Read the instructions...

Greetings all and welcome to Real Estate Secrets where we talk about everything involved with flipping and renting properties. I’m you’re host Linda Harley and today’s topic is…guest’s not reading instructions.

I grew up in Durban South Africa, and when I got to high school there were about 70 kids in my class. The first day of school they gathered all the freshmen together and gave us a test. They told us to follow each instruction carefully.

Being the studious person that I am, I read the first question. It said….

1. Write your name in the top right hand corner of the paper.

So I wrote my name in the top right hand corner and went back to the instructions.

1. Go to number 20.

So I looked down and read number 20.

20. Place and x on the bottom left hand corner of the paper, turn the paper over, and put your pencil down. You’re done.

Curious I did as I was told.

I was the first kid to be done. The teacher came over and looked at my work, said well done and excused me from the class.

Afterwards I asked the other kids that took over an hour to finish what had happened.

They told me, that they had skipped number 2 and carried on with number 3. Afterwards, they had all gotten a failing grade. The teacher explained to them that they had not followed the instructions, and that this was a life lesson.

We were now high school students, we were expected to think for ourselves, but still follow instructions.

That lesson has stayed with me all my life.

When I started my first Airbnb, I kept getting emails and calls from guests who could not get the front door unlocked with the code that I had provided.

The instructions were clear but not fail proof apparently.

I was getting frustrated having to deal with these calls, as everything was in black and white. I had keyless entry and guests were able to check in/out on their own without me having to be present.

I went back to the drawing board and asked myself what was happening, what steps were they skipping and what instructions were they missing.

So I literally wrote out the following instructions.

Step 1: Enter the code XXXX

Step 2: Turn the bolt at the top to the right.

Step 3: Push the Door handle down.

Step 4: Push the door to open.

Then I proceeded to set up my automated sequence to where it would text these instructions 30 minutes prior to check in time. Just in time information and dummy proof.

Worked like a charm, and I no longer received the annoying texts.

What is there in your business today that you need to dummy proof for guests to give you peace of mind and your time back? I’d love to know! Drop your answers below.

Too da loo

Linda