Why All-Star Status Matters
Congratulations to all of the new All-Star hosts!
Every quarter two things happen. First, All-Star status is awarded to hosts who have achieved the required performance metrics. The second thing that happens, each quarter, is a group of hosts trolling around the Facebook groups make posts and comments downplaying the achievement and mocking the newer hosts who are celebrating receiving it for the first time.
It’s just a participation trophy.
That’s one of the phrases you’ll hear a lot from the more cynical hosts among us. They’ll talk about how it’s a meaningless recognition and doesn’t help your business in a significant way. They couldn’t be more wrong. And here are all of the reasons All-Star status matters and you should be proud of achieving it.
Increased Booking Activity
The Carshare Academy has completed market analysis on over 160 cities all around the United States and there is one finding that shows up over and over, in nearly every market. All-Star vehicles get more booking activity than non-All-Star vehicles. It’s simply a fact that is proven with data. There are three main reasons for this.
First, when you perform at All-Star metrics the search algorithm is favoring your vehicles and placing them closer to the top of search results. You’re considered one of the best, most reliable hosts in the community, who consistently provides an excellent guest experience. Turo wants guests to book your vehicles, so they make sure you’re seen.
The second reason for the increased booking activity is the All-Star search filter. Guests can toggle this on to only see vehicles listed by All-Star hosts. Once this search filter is turned on, all other vehicles disappear from search results. When the All-Star program first rolled out a few years ago, I did a test. I searched for vehicles in my market available the next day. About 200 or so showed up in search results. When I toggled the All-Star filter on, all but 80 of them disappeared and of the 80 remaining in search results, 20 of them were mine.
And finally, the third reason for the increased booking activity is that you become the host that Turo calls when a guest has a trip cancelled, and needs help finding another vehicle. Turo will occasionally call you to ask if you can accommodate the guest, or will simply book your vehicle on the guest’s behalf.
Priority Customer Support
The second great benefit of All-Star status is VIP status when it’s time for you to reach out to customer support. When you call or open a live chat, your phone number/login is recognized and you are re-routed closer to the front of the line for shorter hold times (if any) and faster resolution. This is particularly important during the peak seasons when you are more likely to need them, and the customer service teams are most busy.
Waived Cancellation Fees
You likely don’t have to worry about this too often, but in the event you do need to cancel a trip, as an All-Star host, you won’t be charged the $25 - $50 cancellation fee for the cancellation. That cancellation will, however, affect your metrics, causing you to lose All-Star status if you do it too often, so don’t consider this a free pass to begin cancelling trips you just don’t feel like completing.
How do you earn All-Star status?
Turo has a set of metrics that you must reach and maintain to be awarded All-Star status.
Response rate: ≥ 95%
Acceptance rate: ≥ 90%
Commitment rate: ≥ 95%
Five-star ratings: ≥ 90%
Account must be open and free of active policy violations
10 or more completed trips across all listings, including deleted listings
Your performance is measured every quarter and the measurement collects performance data for the past 365 days to determine if you qualify. If so, you are awarded the status on the 15th of the month following the end of the quarter. Here’s the cycle:
January - March: Awarded on April 15th.
April - June: Awarded on July 15th.
July - September: Awarded on October 15th.
October - December: Awarded on January 15th.
Remember that you are always subject to lose All-Star status if you miss the metrics in any evaluation period, and since each measurement includes the past 365 days of performance you could lost the status next quarter for mistakes you made almost a year ago.
All-Star status is the objective at the Carshare Academy.
The Carshare Academy began in the spring of 2021 with the goal of helping hosts achieve profitability right off the jump, and achieve All-Star status in their first evaluation period after becoming a Carshare Academy member. So far we’ve helped over 1,400 hosts in one way or another! If you’d like to see what we do and how we do it, drop by and check out our Membership Plans.