The summer season is more competitive than ever with economic headwinds making travelers discerning and increased supply in many markets. Tim and Tiffany share actionable strategies to maximize your summer business without panicking or devaluing your properties.
• Don't panic and drop rates – implement a thoughtful, data-driven review process
• Understand changing booking dynamics like the shift to shorter stays
• Communicate clearly with owners and understand their specific goals
• Use dynamic pricing tools but override algorithms when local knowledge dictates
• Target your existing customer base with exclusive offers and personalized outreach
• Create value-add programs instead of slashing rates (gift cards, event tickets, welcome baskets)
• Fill "gap nights" between longer bookings with strategic discounts
• Use data analytics to identify which dates are being searched but not booked
• Review and optimize your listing presentations across all platforms
• Scrutinize all discretionary spending and recurring subscriptions
• Monitor overtime and staff scheduling closely
• Re-forecast your budget if revenue projections have shifted
• Review credit card charges line by line and negotiate with vendors
Choose one or two points from today's discussion and put them into action this week to improve your summer performance.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to the Vacation Rental Key with T&T
, the podcast for vacationrental managers by vacation
rental managers.
I'm Tim Cafferty and I managetwo companies, one in Virginia
and one in North Carolina.
I'm one of the two T's.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And I'm the other, T Tiffany Edwards, born and raised
in the vacation rental business.
I help manage our familybusinesses from Key West all the
way to Kauai.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
In the next 30 minutes we're going to give you
our keys to success in thevacation rental business.
To success in the vacationrental business.
Welcome back everybody to theVacation Rental Key with TNT.
Happy summer Tiffany, happysummer we're right in the middle
(00:57):
of it.
Oh, my goodness, it feels likeit's been summer for about a
month, but I think the calendarsays it just happened this past
weekend.
So we are into it and with thesummer season we're at go time
for a lot of our folks that arelistening out there.
You know, the landscape is morecompetitive than ever.
(01:18):
The post-pandemic bookingfrenzy is settled, economic
headwinds are out there andthey're making travelers more
discerning and supply hasincreased in many markets.
So this means that simplyhaving a property isn't enough.
You have to be proactive, youhave to be data-driven, you have
to have strategies to make sureyour summer is as successful as
(01:42):
possible.
I hope you agree.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Absolutely, and whether you're a seasoned
veteran in this business oryou've just started in a
post-pandemic, the informationwe're going to share today is
vital for the summer slowdown.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I think a lot of the markets that we're speaking to
right now are seeing thatslowdown If you read any of the
national trends that's happening.
And so here we are in late June.
Is it time to panic?
No, we are here to calm yournerves, don't panic, but you do
(02:18):
need to get some stuff going tomake sure you have a great
summer season.
So we've drilled it down to afew points here today.
Again, we like to number thingsand give you takeaways, and I
think people are going toappreciate a few items on here
that maybe they didn't have ontheir list, and they can make
proactive decisions right now tomake your summer the best it
(02:40):
possibly can be.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Absolutely, and with these points, they follow into
two separate buckets, reallyfocusing well, three actually
really focusing on revenue andrates, a marketing component and
then overall review of yourexpenses.
So let's just jump right intothat.
Rates and revenue, tim, youmentioned earlier.
Don't panic, that is number onethat I would like to share with
(03:05):
everyone.
A lot of people just assumethat you should drop your rates
and continue to drop thembecause you get nervous and
scared, and you cannot do that.
You need to be very thoughtfulabout your rates and not make a
knee-jerk reaction to devalueyour properties.
Instead, you need to implementa thoughtful and data-driven
(03:26):
review process.
And you know, tim, youmentioned some of this earlier
in an article I'd love for youto share about.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, some of you may have noted that one of your
co-hosts was mentioned in theNew York Times.
Actually is the first two wordsof the article you pointed out
to me.
It said- Above the fold.
Above the fold, I was news fora few minutes and it didn't even
have any caveats like convictedfelon Tim Cafferty or anything
(03:57):
like that.
It was actually industryspecific.
So I was very honored by SydneyEmber who called me and did a
great job on that story aboutbookings overall.
