One of the most important aspects of running a successful short term rental business, is making sure you are attracting your best guests. 

That is to say, that one fictionalized person or community of people that is best suited for your space. It’s worth spending time to imagine who this character is and what they need and want when they travel. Consider their personal, logistical and emotional requirements. Imagine the smallest details of their lives like the age of their children, type of pet and their favorite Netflix binges.

To get started developing your guest persona, think about the reason your best guest might be traveling to your location. To do this, think about your past guests and their reasons for selecting your area. If you haven’t started hosting, think about what guests might enjoy about your location and about your space. 

The characteristics you assign your best guest, will be your guide as you make decisions about amenities, purchases and the future of your business. 

Now that you know the reason your best guest is traveling, and what they’ll need during their stay, give some thought to their personal attributes. What do they look like? How old is your best guest? What do they do for a living? What is their relationship and family status? What level of education have they attained? What is their income? Even give them a name. 

Think about their interests, their favorite hobbies. What movies, books and podcasts do they enjoy. Do they like sports, cooking, exercise? Give them personal qualities such as are they outgoing or introverted, strong willed or passive? Quirky or traditional?

The more you understand about your best guest, the easier it will be when you begin to make a connection with them through your profile and property description, your interior decor and even your listing’s photographs.

Having a reliable guest avatar will allow you to craft a guest experience that feels like you designed it just for them (because you have).

Different types of guests have different types of needs. The needs of the solo business traveler are different from the needs of a multi-generational family traveling for recreation. Will your best guest require a kitchen? Are they traveling with pets? Do they need parking? Do they have specific accessibility requirements?

What special touches would they enjoy? Would your guest rather have a French press coffee maker or would they prefer a color scanner/printer? Would they prefer a highchair or a shower seat? By having a clear understanding of who your best guest IS and why they are traveling, you’ll know exactly what it is they’ll need and want from your amenities. 

Think through the frustrations your guests face as they travel. What keeps them awake at night? Are they worried they will have a difficult check in? Are they worried that your space wont be as your pictures have suggested? Are they concerned that they won’t be able to reach you in case of an emergency 

Identifying your guest avatar’s challenges will help you generate ideas for enhancing their stay by addressing their concerns before they arise. Addressing their pain points in your property description and during pre-booking communications, will allow them to reserve your space and feel comfortable and excited about their visit.

Once you’ve finished your primary best guest profile, consider any other profiles that might also be a good fit. A secondary guest avatar will represent a different segment of your market with a distinct set of characteristics, interests and pain points. It’s not uncommon to have several distinct profiles and understanding each will allow you to tailor your approach to serve them effectively based on their preferences.

You might welcome multi-generational families, but also cater to colleagues who are traveling for business. These two separate avatars will each respond to different messaging as well as have different requirements. Armed with your knowledge of both groups, you can successfully satisfy both.

Creating the opposite version of your best guest or a negative avatar is also beneficial. A negative guest avatar is someone you’d prefer didn’t book your property. Knowing who you don’t want to host is just as important as knowing who you do want. Don’t hesitate. Intentionally declare who you want to exclude while at the same time remaining open and empathetic to those who may be very different from you.

If you’ve hosted a guest who wasn’t a good fit, make a note of the reasons why they didn’t work out. The point here is not to identify the personality traits of the guest but to know the reasons why a particular guest wasn’t a good fit for your space. Be sure not to leave out those groups of potential guests who have backgrounds and experiences that deviate from your own. Just because a prospective guest is not like you, doesn’t mean they are not a good fit for your space.

How do you know if the persona you’ve crafted really represents your best guest? There’s no way you can be absolutely sure about your avatar’s characteristics. You’ll have to make your best guess and be prepared that you might need to make some adjustments.

One thing is for sure, the more you know about your best guest, the more clarity you will have and the easier it will be to offer an exceptional guest experience-one that from beginning to end, address all of your guests’ needs, wants and challenges. Knowing your best guests’ avatar is the Swiss Army knife of your hosting business. You will use your avatar in every decision you make from the buzzwords in your profile to the testimonials and reviews you use in your marketing.