Collecting email address from guests

My approach so far has been relatively low-tech, and not entirely scalable… but I have had nearly a 100% success rate over several years (and across 5 properties now), by simply asking for it via text (from my personal cell phone): 

Hi Sonia! It's Tom Beerley. You're staying at our family's Assateague House condo soon. I have important information to email to you, but Airbnb doesn't let me email you directly. Where should I send it?

The “important information” is simply a PDF version of the Welcome Book that sits inside our condo. Along with reservation confirmation details in the body of the email (not much different than the automated message they receive immediately after booking).

The most common objection I get is: “Can’t you just text it to me?” The answer to that is, “No, sorry, it’s a PDF file.” And that’s also the same answer I give to folks who say, “Please send it to me through Airbnb.” -- “Sorry, I can’t… it’s a PDF file and Airbnb only allows pictures.” Once in a while a suspicious guest will message me on Airbnb to say “I just got a text from someone saying they are you, is this legit?” and I just say, “Yes, that was me, thanks for checking!”

Note though, that I am one of the few remaining hosts who is still receiving the guest’s REAL phone number. I will probably need to stop doing things this way when that changes… because I’m certain Airbnb is monitoring/storing the texts that go through their “fake” phone numbers.

So I too want to hear how others are doing it :-) I’ve heard enough about StayFi… yes, it collects for all occupants and not just the primary booker, but I’m always hesitant to keep signing up for every little thing that involves paying a monthly fee for the rest of my life, especially now that I need to 5X every paid service I use.

I’ve also heard that enabling a rental agreement in Hospitable could be a legit way of collecting an email address. That’s on my list of things to check into soon.   

Tom, love the ingenuity! But yeah, seems like just a matter of time before we have fake pass through phone numbers, only. I will definitely look into the rental agreement approach and thank you for sharing your thoughts! Lets see what others will bring to the table. :) 

​@Daniel at Mountain Haus - I won’t beat the ​@StayFi_Arthur horse since you had tried it (though we swear by it, personally and have over 4K guest contacts with ~20% direct bookings). 

Would a simple google form at the end of QR code or NFC tag at your home work? 

A QR with some enticement for guests to fill out a form (special offer, “unlocking” a complimentary late-checkout or similar might be all you need. 

NFC tags are also super easy to implement and do the same thing a QR code does (but with a tap vs. camera scan). Here’s an example that I found with a cursory search.

Make sure you include a checkbox to allow for guests to OPT-IN to future messaging (and require it, if you’re incentivizing). 

​@Daniel at Mountain Haus - I won’t beat the ​@StayFi_Arthur horse since you had tried it (though we swear by it, personally and have over 4K guest contacts with ~20% direct bookings). 

 

Would a simple google form at the end of QR code or NFC tag at your home work? 

 

A QR with some enticement for guests to fill out a form (special offer, “unlocking” a complimentary late-checkout or similar might be all you need. 

 

NFC tags are also super easy to implement and do the same thing a QR code does (but with a tap vs. camera scan). Here’s an example that I found with a cursory search.

Make sure you include a checkbox to allow for guests to OPT-IN to future messaging (and require it, if you’re incentivizing). 

 

Hi Anthony! Just to be clear, do you mean 20% direct bookings in total or 20% conversion of those 4k contacts? Either way those are fantastic numbers. Congrats and thank you for the QR/NFC options.