Is Your "Guest Pre-Arrival Folder" Warm, Helpful, and Crystal-Clear? - Part 2
Once inside the door...
The first thing you want your guest to do when he closes that door behind him is to inspect the property for cleanliness and missing or broken items.
He will appreciate your rigor and this avoids future problems for you.
It helps to provide a "Check-in Check-list".
And of course a phone number to call in case of issues.
You'll want your guest to feel at home right away, so make sure he finds a thorough "Property Instruction Guide" in his pre-arrival folder - a sort of "Everything you always wanted to know about this property but were afraid to ask".
The house copy of this folder should be placed in a prominent place such as the kitchen counter, next to the instructions manuals that originally came with your equipment - and next to your welcome gift - why not a flower in a vase or a chocolate for each member of the family? The Property Instruction Guide and the Check-in Check-list can be a real help to your guest when he is packing because he can see up front what your property provides and doesn't provide.
So we suggest that you include in the guide a "Starter Kit" section - items you provide in small quantities to get your guest going, such as paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, bar of hand soap, garbage bags, etc.
He will really appreciate it if you include a "What to Pack" section where you recommend certain useful items that you don't provide - beach chairs, beach towels, beach toys, snow tire chains, laundry detergent, etc.
We personally like to present information in charts, because it will force you to be thorough in preparing them and because charts are easy to reference and easy to maintain.
There are templates available for free download on the web, including some on my site, where you can find templates of Check-In Check-List and Property Instruction Guide.
Because nothing is more frustrating to a renter than having something go wrong and not being able to reach anyone to fix it, remember to provide plenty of phone numbers.
Since your Property Instruction Guide and your Emergency Sheet will contain many useful phone numbers - but also a lot of other information - it could be helpful to extract the most important numbers and post this list by the main telephone.
We suggest that you also include in your pre-arrival folder (and/or house copy) your Rules and Regulations, your FAQ and your Emergency Sheet.
You can consult earlier issues of Tips & Tricks to see the contents we propose for these documents.
Settling in...
Now that your guest can function and is starting to feel right at home, he and his family will want to get out and have some fun.
They will also need to locate grocery stores, restaurants and may want to attend religious services.
If you have established a comfortable relationship with your guest during the inquiry and rental agreement stage, you already have a pretty good understanding of the family's vacation needs and dreams.
So the pre-arrival folder and the house copy should contain lots of helpful information.
Remember when providing driving directions to these venues to advise your guest which way to turn out of your driveway, which streets are one-way, speed limits and any unusual driving rules, the cost of traffic tickets, etc.
Add to your folder some tourist pamphlets (which you should be able to obtain free of charge) and/or some Web addresses so your guest can go online to get more information.
Stayin' out of trouble Your guest is far away from home and may be unfamiliar with local risks that you automatically know how to manage.
The last thing you or he wants is to have to experience an emergency or waste precious time and energy managing one.
So your job as host is to help him with his risk management.
Showing that you care Remember to call your guest, at least once during his stay and the day before his departure, to show that you are sincerely interested in making his vacation as pleasant and trouble-free as possible.
He will appreciate your attention.
And this will give him the opportunity to ask you questions so you can resolve any problems on the spot, as opposed to the guest building up frustrations.
This could save you discussions later that could have a less-than-happy ending.
References 1.
Christine Hrib Karpinski, How to Rent Vacation Property by Owner, 2nd edition (Kinney Press Pollack, 2008)
The first thing you want your guest to do when he closes that door behind him is to inspect the property for cleanliness and missing or broken items.
He will appreciate your rigor and this avoids future problems for you.
It helps to provide a "Check-in Check-list".
And of course a phone number to call in case of issues.
You'll want your guest to feel at home right away, so make sure he finds a thorough "Property Instruction Guide" in his pre-arrival folder - a sort of "Everything you always wanted to know about this property but were afraid to ask".
The house copy of this folder should be placed in a prominent place such as the kitchen counter, next to the instructions manuals that originally came with your equipment - and next to your welcome gift - why not a flower in a vase or a chocolate for each member of the family? The Property Instruction Guide and the Check-in Check-list can be a real help to your guest when he is packing because he can see up front what your property provides and doesn't provide.
So we suggest that you include in the guide a "Starter Kit" section - items you provide in small quantities to get your guest going, such as paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, bar of hand soap, garbage bags, etc.
He will really appreciate it if you include a "What to Pack" section where you recommend certain useful items that you don't provide - beach chairs, beach towels, beach toys, snow tire chains, laundry detergent, etc.
We personally like to present information in charts, because it will force you to be thorough in preparing them and because charts are easy to reference and easy to maintain.
There are templates available for free download on the web, including some on my site, where you can find templates of Check-In Check-List and Property Instruction Guide.
Because nothing is more frustrating to a renter than having something go wrong and not being able to reach anyone to fix it, remember to provide plenty of phone numbers.
Since your Property Instruction Guide and your Emergency Sheet will contain many useful phone numbers - but also a lot of other information - it could be helpful to extract the most important numbers and post this list by the main telephone.
We suggest that you also include in your pre-arrival folder (and/or house copy) your Rules and Regulations, your FAQ and your Emergency Sheet.
You can consult earlier issues of Tips & Tricks to see the contents we propose for these documents.
Settling in...
Now that your guest can function and is starting to feel right at home, he and his family will want to get out and have some fun.
They will also need to locate grocery stores, restaurants and may want to attend religious services.
If you have established a comfortable relationship with your guest during the inquiry and rental agreement stage, you already have a pretty good understanding of the family's vacation needs and dreams.
So the pre-arrival folder and the house copy should contain lots of helpful information.
Remember when providing driving directions to these venues to advise your guest which way to turn out of your driveway, which streets are one-way, speed limits and any unusual driving rules, the cost of traffic tickets, etc.
Add to your folder some tourist pamphlets (which you should be able to obtain free of charge) and/or some Web addresses so your guest can go online to get more information.
Stayin' out of trouble Your guest is far away from home and may be unfamiliar with local risks that you automatically know how to manage.
The last thing you or he wants is to have to experience an emergency or waste precious time and energy managing one.
So your job as host is to help him with his risk management.
Showing that you care Remember to call your guest, at least once during his stay and the day before his departure, to show that you are sincerely interested in making his vacation as pleasant and trouble-free as possible.
He will appreciate your attention.
And this will give him the opportunity to ask you questions so you can resolve any problems on the spot, as opposed to the guest building up frustrations.
This could save you discussions later that could have a less-than-happy ending.
References 1.
Christine Hrib Karpinski, How to Rent Vacation Property by Owner, 2nd edition (Kinney Press Pollack, 2008)
