Increasing Customer Confidence

No matter what your selling (a vacation, a cruise, software, hardware, or even girl scout cookies) the more confident the customer is the easier the transaction will be. 

Why?

It's in our DNA

Animals are hardwired to avoid risk and humans are not exempt from that wiring.  Sure, a new path might be faster, but it could also be more dangerous, and the unknown is the scariest thing as you don't know what the dangers are. 

The well-traveled path

Think of the last time you got girl scout cookies or fast food.  They aren't the best, but you know exactly what you are going to get and how they are going to taste. There is very little doubt, so the consumer confidence is high. 

Overloaded circuits 

This also fast tracks the human decision-making process.  Ever find yourself staring a menu when you are in a new restaurant having no idea what to order?  Does it almost seem like your mind goes blank?  That's the high computational load of trying to weigh out all of the unknown risks.  

How to increase confidence?

Provide a Map

The scariest part of any journey is not knowing exactly where you are going.  Hard to image that in the day of cell phones and GPS.  

Layouts:

The first thing that I look for when I am booking any place is a layout drawing.  This is the "map" of your unit and there is a reason that all hotel chains do this.  It is the fastest way for a person to understand the space that they are paying for.  How big are the rooms, is there a kitchen, how many people can I comfortably sleep. 

How to make a layout? 

I personally enjoy making these in Sketchup which is a free tool, but if computers and CAD aren't your comfort zone no worries.  Just get some graph paper and have some fun.  This can actually be a fun project for your free laborers *hmmm sorry I mean kids. 

While drawings to scale or close to it would be ideal don't let that hold you back.  A drawing showing the position & name of rooms in reference to each other can be a huge help for guests.  

Where to put it in your listing. 

Seeing is believing but even photos can be deceptive and can make it difficult to figure out their connection to each other.  So have layout drawing (even if not to scale) will help people quickly create a mental map and be able to quickly figure out where they are when looking through your other photos.  This is why I always place it in the top 6 photos.  P.S. make sure to get good professional photos.

If you are on a larger property, it's not a bad idea to also take a screenshot of google maps to show the area (or have a map section on your own website).  

Framing: 

While you may not be providing an actual map (although not a bad idea if you have a larger property) you should be mapping out the customer journey and setting expectations.  It's especially important to set expectations for anything that may be unconformable or unwelcomed if it were a surprise.  

A frantic journey

Image you are running late for an important appointment and your phone is dead and you are a bit lost.  You stop and ask someone for directions.  They tell you to take the next left at the traffic light, then proceed down that road for a pretty long way (they aren't exactly sure) but they do know the place you are looking for is just after the first speed bump on that road. 

You take the left and then you start going down this road, faster and faster, desperately search for your destination.  You start to question the directions your received and all of a sudden you slam into the speed bump.  It sends a shot of adrenaline through you but rather than being scares you are excited because you know your destination is just ahead.  

This is the magic of framing something potentially negative as a step along the journey.  If you are on a practically bumpy road then let the guests know that they will know they are getting close when the road starts getting bumpy and rough. 

 Don't keep secrets:

How many movie plots revolve around some character having a piece of information that had they just shared it would have turned a 90-minute movie into a 15 second gif?  

If you know something that MIGHT be relevant, please share it.  This can be anything from "Sorry the last guest broke the dryer, and we won't it fixed until after your stay" to your favorite places to go.  

Also, the easier and earlier that you present this information the better.  Have a great guidebook?  Why not share it with people that are looking at booking.  Just take out the security details and specific address. 

Be Consistent 

While you are thinking that this may only apply if you are a large chain or get a lot of repeat guests being consistent can mean a lot more.

For the first step to the last:

I view the first part of being consistent revolving around just a single guest's entire interaction with you.  From their first contact (maybe in an ad) all the way to the end of their stay.  

Try to be consistent with everything from the tone/language you use, to the visuals.  Think of everything that the guest interacts with as representing your brand and curate that to all be saying the same thing.  

If you are always great with respond to their questions, make sure to always respond and thank the guest when they send their last message.  Not replying at this point would feel weird to the customer.  This is something that a lot of hosts do unfortunately.

Long term:

Yes, this is what most of you were thinking when I first said be consistent.  The second part of consistency is being consistent over time across multiple stays and many interactions with the same customer.  However, this also applies to being consistent with your customer base across time as well. 

If someone started following you on social media years ago their interactions with you when they finally book a stay should at least meet their expectations.  With reviews playing such a powerful part of social proof on your listing you want to make sure your consistent across time with all of your guests so that guests feel that past reviews accurately represent their stay with you.

Summary

• Human's are risk adverse and unknowns are the biggest risk.
• Create a layout drawing and place it high in your photo stack.
• Frame events as steps along the journey so they aren't surprises.
• Share as much information as possible to eliminate unknowns.
• Be consistent throughout a single guest's interaction from start to finish.
• Be consistent (or improve) with all of your customers over the years. 

Thank you and Catch you next time!
Gabriel Broomfield
Bookly - Founder
TTFN