First Impressions Count in the Vacation Rentals Business
As years go by, we seem to have less and less time to make a first impression.
This is the conclusion of Scott Ginsberg in an article in 4Hoteliers. He says we should consider these numbers:
• In the 80’s and 90’s, NLP authors like Nicholas Boothman claimed you only had 90 seconds to make a first impression
• By the time the new millennium hit, you only had four seconds, according to hundreds of articles
• In 2005, Malcom Gladwell’s bestselling book Blink explained that people made first impressions in TWO seconds
• This year, an article from The BBC quoted a study which explained that Internet surfers form an impression “in one 20th of a second of viewing a webpage�
While Ginsburg’s article is directed at people in the hotel business, it is equally applicable to the vacation rental business. It is something that vacation rental owners should keep in mind. The first impression is extremely important in everything from your web site, the booking process, to your guest check in. One thing we have always done is try to provide some little extra gift when guests check in. People like to be pleasantly surprised, and it helps them get their vacation off to a good start.
