Last week I introduced the 5 Hosting Love languages – these are the way you like to show guests your Wholehearted Hosting style. However, it is also a good time to talk about how different types of guests like to receive your hospitality, aka your guests’ love languages. While you might be all about the personal service and personal contact, some guests may be uncomfortable with too much contact. Other guests might crave this. So as hosts, it is our job to recognize the different love languages of our guests and make sure we meet them where they are at.
I’ll list out the different types of guests’ love languages and then read on and I will show how you can quickly identify how best to adapt your hospitality to be in sync with your guests.
1. Communication
These guests LOVE long, fleshed out listing descriptions filled with FAQ, suggested itineraries, additional guest experiences, tips and tricks and complete instructions inside the house for using appliances.
A common complaint from hosts is that some guests don’t read anything, and this can be the case. But there are some guests who will devour everything you have provided and still ask for more. These are the guests who’s love language is communication.
A good practice is to have a fully fleshed out listing, fantastic pre-arrival instructions, check in and check out tips and helpful guest book – either digital or paper. But before you think this is a HUGE job, this is totally something that you can batch and automate. Plus it can grow together with your business and you can add extra information in response to the questions your guests ask you or the reviews they leave. If you are not a confident writer, then you can outsource to a copywriter. I have a ton of resources to help you create an amazing listing and communication strategy so reach out and I can help.
2. Personal Contact
These are the guests who really crave that personal contact from you. A phone call to confirm a booking, a handwritten note on a blackboard on arrival, a personal face-to-face greeting at check in, regular greetings throughout the stay and a personal greeting at check out. They will lap this all up and love you for it. I have known guests who have really appreciated an invite to a local festival with my family. This is a great option if you are sharing your home and you also have the love language of personal contact. You can really forge some great relationships and build up rapport.
For these guests, if you make a call with them after check out (or send them a 20 second video that you recorded for them) they will reward you with a fantastic review as well as a future booking. Or better yet, tell the world what an amazing host you were and refer lots of new bookings to you.
On the flip side, I have known guests who prefer to be private and are a little creeped out if you try to engage with them personally. Read the room and the signals they are sending you to determine how much personal service to provide.
Or if you are a hands off host, you might feel that these types of people are a little needy. A good strategy is to have much of the personal contact automated so that your guests who LOVE personal contact get their needs met and you are not running around people pleasing and burning out.
(Hospitality burnout is real – read this post to discover more). For us, we have a staff member who helps out with personal contact with checkins and our email communications have been written with automated personal greetings. Reach out if you need help setting this up.
3. Unexpected extras
Think- welcome baskets or free stuff
These are the guests who completely devour everything in the welcome basket, are totally impressed with the complimentary tea and coffee and will gush over the smallest item you leave for them. Having a fully decked out coffee and tea bar is an inexpensive way to really blow the socks off these types of guests (and look great in your photos as a major selling point). You could go “all out” with sourcing local artisan bread or cookies but it doesn’t have to eat into your profits. A budget of under $10 per booking and there are some guests who will feel like you have given them the Crown Jewels. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to impress these guests. One of my most popular posts is “Secret Delights”, and you can check it out here.
Consider what brands you use in your bathroom as well for soap and shampoo. Spending a little more to make a good impression will be remembered by these guests when it comes to writing you a review and making a repeat booking.
(Side note: if you don’t have $10 per booking in your budget for welcome baskets or decent shampoo, then I do suggest you look into your pricing policy. Many of these consumables are a cost of doing business AND should be a tax deduction so check with your accountant. Pricing policies are a whole other topic but I’ll just say, that you will need to spend some money to make more money.)
Then there are other guests who really are nonplussed by any of your consumables and that is fine too. These guests just might have a different love language.
4. Decor and Design
Do you have a listing that is magazine worthy? Do you enjoy designing listings that are extra special? Then there will be guests who love and appreciate your taste and your eye for design. They will choose your listing because of the choices you have made in the decor and furniture styles. Making sure your photos are professionally shot and updated regularly will ensure you are capturing the guests who are hungry for great design. There are many guests who do choose based on the home design and not on price. There are too many soulless cookie cutter listings out in the market, so by showing your flair you will capture the guests who are wanting more than simply a place to sleep.
That said, there are guests who choose bookings based on location and convenience so don’t take it personally if they are not wowed by the small details you have curated.
5. Convenience and Amenities
Your house is family friendly and you have included high chairs, baby cribs and toys. Plus you have cable TV with a kids channel that allows your guest to cook a meal with the kids entertained during witching hour. A family with small children would receive this with such gratitude that they don’t need to travel with all of the extra stuff. Or you have set up a working desk with a ring light, extra power board and USB charging station for a digital nomad. Or maybe you have simply included a bottle opener or a potato masher and a foodie guest will notice and appreciate this conveniences. You will be rewarded with amazing reviews from guests who will be overwhelmed with your thoughtful inclusions. It will also show how in sync with your guests, you are.
Wrap up of Guests Love Languages
Now that you know about the different types of guests love languages, you can keep your eyes peeled for how guests want to be loved. Don’t take it personally if they don’t receive your hospitality as you expect.
If you are a hands-on host and your guest is giving you signals that they want to be left alone, then take a step back. If you’ve put together a full welcome basket of wine, snacks and treats but they have gone untouched, it doesn’t mean the guest wasn’t impressed, it might mean that they don’t drink alcohol or they have food allergies. Perhaps you’ve written a very wordy welcome pack and the guest hasn’t read it, perhaps they don’t read your language so well OR they were super busy. Have alternatives in place such as photos for instructions for people who absorb information graphically. Or perhaps a family with small children prefer to travel with everything for their kids – this doesn’t mean they are rejecting your included amenities, it just means they prefer their own stuff.
As hosts, we have to juggle our own preferences in how we deliver hospitality as well as be conscious that all guests might receive hospitality in different ways. Don’t take it personally that a guest isn’t gushing over your designer gravy boat that you sourced from a local potter – they may not like gravy – but it doesn’t mean they are not great guests for you.
AHA moments
When I took the time to notice the different ways in which guests interacted with my hospitality, I had a massive AHA. Even within your IGA (Ideal Guest Avatar) guests will receive your hospitality in different ways. When I saw that it was simply how different people appreciate service, it was a massive relief. So even though a guest didn’t eat all my cookies, it didn’t mean that they were not thrilled with other areas of their stay. So I was able to really let go of some of the small stuff. As long as their overall stay was 5 stars, then this was a success.
I don’t want you to get too into the weeds with all of this. Mostly, this is an interesting thought experiment for you in your business. Take a few moments to consider your own love language as a host and also your guests love languages and then you can ensure that the overall experience was positive.
Next Steps
Think most of your guests love languages are communication? Even if it is not their main love language, it is always a good idea to keep your communication top notch for those guests who need this from you – don’t worry I have you covered with my free course.
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