In Home Exchange, What Does 'Maybe' Mean?
Nicole Frank is one of the leading experts of the home exchange community. Nicole has been an avid home exchanger since childhood and has completed dozens exchanges around the world with her family. Nicole’s "Key to Home Exchange" appears weekly on RoofSwap.com with do’s and don’t regarding house swapping and tips and advice on a wide array of travel topics. Have a question for Nicole or want to share some insight of your own? Visit our Member Forum section and post your comments and questions.
Dear Key to Home Exchange:
I am in the midst of arranging our first home exchange. I'm wondering about follow-up email etiquette when I get a negative or luke-warm response to my home exchange request.
- "NO" responses - should I acknowledge those with a thank you note? That felt like spam to me, so I didn't, but some of the NO's were so exquisitely polite I thought some response was in order.
- "MAYBE we can exchange in the future" responses - do I have a moral obligation to reply, even if I don't think they're truly interested in a possible exchange with me at some point in future years? Some I did answer, some I didn't reply to.
- "YES" responses - I always replied to those.
And never fear, I ALWAYS reply to any offers I get on the same day - all three of them so far!
I don't want to land on anyone's bad list out of sheer ignorance.
Thanks for all your efforts in creating and sustaining the home exchange community. I hope to be able to pay it forward.
Regards,
Anne from Alberta, Canada
Dear Anne,
It sounds like you are starting your "career" as a home exchanger with a great attitude. You are concerned about having good communication, even with people who do not immediately take you up on your offer of a home exchange. Your consideration of your fellow swappers marks you as an excellent candidate for successful home exchanging. As you suspect, it is a good idea to conduct your home exchange communication carefully to ensure you do not offended anyone with whom you may want to swap in the future.
Here are my suggestions for how to handle those "no" or "maybe" responses to your home exchange requests.
* "No" responses: Best not to follow up. People who want to keep that door open for a possible future swap will indicate that. The exception to this would be if the "no" response contains details that indicate the swapper may have misunderstood your original offer email. For example, you might send an offer saying you want to use someone's second home in June. Later in the email you may have said that your home is available in both June and December if the exchanger is interested in a non-simultaneous swap. If the exchanger just scans your email, s/he may not notice the December availability and reply, "we cannot travel in June". You might write back with new information such as "thank you for your reply. I see that you will not be traveling in June. I wanted to let you know that our home is also available in December if you prefer a winter vacation."
Another example would be if your listing notes something that the exchangers object to which can be changed. For instance you may mention that you have a dog. Some swappers could reply that they are not comfortable taking responsibility for a dog. If you are willing to send your dog to stay with friends you should write back explaining that dog care is not a requirement of the exchange.
Be careful to only offer realistic suggestions that truly meet the swappers' stated needs. My listing makes it clear that we need three bedrooms for our family, which is comprised of two parents, two kids and grandpa, who often travels with us. We get dozens of offers each year from people with one-bedroom apartments. When I respond that we need three bedrooms for the five of us, I often get a follow-up saying that even though there is only one bedroom, they have a sofabed in the living room! Whether these folks are bad at math or just don't care about our family's comfort, I don't want to swap with them.
"Maybe" responses: it is best to write back thanking them for considering a possible future swap. You may get the sense that they are just saying they will "keep you in mind for the future" in order to be polite. However, if there is any possibility you might want to approach them again, send some sort of response. At the least, you might say "Thanks, we will also keep you in mind for the future." Sending a brief reply if you get any glimmer of interest keeps the lines of communication open. At the very least, you will come across as positive, with good communication skills. And who knows, you might just work out a swap with that person one day.
Happy home exchanging!
Nicole Frank, Your Key to Home Exchange
