CHECKLIST: providing the best experience for guests

Providing guests a great experience is super important for being successful as a host. There are a few reasons for this:

Repeat guests: for our most successful hosts, 2/3 of their visits are from repeat guests. Give guests a great experience so that they will come back. Additionally, having more repeat guests will boost your spot in our search ranking and qualify you for the Top Spot badge, bringing you more new guests.
Word of mouth: many of the new guests that hosts get come from word of mouth from past guests. If guests have a great time, they will tell their friends.
Reviews: outstanding reviews are one of the biggest factors in new guests choosing to visit a spot. Guests that have great experience write great reviews.

THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to know about providing a great experience is that guests use Sniffspot for SAFE EXERCISE for their dog(s). A great experience is a both SAFE and amazing EXERCISE.

Below we provide you a checklist of things you can do to provide a great experience for guests:

1. Make sure your spot is safe: safety is the first commitment to our host standards. Here are some ways to make your spot safe:

ALWAYS make sure resident dog(s) are not visible or audible from the spot if possible. Visible or audible dogs can be a distraction to guest dogs and detract from their experience. It would be best if you made it clear in your spot listing that resident dogs will be away from the spot during visits.
Ensure never to enter a spot during a visit or approach guest dogs without confirming it in advance with the guest. If a guest has visited multiple times, it could be easy to relax and come out to say hi - do not do this unless you confirm in advance. This is not safe for you or the dog. Read more about interacting with guest dogs here.
In general, spots with fewer distractions earn more than spots with more distractions. Minimizing distractions will increase your earnings. Learn more here.
Double check your email and add a phone number to make sure there are no typos and you are able to receive message and booking notifications.
Download our mobile app and make sure to enable push alerts (Android here, iPhone here)
If you have family, roommates or others that have access to your spot, add them as secondary contacts so they get notified for all bookings
Hosts can enable Sniffspot to automatically add reservations to their Google Calendar. In order to enable this, hosts can go to their host account -> spot -> spot preferences -> Add reservations automatically to Google Calendar
Fenced spots are considered safer than partially or unfenced spots. Check out our guide for how to think about adding fencing to a spot.
Regularly inspecting your property then remedying or noting hazards can be a great way to create a safe spot. See our inspection checklist here.
Read more important aspects of providing a safe spot here.

2. Make sure your spot is great for dog exercise and fun:

Spots with amenities earn 10x more than spots without amenities. Amenities can make a guest experience magical and help them wear out their dog(s). Learn more about what amenities to provide.

3. Make sure your spot listing is accurate: check out our guide for making the best spot listing

4. Make it easy to access your spot:

Set broad and reliable availability. If guests have a great experience, want to come back and try to book, but your spot is not available, they may look to other spots. Setting broad availability will maximize your ability to capture interest from repeat guests.
Write clear access instructions for your guest and add photos to your access instructions. Learn more here
Put up signs to make it easy to find your spot. Read how here.
Think about how you will interact with guests. Please read our guide here.
Pro tip: you can set up an auto message that will automatically be sent to first time guests two hours before their visit time. This is a great way to welcome guests and remind them of important access instructions and safety rules.

5. Make communication easy:

Keep your calendar up to date and accurate.
Double check your email and add a phone number to make sure there are no typos and you are able to receive message and booking notifications.
Download our mobile app and make sure to enable push alerts (Android here, iPhone here)
If you have family, roommates or others that have access to your spot, add them as secondary contacts so they get notified for all bookings
Respond quickly when contacted.

6. Provide great value: set the right price for your spot. Note: all of our prices are in USD and we do not support additional currencies at this time. So if you are an international host, makes sure to keep in mind when you set prices that you are setting them in USD, the prices on your spot will show in USD and your guests will pay in USD. We hope to be able to support additional currencies in the future.

7. Offer memberships: top spots hosts are eligible to offer a subscription membership to their guests. This encourages guests to visit more often and increases repeat visits. Learn more here.

8. Learn from your guests: ask every guest for feedback and a review. You can do this through a message after their visit and by reviewing every visit to your spot. You may learn things that guests love or don't love about their experience that you wouldn't have otherwise known. Make sure to check out our review interpretation guide.

9. Learn from other hosts:

Join our Sniffspot Host Community - which is our host-only community where hosts swap tips and ask questions.
Check out posts from some of our most successful hosts for how they provide a great experience for their guests.
Browse other spots around you that have many reviews and see what they are doing with their listings to attract so many guests. It can inspire you! You can browse local spots here.

Once you are set up for providing a great experience for hosts, then check out our next articles for success as a host:

Check out our video on providing a great guest experience: