It goes without saying, you have to earn it. Everything has to be exactly to the guest’s expectations (communication, responsiveness etc.). But if you’ve really earned a 5 star review, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for it. You’re letting your guests know, that in exchange for a wonderful experience at your place what you’re expecting is a 5 star review. By communicating, that this is a real benefit to you many delighted guests will be happy to help you to grow your business and to give you the 5 star review.
How it could work:
A few days before the guests checks in send them a detailed email outlining exactly what they should expect (how the check-in process looks like etc.). You’ll basically tell them, that you’ll really care, that you’re delighted to host them and that you want to earn a 5 star review. The most critical part of this is the actual words „5 star“ (not a „good review“, „nice review“ etc.). Set the bar, that 5 stars is, what you’re shooting for. The more times you tell your guests, that you care and want to earn a 5 star review, the more likely they will click it. The final time to ask for the 5 star review could be in the email you’re going to send your vacation rental guests after they’ve checked out. You could add a phrase like „It would really mean a lot to me and help grow my buiness to find great guests such as yourself if you give me a 5 star review. I hope you feel I earned it.“
Anyway, the worst that can happen is, that they say no. Or said differently, if you don’t ask for it you won’t get it …
(Source: via @imrichardfertig – Get the full story at https://youtu.be/5vcv9CwsDgY)