Answering Booking.com messages in under a minute

Every booking on Booking.com, Airbnb or Expedia brings a small conversation with it. A question before the guest books, a request after they have booked, a practical detail on the day of arrival. Each message is short. Together, they are a part-time job.

Why speed matters

A guest who writes before booking is usually comparing. They have two or three places open, and they will often book the one that answers first, with a clear and friendly reply. Airbnb shows your response rate and response time on your listing, and every platform makes it easy for an unanswered guest to move on.

After the booking, speed is about trust. A quick, correct answer to “is there parking?” tells the guest that the place is well run, before they have even arrived.

The messages you will always get

Read through a month of messages and the same families appear again and again:

• Before booking: is breakfast included, is there a cot, can we bring a dog, how far is the centre.
• After booking: early check-in, late arrival, parking, an extra bed, a special occasion.
• On the day: directions, the key box, the Wi-Fi, where to leave the car.

A calm routine

Write one excellent answer for each of these, once, in the tone of your house. Keep them in one place and keep them correct: when the breakfast hours change, change the answer the same day. A correct answer sent in a minute beats a perfect one sent tomorrow.

The fastest reply is the one you only had to write once.

Then decide what should never get an automatic answer: cancellations, refunds, date changes, complaints. These go to a person, with a short and honest holding reply to the guest.

Where Concierva fits

Concierva reads each message together with its booking, so it knows the guest's dates, room and name. It answers from your information, in the guest's language, and passes cancellations, changes and complaints to your team with a summary. You can start in draft mode, approve every reply, and let more go out on its own as your trust grows.