coming to town,
we’ve already got them booked, and so if they then give us red flags, which,
which has happened, We then, we don’t just cancel, we call Airbnb and tell
them why we’re nervous and worried.
And oftentimes they will initiate that, that cancellation without penalty to us.
Yep. So exactly. I would, and that they are more willing to work with you if you
had instant book turned on and they booked via instant book, then they are, if
you engaged and they accept the reservation and then decide to go back on that.
That is harder to do. Yep. So[00:16:00]
you’ve got some, you know, optional settings for those guest requirements to
make you feel more comfortable if you haven’t yet turned on Instant Book.
Yeah. And I, I can share that this is something that so many hosts like once they
turn it on they never go back. I’m sure there have been some, but um, I just want
to say it’s something that I see time and time again that, um, once.
Once they do it,
they’re sold. It’s also part of the training that I do with my guest service agents is
after an incident book comes through, I have them check every single
reservation that comes through. So even if it’s instant booked, you can still see
when you get a booking and then go to that guest profile and just check them
out, right?
Like, are they from your area? That’s one red flag. Sometimes we have. Uh, you
know, what, what, what did their reviews say so that you can then again go back
if you need to cancel the reservation if you feel like they aren’t a good fit for
your property and could potentially break your house rules. So [00:17:00] this is
another reason why your house rules have to be dialed in.
And you want to make sure that you are not appearing to be discriminatory
because everything is clearly laid out in your house rules. So that is one thing
that you don’t have to lose control over who books because after they book,
have a protocol that you still review the guest who is coming and why they’re
coming that can all still happen after they book.
And then maybe you’re nervous about last minute bookings. You don’t have to
be worried. Yeah,
Annette Grant: this is this is the game changer because I think this is where
people probably get The most nervous because it’s like it’s instant book and it’s
last minute. No, there’s definitely got to be trouble Here’s the deal.
You can set advance notice and preparation So to avoid last minute bookings,
you can set these times. All right. So it could be same day with a cutoff time. So
let’s say you’re like, Hey, as long as you let me know by noon, we’re good to go.
But after that, nobody can Instabook. Maybe it’s a day before, maybe it’s at least
three days, maybe it’s seven days, but you can, you can set this advance notice.
So [00:18:00] again, Airbnb is giving you that control and Also, instant book
isn’t available to guest books within two days of check in and needs to arrive at
a time that’s outside your check in window. So they already have some
automatic, um, parameters, boundaries in place. So I’m hoping that that gives
you another layer of like, cause I know a lot of people are like, but the instant
book and it’s not clean or it’s, it’s too close to check in.
It’s like, well, you can, you can control that. You
Sarah Karakaian: can control that. I will say, this is why you should have your
property. If you can. Have it cleaned immediately upon checkout and have your
product ready to be purchased. I’m just changing that, that terminology or that,
that vocabulary on purpose. Have your product ready to be purchased as soon as
possible and you will maximize, and you don’t have to lose control of quality.
This is all systems based everyone. If you choose not to do instant book and it’s
based on fear, that is not a reason to not do it. And just, I, listen, you know how
much Annette and I care about quality [00:19:00] and about guest satisfaction.
And I can tell you, this is not a problem in our company because we have
parameters in place.
Final Thoughts and Encouragement
Sarah Karakaian: So just to review this, you will get higher booking rates,
higher occupancy due to convenience for guests, and you’ll have less time spent
messaging and more time for operations, growing your business, or digging into
a guest via messaging after they’ve booked. I’m not trying to take away that
relationship building with your guests, I do believe in it, but it can happen after
they book.
Annette Grant: I’m just going to kind of for, economics share that to give you a
very holistic approach and how much Airbnb not only believes in instant book
but also last minute reservations. Airbnb owns an app called Hotel Tonight who
I am a super user on. I think I’ve stayed close to a hundred nights. I just want
you to know that they are so aware of last minute and instant books booking.
They have, [00:20:00] they purchased the Hotel Tonight app which has hotels
all over the world on it. They know what a huge market. This is so much so
much. So they invested in it because they’re like, Hey, if they can’t do it on the
Airbnb platform, we’re going to purchase a platform so we can make sure we’re
still getting all that traffic.
I mean, if there is not a lightbulb dollar sign, ding, ding, ding going off in your
head, like needs to be. Yeah. And actually, I’m just like, I’m thinking that to
myself of like, holy smokes, they know the demand. That’s why they, that’s why
they purchased hotel tonight.
Sarah Karakaian: That’s one thing I’ll say. Like I, we champion direct
booking.
We champion owning your guest and having your own direct booking website.
But that is not to say that we don’t pay close attention to what Airbnb deems
important because they have. I mean, millions upon millions of dollars in
marketing efforts and research efforts and I mean, teams, huge teams. So you,
everyone, we can learn from what’s important to the traveler because from
Airbnb.[00:21:00]
Annette Grant: And if you, um, I think another, just something to offer here is.
The amount of people that are going to be making last minute reservations
wanting this instant book, this to me is a stat that is just going to continue on the
rise because with, um, most users. on Airbnb using the mobile app, again, the
least amount of friction that host is going to win.
And as more people come into the market, as more people are booking mobile,
the less friction there is, the more you are going to get favored in the algorithm.
So do yourself a favor and make yourself more bookable. I love this.
Sarah Karakaian: And also one last tip. When you make Instant Book work
for you, You will get great guests and you can control who can even come
through that instant book funnel, which is just another layer to baby step
[00:22:00] into this.
You can also create some automated messaging templates to confirm bookings
and provide details and it can still be warm and have a connection. And
actually, I just learned this from another host and I actually really like it. At the
end of an automated message, tell your guest, this message was automated, but
a real human is right here standing by to answer any questions you have, so feel
free to ask them.
Anyone who’s worried, I’m one of them, of automating that guest
communication too much because I’m in this because I want to make
connections with our guests and I know there is, there is money to be made by
knowing more about what they want and need. But that is not to say that I don’t
leverage the automation of getting them what they want and need as soon as I
can via an automated message and that message can be warm and welcoming.
Annette Grant: So with everything that we advise you to do, let’s experiment.
Let’s be excited. Let’s, let’s turn it on. Let’s assess it. And again, let’s assess the
impact on your bookings. All right, we’re excited for you. If you don’t have this
turned on, [00:23:00] let’s go.
Sarah Karakaian: With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant, and together we are Thanks for Visiting.
Sarah Karakaian: Talk to you next time.