Autoresponder for Enquiries for other platforms (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO etc)

Hi OwnerRez,

I think it would be a good idea to have an autoresponder for enquiries that come in on 3rd party platforms.

For eg. A guest sends a message via Airbnb, asking a random question. But neither yourself or staff is available at that moment; an autoresponder letting the potential guest know that you have acknowledged their question and will assist shortly, would help to retain the guest. 

I think this would be a very good option for guest retention. 

We are actively trying to figure this out!  Our example is no one responded to even a guest comment for 1 minute.  Would love for an auto response with a phone number to call.  We have a auto attendant and it will burn through team members until someone answers.  The guest is going to get a fast response this way.

It already exists. You need to specify that autoresponder is sent to blind email addresses. I actively use it. Here is the sample/. make sure not to use anything g but plain text

Here is template below ( I call it AVAILGEN); choose Header/Footer options = none:

Hi {CFIRST},

Thank you for considering {PDISPNAME} for your vacation.

The dates you are inquiring about {IARR} - {IDEP} are available. Please see the information about renting our cabin:

• {PDISPNAME} is a private vacation home, rented out by owners (not a management company or an agent).

• NO smoking | NO pets (no exceptions!) | NO house parties | NO bachelor/bachelorette parties | NO student/school/chaperoned groups.

• Must be at least {PMINAGE} years of age to rent, and be present during the entire stay; No third-party rentals. Minors under 18 can only stay with a parent, legal guardian, or responsible adult, and must never be left at the property unsupervised.

• No occupancy above {PXOLIMIT} persons (of any age 1 day and up), with maximum  {PXMAXADULTS} adults. Our quoted rate is per property/stay and it is the same whether one guest is staying or {PXOLIMIT}, but we do not permit over-limit occupancy. 

• Property is not reserved in your name until the deposit (or full balance) is paid AND booking is accepted. Availability is real-time and may change after this email is sent.

• Rental Agreement signed by the primary Guest and a Valid Photo ID is required if you decide to book. If the required is not returned to the Owner within 48 hours of booking acceptance, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and issue a refund of any amounts paid.

• If you are booking more than {QSPDAY} days in advance of your check-in date, you will need to pay a deposit plus the site fee (if applicable). The balance will be due {QSPDAY} days before check-in. 

• If you are booking {QSPDAY} days or less before your check-in date, the full balance is due immediately. 

• Cancellation policy: {QCANPOL}

• No refunds for unforeseen or unfortunate Events outside of the Cancellation policy cutoff, under any circumstances, including but not limited to: weather, storms, fear of travel, work/life events, change of plans, change of travel party composition, evacuation, or hospitalization. We recommend obtaining Travel insurance if your stay is during the winter months, or if you are concerned about possible Cancellation for any reason.

• The exact address, driving directions, and check-in instructions will be provided after the balance is paid and a few days before check-in.

• Deposit will be released or refunded within 2 weeks after check-out provided there are no damages, Agreement violations, and no excessive cleaning required. It may released be sooner depending on satisfactory post-departure inspection. 

• Check-in is {PCHECKIN} ET and check-out is {PCHECKOUT} ET unless pre-arranged otherwise with the Owner IN ADVANCE. Late check-outs may be subject to docking of the deposit.

• Owners reserve the right to install and operate security/image capture devices on the property outside of the cabin for the express purpose of securing the property, driveway, entryway, parking, dwelling, and its contents and ensuring adherence to occupancy limits and NO PET policy.

• Complimentary WIFI is available (Connection speed and availability are not guaranteed).

• Our cabin is on well and septic. Guest understands that they will be charged above and beyond the damage Deposit amount if prohibited items are flushed & clog or damage plumbing or the septic system.

• Our cabin has a yard with a fire pit. The yard is NOT fenced and surrounded by nature, small children must be always supervised by a capable adult. 

• All roads leading to the cabin are paved. AWD/4WD and/or snow chains may be needed during winter IF there is snow/ice on the ground.

NOTE: you will see at least TWO separate credit card transactions on your statement - one charged by Vrbo for their "service fee" and the other by "{MYCO}". THIS IS EXPECTED. Vrbo "service fee" is NOT payable to {MYCO}.



Regards,  
-------------------------

Here is the Autoresponder set up. Notice yellow highlighted.

BlueMtn - A couple of questions.

1 - You say Dbl Blind has to be active but the screen capture shows none.

2 - Do you only send to VRBO and not ABB for some reason?

3 - Did you add the OR created unique email addy to your VRBO listings

1. I don't remember why this option has been selected, but this works for vrbo. 

2. My last Airbnb booking was some 400+ days ago, so I did not bother to set it up. But I do not see why it would not work if you also specify Airbnb. 

3. Do you mean inquiryspot addy? Yes. But that is relevant to receiving an inquiry. Replying to it isn't related to that addy (I think). 

BlueMtn -Thanks. Yes, this works. I did set it up to also send to Dbl blind so not sure what difference if any, it makes. Right now I only have it for VRBO but will add ABB once I'm sure all is working correctly.

Again, THANKS

I’ve been trying to figure this out so I can send autoresponses on Airbnb inquiries overnight while I sleep, but I don’t see an option to choose my own email template when I go to set it up (see photo). Do I just edit the ‘send answer with quote to guest’ template and use that? But I shouldn’t be emailing them a quote at this point, I should be directing them to book on Airbnb. There is a system template that instructs guests to book on the channel, but it won’t show up as an option for me to choose in my autoresponder. 

How did you get your AVAILGEN message to show up as a template option in your autoresponder? It could just be me, but I find system messages extremely confusing. 

I've had this setup for a while now but with no priority set and having it go for all listing sites and my template had the header & footer on.  I have yet to see it go out to any of my ABB or VRBO inquiries.

I've changed the trigger settings to be in line with your settings and deactivated the footer on the template as well as set it to send me a copy.  Will see if that works.

Unfortunately, at present the Autoresponders don't work for Airbnb / with Airbnb internal messaging.  This is planned for the future.

Hi Ken,

Will the autoresponder send the predefined email to an Airbnb guest through their blind Airbnb email  if you select a template in the "send to double blind" section of the autoresponder?  Or is that what you mean by "Autoresponders don't work for Airbnb / with Airbnb internal messaging".

At present, Autoresponders simply don't work with Airbnb internal messaging, at all.

They do work with email, and since the Airbnb proxy email is in fact an email address, you can indeed use Autoresponders with those.  The trouble is, Airbnb filters the messages of most of the useful information you'd normally want to use, such as any identifiable contact information or weblinks.  So, although autoresponders do "work" with the Airbnb proxy emails, they can't be very effective.  It's generally most straightforward just to consider Autoresponders not to work for Airbnb at all, or at most, to send a generic autoresponse 'Thanks for writing!  We'll get back to you soon!"

There are plans to completely overhaul this and add a lot more functionality later this year.

[This topic has been closed as a duplicate of another topic (Autoresponder for Airbnb or Vrbo messaging (including after hours coverage))]