1) Always respond to bids in a timely manner. Responding to an email lead within an hour will produce a 40 percent closure rate; within three hours you will see a 25 percent close ratio and past three hours you see a dramatic decrease to about a 5 percent close ratio. You’ve done all the hard work – they want to book your property – contact them as soon as possible!
2) Never decline a bid, always counteroffer! No is a very powerful word in sales, you should always offer the potential guest a reasonable alternative to their request. Keep the conversation positive.
3) Know your numbers! Know what your average lead time on bookings is running. This typically changes seasonally and annually and you will have to analyze this fairly regularly but knowing your booking window will help you make better decisions. If a guest is bidding on next week and your booking window is a month out, you should be more inclined to take the offer – you probably won’t book it otherwise.
4) Communicate with your owners. Owners will be more flexible if you communicate with them and explain why a booking was discounted more than normal. Often if you explain that it was a last minute offer and some money is always more than a hundred percent of nothing. If you still feel resistance, get them involved! Let them decide on the bids that come in and cut yourself out of the decision process.
5) Maximize your marketing! Every bid is a qualified lead! Talk to these guests on a regular basis whether you accept their bid or they book. Send them last minute deals, specials and let them know when you add a new property to the list of units that you will accept bids on.
6) Analyze the data. At the end of each year, use your average bid rate to help you calculate how people really value the rental property and share this info with your owner. Setting accurate rates can really mean the difference between a successful rental season and a very empty one.
7) Putting bidding on popular units is a smart way to lure guests to less desirable units. Counter-offer with a similar property that is not booking as well.
8) Keep your information up to date. Change your rates, add descriptions as owners upgrade and take provocative photos. Guests want to imagine themselves on vacation in the property and nothing speaks louder than fabulous photos.
9) Be personal. When communicating via email, think of VRBO. It is popular because guests get a very intimate description and personal relationship with the owner of the property. Know the details of your property that make it special. Ask your guests what their needs are and respond accordingly.
10) Place several different types of units on the site for bidding, give the consumers plenty of options to choose from and don’t overwhelm them with too many of the same unit types; give them a sense of urgency and make your inventory look more specialized.
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