The Business Equation Every Vacation Rental Manager Needs

One of the questions I get quite often is "How do we know what products we should be adding to our company to enhance guest experience?"

As simple of a question as this may seem, it's definitely one that holds a lot of weight for an organization, and one that needs to be taken very seriously.

Especially vacation rental organizations that have so much riding on the guest experience, with so many balls up in the air at once.

In our space, growth doesn't just come from bookings, but portfolio growth, and as an active investor myself, I know that when I'm looking into management companies for my properties, a lot rides on the guest experience.

So how do you know what is actually going to enhance the guest experience, and what's just another fad?

You need to have a qualification structure built into your business.

It's not hard, it doesn't take a lot of time and manpower, and you can literally take 2 minutes to figure this out.

As I've been able to work with companies from all walks of life, from small mom and pop family businesses to large portfolio property management companies and everything in between I've created an equation that answers this question masterfully if I say so myself.

That equation is:

1+1=3

What does this even mean? It's very simple actually

Whatever you bring to the table needs to add to the three R's of your company: Retention (Rebooking), Revenue, and Referrals. The holy trinity (of any business actually).

DISCLAIMER: I know there are a lot more KPI's that you track in your company - but hear me out. If what you're bringing in brings back guests (more money), brings in more money (more money... duh), and drives more people into your properties (more money), you gonna be mad? No. Ok. let's move on.

The basic premise is that when adding a new product to your guest experience you need to ask this:

Is the product (1) + your guests (1) going to equal = an increase in the holy trinity (3)?

Will the product that you bring to the table have your guests using it and allow them to be more engaged with your brand (before, during and after their stay), is it going to add a new revenue source (or build upon an existing one), and would it differentiate so much that your guests would tell their friends?

When I talk to our prospective clients here at YourWelcome, I try to find out where they are today as a business, where they're looking to go, and then I ask them five questions that you need to ask yourself next time you're thinking of adding a new product to enhance guest experience.

Why these 5 questions? Because they're going to answer whether or not whatever you're looking at is really going to enhance the guest experience.

1. Can you see this enhancing guest experience? Even just a little bit.

2. How do you see this bringing in new revenue? (or building upon an existing revenue)

3. Put your self in a guests shoes for a moment, would you actually consistently use this product?

4. As a guest, would this improve your day to day experience with your brand?

5. Can you see this product being a conversation point between a guest and a friend, leading to a greater number of referrals or better reviews?

We covered everything there

Will it work?

Will it make you more money?

Will your guests be happy?

Will they tell their friends?

There are obviously things that need to be discussed in greater detail, but if you get a call from someone, or you are in talks with a company about a product currently, before you move on, ask yourself these 5 questions. If you can answer them affirmatively, move forward, if not you may want to reevaluate.

Unless I'm the one in your office, then just answer affirmatively because you want to see me succeed right? Right!

Until Next Time.

My career started in both the healthcare and fitness industries. Over that time, I've worked with some of the largest brands in fitness, focusing on digital strategy, technology adoption, automating and restructuring their internal sales processes, marketing systems, and operations. I'm currently an Account Executive for YourWelcome, a technology firm focused on enhancing the way vacation rental managers do business. I'm the Co-Host of The #VRGX Podcast and an active Real Estate Investor. Every day I look to provide the companies I work with the tools to achieve autonomy and success through market positioning, technology adoption, and operations optimization. You can reach ned at ned.arick@yourwelcome or follow him on Instagram at @NedArick