How to Tell Your Stories to Build Trust in Your Short-Term Rental Business

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Sue Allen is a dog lover and wouldn’t dream of going on vacation without them.  Before she founded East Ruston Cottages, a property management company in the picturesque county of Norfolk in England, she regularly encountered problems finding a vacation rental that would accept her pets and her friends dogs as well.

Her company’s niche is 'multiple-pet-friendly' and some of the properties in her portfolio accept unlimited dogs. 

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All of them welcome at least 2 dogs with no weight or breed restrictions; no pet fees and as she calls them, ‘silly rules’.

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These are the stories she tells on her website.

And it’s how she creates trust with guests that have experienced similar struggles finding accommodation.

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Storytelling generates trust and there’s a scientific basis for this claim

In the realm of neuroscience, storytelling plays a pivotal role in engaging our brains, and it aligns perfectly with the trust triangle of authenticity, logic, and empathy. 

When we encounter straightforward information, our brains process it in areas known as "Broca's area" and "Wernicke's area." 

As an aside, when our Head of Education, Heather Bayer, was studying psychology 30 years ago in an impactful course called Biology, Brain and Behaviour, she recalls a presentation on these parts of the brain and how they are impacted by a stroke.  The lesson described a person recovering speech and word recognition following a stroke.  The class followed ‘Bill’ over the course of a few months, as the neural pathways in the Broca and Wernicke’s area of his brain began to repair.

She never forgotten that story and she became invested in Bill’s recovery process, how he learned to read and speak again.                             

If you think back to your experiences in education, dry facts just don’t get remembered, but stories do.

This is because, when we infuse storytelling into our property listings, something magical happens. Neuroscientists have used MRI scans to study how our brains respond to information, revealing that descriptive metaphors and vivid language can light up our sensory cortex. 

This occurs in the part of the brain responsible for transcribing actual sensory experiences, like the scent of freshly brewed coffee in the morning or the cozy warmth of a crackling fireplace in the evening.

In the context of our business, this insight is transformative. Crafting a well-told story about your property goes beyond mere facts; it taps into the trust triangle. 

This way of looking at trust was shared in a Harvard Business Review article titled “Begin with Trust”, by Anne Morriss and Frances Frei.

In it they share stories and insights on how to build trust with others and outline three core drivers of trust: authenticity, logic and empathy. They argue that people only trust you when they think they are interacting with the real you (authenticity), when they have faith in your judgement and competence (logic), and when they believe you care about them (empathy). 

This model fits well into the way we share information with guests and encourage them to trust in our services.

• Authenticity is conveyed through vivid descriptions that paint a clear picture of what guests can expect. 
• Logic is applied as you seamlessly weave important details into the narrative, ensuring potential guests have all the information they need. 
• Empathy is established as you take guests on a journey, helping them imagine themselves in the space, creating an emotional connection.

So, the choice becomes clear: a dry, factual property listing provides basic information but fails to inspire trust. In contrast, a well-crafted story engages the trust triangle, creating an authentic, logical, and empathetic connection that inspires trust in you as a host or manager.

Your property listing becomes more than a mere set of details; it becomes an invitation to experience something memorable and trustworthy. 

In a world where our brains are wired to understand and retain stories, this approach can lead to great persuasion and action from potential guests, benefiting your business in myriad ways.

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Listings are not the only way to earn trust

Look at your site.  Do you have an About page that tells your story?  Or is it just corporate blah? What about a page that talks about why guests should trust you with their hard-earned money, or why owners would even think about giving you responsibility for their $2M mansion.  Do you talk about safety, responsibility and hospitality?

These all lend themselves to crafted stories that show who you are, and why you should be trusted.

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