ONE of the things you should consider when using a website to promote your holiday home is to automate as much of it as possible.
But one of the most time consuming features of your site will be answering emails – which often ask the same old questions.
Well it is possible to set-up an autoresponder on your website that will give potential clients an instant reply if they email you or complete an online form.
And the beauty of this bit of web wizardry is that you can appear to be ‘in the office’ when you could well be ‘sat by the pool’.
It is a simple process to set-up.
You can either buy a small program that you run from within your own site or have a company host the service for you – this is the easiest way.
And it works by someone sending a request to an individual email address you have defined, the autoresponder accepts the message and will reply with your pre-written message.
This could highlight more of what you have on offer at your holiday home, news on late deals or details of the dates available for your place to be let.
Or you could simply say many thanks for your message we will reply within 24 hours.
What it provides is a sense of instant gratification to your potential customer and gives the impression that you are on the ball – which of course you are!
However, it is possible to take an autoresponder on to another level and run a series of messages to people.
For example, you could have a newsletter about events on in the area so when people request a copy they get the latest version.
But more importantly you have that person’s email address and so can build a relationship over time, ensuring they think of your place first when looking at going on holiday.
And if you ask people to pass on you newsletter to friends there is no better recommendation.
Personally I use a UK, web-based system from a company called auto-responder.co.uk
If you are on my newsletter list that is how you receive your weekly dose of thisfrenchlife.
I have found it very easy to use and you can set-up an account quickly, write a message and be up and running, all within a matter of minutes.
It costs £29.99 a year but they also offer a free 7-day trial so you can get an idea of how the system works.
If you choose to use Autorepsonder.co.uk and go to the site via the links on thisfrenchlife, then you will be supporting this site through a commission payment.
And that doesn’t cost you anything extra…
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