Becoming an Airbnb superhost is something you want to aspire to achieve sooner rather than later.
Why?
Because it puts more money in your pocket sooner, faster and it builds credibility for your listing and future listings.
The benefits of being a Superhost are that your Airbnb listing will get extra visibility with:
- High ranking on your Airbnb listing
- Increased bookings (more revenue)
- Your listing appears when guests search only for superhosts
Tips to become an Airbnb Superhost
Becoming a superhost isn’t so much about your listing as much as it is about you as a host.
What I mean by this is that you don’t need to have the most luxurious Airbnb listing… if your listing has all the amenities and priced right, then becoming a superhost is more about the experience you create for guests.
Here’s the actual criteria to become a superhost
- Host at least 10 guests within a calendar year
- Maintain a 90% response rate or higher
- 80% of your reviews must be 5 Star Reviews
- No cancellations
Airbnb Superhost tips on getting your first 10 guests for your Airbnb listing
When you first start out, it’s harder to get bookings because without reviews, people will be skeptical to book compared with a listing from a Superhost that has a track record and raving reviews.
That’s why when you first start out, you may have to lower your price to get people booking. When you get a booking you get a little boost in Airbnb’s search ranking meaning your listing will appear slightly higher due to the recency of booking. So think of lowering your price as the premium you pay to boost your listing slightly higher and once you get your first few bookings you should start working on your pricing strategy to increase your booking revenue.
One thing to keep in mind is that lowering your prices may attract bad guests and you don’t want that to be your first hosting experience. One tip when considering lowering your prices is to add a 2 night minimum and beware of local people looking to book at lower rates.
Once you get a few bookings under your belt, then the next few ranking factors begin to kick in…
Airbnb Superhost tips on keeping a 90% response rate
When you start an Airbnb, you are starting a hospitality business. The experience you create for the guests starts before they book with you. It begins when people start to inquire about your property.
Airbnb scores your host status based on the response rate and speed when people inquire about your property. This means that you need to have a way to be notified when someone sends you a message and reply immediately.
Replying immediately is one of the most important factors that will boost your rating. You may not have an answer for the guest, but you can reply something like “Hi, got your inquiry, I’m away from my desk, but will get back to you in an hour when I’m in front of my laptop”… or… “let me double check for you and get back to you…”
Genuinely get back to people as soon as possible. If you can’t be available to reply, then we strongly encourage you to hire someone or find an airbnb property management company who can handle guest inquiries.
Airbnb Superhost Tips to getting more 5 star reviews
So far, you’ve priced your property to get bookings faster, you’ve responded to inquiries now it’s time to deliver on the experience…
What are the most important things people look for that will get you 5 star reviews?
#1 Cleanliness
If you are not being complimented on the cleanliness of your Airbnb, then it’s time to step up your game… If your Airbnb isn’t clean then almost nothing else will matter if you are looking to get a 5 star review.
#2 Comfortable beds
We have found that by putting comfortable beds and pillows we get more 5 star reviews as people feel like they’ve slept at a 5 star resort…
If you go above and beyond on cleanliness and provide a comfortable bed, that’s 80% of the guest experience…
Assuming you’ve taken the time to set up your airbnb by going through a thorough checklist to make your Airbnb stand out then the last step to get 5 star review is clear communication.
#3 Clear Communication
Ask and you shall receive…
Attention to detail is important when it comes to communication. This is a work in progress so no matter what, you have to get started to get this right.
Initially, you may miss details in your listing description. One way you will know is if you keep getting the same inquiry over and over, that’s a sign that you should probably have the answer on the listing description.
If people keep asking if there is reliable Wi-Fi at the property, you may want to add that to the listing description. Note that, if the Wi-Fi is not reliable and you advertise it, you will probably get a bad review.
In other words, being clear with your communication starts with the accuracy of your listing description.
Next is the speed of reply when a guest reaches out to you… this is where guests can be quite demanding, which means it’s an opportunity for you to stand out if you get good at getting back to guests immediately… and if you want to really stand out, don’t wait for guests to reach out to you. You can also take initiative and ask your guest if everything in the house looks good as soon as they check in…
A quick message like “Glad you were able to check in and get in the home. Does everything look in order?”…
When starting out it’s important to catch mistakes sooner rather than later…
Know that sometimes guests won’t complain to you about something they don’t like about their stay, but will leave a nasty review… this can be frustrating if the issue was easily solvable if they would’ve reached out so be proactive and reach out to them to make sure they are happy with their stay… (that’s what hospitality is all about)…
Last, is to thank your guest and ask for the review…
If you’ve had good communications with your guest pre check in, take time to make sure they are happy with their stay, then it’s easy to ask a guest to leave you a 5 star review to help you become a Superhost.
The key thing is to be specific and literally spell out “5 star review” when you ask…
You could say something like:
“I’m glad to hear you enjoyed your stay and the cleanliness of the home. I would really appreciate if you took a few seconds to leave us a 5 star review to help us become Superhosts, thank you!”
Airbnb Superhost Tips to avoid cancellations
The word cancellation should not even be part of your vocabulary if you plan on being a Superhost. That means that if there are days when you don’t plan to host you should block those dates in advanced BEFORE someone books.
Cancelling on a guest after they book will affect your superhost status so come into this knowing that any dates you make your property available you are committed. The only exception to cancellations that don’t affect your superhost status would be anything that falls under the Airbnb Extenuating Circumstances Policy
How to earn more booking revenue as an Airbnb Superhost
Putting in the work to get the Superhost badge will pay off in a couple of different ways. The first is that you have credibility and people are willing to pay a premium for peace of mind knowing that if they book with a superhost, the place will be clean, check in will be easy and communication will be good…
If you achieve Superhost status, then you definitely want to use that to raise your prices. You can earn more booking revenue for your vacation rental by adopting a dynamic pricing strategy using a tool like AirDNA to see what prices you can charge during peak season when demand is high.
The second way to increase your booking revenue is to use your superhost status to launch a new Airbnb.
If your idea of owning an Airbnb is to earn passive income, then you may not need to worry about achieving Superhost status. You can find an Airbnb property manager that has Superhost status and leverage their credibility to get your Airbnb up and running fast without doing the work yourself.
If you like the idea of managing properties, then having a Superhost status badge will help you launch new properties successfully much faster and easier.
