What is the Secret of Airbnb?

I would never be an Airbnb host. Having a stranger staying in my house doesn’t fit with my personality. 

That said, there are a lot of people that would do it. Airbnb has over seven million listings in 100,000 cities worldwide and reported revenues of $1 Billion (with a b) in the second quarter of this year. They are so successful; they have plans to become publicly traded in 2020.  

That’s saying quite a bit considering that the entire home-sharing platform developed from people’s willingness to allow strangers to stay in their house. But it works. 

I might not host for Airbnb, but I do use them. One of the things I enjoy about the experience is that you stay in a place you wouldn’t usually visit. 

Having spent my fair share of time in hotels, I am a bit of an expert in that experience. My Airbnb experience is different in a refreshing way. 

I began to wonder what the secret to their success was. To find out, we spoke with Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., C.P.S., about his experience with Airbnb when writing his latest book, The Airbnb Way. Dr. Michelli is considered a global guru for Customer Service. He works with organizations and leadership to change their experience to be better for both their customers and their employees. He consulted Airbnb and wrote his book to share the insights he gained from their success. 

Dr. Michelli says that there are many things that Airbnb gets right. One of them is that they understand what makes them unique and how they can differentiate themselves from the competition. They also recognize that the emotional connection they can create with guests is what brings their users back again and again. They also see that the Airbnb user and host is a type of community and belonging to it is one of the things that both sides of the equation value. 

This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores what Dr. Michelli saw in Airbnb’s business model and approach to employee and customer experience that makes them so successful and disruptive to the hospitality industry. He also explains how technology played a role in changing customer behavior, which paved the way for their success. Also, he shares how they accomplish their branded and elevated Customer Experience across properties, host styles, and cultures around the world. We also discuss how you can apply these concepts to elevate and brand your experience to your business as well. 

 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts help you take your Customer Experience to the next level by unlocking the “hidden” aspects of your experience and determining what really drives value for your customers.

To find out more about how your organization’s marketing can improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com. 

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