But I talked about, and shehighlighted in that article, the
changing dynamics of thissummer's bookings.
We took some proactive stepshere by two companies but they
(04:19):
were thoughtful back to yourpoint about not panicking and
they were responsive to thetrends we picked up on.
Talk to the people that talk tothe people.
What are your reservationagents telling you about their
interactions with guests andwhat can you do to get to yes
when the guest calls to book aproperty?
(04:39):
That's what I think we reallyshould think about.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And most of those.
What to get to?
Yes, common trends between alot of your potential guests.
So identifying what thosetrends may be, and then how do
you make decisions or assimilateto those trends?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, the trends for us in this market, the two
markets I'm in traditionallyseven-day rentals.
I know some of you are outthere scoffing ah, that hasn't
happened in the age.
Well, I guess we were the lastto adopt less than full-week
bookings and it made a hugedifference for us.
We've booked more than 400stays between Memorial Day and
(05:19):
Labor Day on less than full-weekstays and it's saved our bacon.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And a lot of people who may be listening, tim may
not understand the structure ofsome of your properties.
You have larger homes, so, andin an area that typically
doesn't open up for less thanseven days.
So this is actually a very,very big, dynamic switch from
the guest and what the consumeris wanting.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Another thing under that is making sure you know
what your owner's goals are.
Now, I just mentioned that wemoved to less than full-week
rentals, but not all of myowners were on board with that
and it's important that you know.
Is the owner focused onoccupancy at any cost, or do
they prioritize a higher ADR,even if it means fewer bookings?
(06:05):
You need to tailor yourstrategy to their specific
financial goals and communicateclearly.
Communication is really the keyon this.
You must overshare with yourowners so they can't say later I
never heard from you.
Actually, I usually have a story.
I had an owner contact me lastweek about how slow bookings
(06:26):
were and the lack ofcommunication they had on our
part.
I can't get a hold of anybody.
So when I went to investigatethe matter, I found the owner
had been contacted 53 times byour owner relations staff since
January and almost everycommunication it was about his
rate structure was unrealistic.
(06:46):
Of course he's a doctor, he'snot wrong.
He keeps weird hours and in theend we found in that particular
case our manner ofcommunicating was not resonating
, so we switched it.
His rates have reduced, by theway, tiffany, and, amazing, he
has bookings now.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Amazing and after only 53 tries you could get
there.
54th one did it.
Fourth is the trick.
You know the other part that wedo with the owner,
communication as well is take anapproach for their property but
also give them, and paint them,a picture of the overall
community.
So what are we seeing withinthe area and then what are we
(07:26):
seeing overall of an industrytrend.
So it allows the owner tounderstand in a broader sense
how they level in comparison toa local area and then to the
overall industry.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I hope all of you have some sort of dynamic
pricing.
It's really non-negotiableTools like Beyond or Price Labs
or Wheelhouse.
They are your best friends inthis situation and leverage that
data, emphasize the use of thatsoftware to identify which
types of properties are fallingbehind.
(07:59):
For example, smaller propertiesmight have a bigger issue than
properties with a differentlocation and they might be more
flexible to fill thoselast-minute gaps, while the
larger, high-value propertiesmight need earlier and more
targeted bookings.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, and Tim, that's so important too, because when
you segment your properties fromthe lower breadroom count to
the higher, you really have tolook at what is your window of
when you could get someone backin.
So if you're down in occupancy,but it's for some of those one,
two bedrooms, you do have theopportunity to kind of change
those rates and compare them tothe area and get those bookings,
(08:37):
whereas those five bedroomsfour bedrooms you need to look a
little bit more into the weeksto come, months to come, to pick
(08:57):
up on some of that occupancy orspecific market insight may
lead to better decisions.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
For example, last August I remember there was a
particular operator who I won'tname their name, but the
software suggested a sharp dropin the daily rates on specific
properties.
But that person said what thesoftware didn't know is we have
a huge festival that's coming onthis particular week.
It's going to draw huge crowds,but they don't book until 25
(09:30):
days prior to arrival.
So that's where really theexpertise came in and overrided
that algorithm and it reallygives you the opportunity, as
the manager, to highlight yourvalue.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And we actually just internally had this conversation
last week because we had asimilar event that is upcoming
and know that other people inthe area are dropping their
rates.
But we have got to hold becausewe know that we're going to get
those last minute bookings inthere and we know that we can
drive it through differentmarketing.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You know one of the other things we've seen.
I'm not sure if I've sharedthis trend with you, but the
week of July 4th, which is likenext week, is very soft, and my
experience as a manager I havebeen doing this for more than
seven years when July 4th fallson a Friday, bookings are in the
(10:17):
commode.
People just don't travel whenJuly 4th is on a Friday, for
whatever reason.
I guess they stay at home andenjoy the fireworks there.
They don't have extra days off.
I don't know what it is, but itis a trend and it's something
we were able to anticipatebecause we had the knowledge of
history.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
That's a really great takeaway.
Holidays, and when they fall,are really important to make
sure that you focus on.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Okay, so is that number one?
Did we actually number thatnumber one?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
mastering your rates and revenue.
It's more than just a numberfolks.
We've had in particular units,what days they're searching for,
so we can develop a betterstrategy and also really
understand what the marketaround us is starting to drive.
So you need to really look atthat, if you have it, and go to
a unit by unit level or propertyby property yeah, unit.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I don't want to have a unit on a property.
Don't get Doug Kennedy startedon units, He'll scold us.
Okay, so that's number one.
Number two would be, let's say,precision marketing, not just
marketing and guest engagement.
Let's hit some points on thisone, Tiff.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
One of the things that I feel like are so
underutilized is, at this pointin time, instead of pressing
panic, to really understand thatyour most valuable asset is
your existing customer base.
So you really need to focus onimplementing targeted email
campaigns with exclusive offersto those brand loyalty guests.
(12:02):
Use the social media togenerate those magic moments of
guests enjoying time.
Help get them encouraged towant to get away and replicate
that memory and really considerpicking up the phone.
We start to do cold calls atthat point and let people know
we miss them and encourage themto come back and stay with us.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The old FOMO.
Nothing like seeing a pictureof a family sitting at the beach
and you're going gosh, I wishwe were there.
Okay, so I'm going to addsomething to that, literally and
figuratively.
How about creating a value-addprogram, instead of just
lowering rates and advertisingspecials?
Don't race to the bottom onprice.
(12:45):
Instead, offer incentives thatadd value without slashing your
ADR.
Okay, tim, what does that mean?
Okay, how about gift cards to apopular local restaurant?
Or maybe there's an attractionin your area, maybe there's a
concert or a festival and youcould offer tickets to local
events.
Or maybe, if you do less thanfull week stays, a percentage
(13:09):
off the extra night to encouragea longer stay.
Or maybe even curating a localwelcome basket with regional
treats and insider tips.
It could feel like they'regetting something special by
booking with you.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Absolutely.
And then you're not trainingthe consumer to wait to the last
minute and get a lower rate,your value add and I love the
idea of a local welcome basketbecause it's just a nice
hospitality first impression.
When you walk in they knowthey're getting something, but
they don't exactly know all theother treats.
And while you can implement allof this at last minute, I would
(13:46):
really suggest that in the offseason you start to curate the
relationships with other localbusinesses so that you have some
type of quid pro quo, so thatin the time that you may need to
offer gift cards or some ofthese services, you can call up
other local vendors to make thishappen.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
If you're anything like me, whenever I'm out in the
community and I see thoseowners of those businesses,
what's the first thing they dowhen they go up to you?
How's business?
What does August look like?
Are we going to be busy thisyear?
That's a great opening to say,you know what.
We are going to be a littlesoft for a particular week.
But I was thinking aboutcalling you.
(14:24):
Would you be willing to offer agift certificate that we could
pass along to a guest if theybooked a certain week?
I think you'd be surprised.
The answer is going to be yes.
And if you're sitting backgoing, yeah, well, I don't
really want to take on theexpense for a welcome basket.
Well, maybe your owner sharesthe expense or takes on the
expense because you maybe havethem in the mind of reducing the
(14:46):
rate.
Say, hey, I've got an idea.
Instead of reducing the rate,let's do this.
Instead, we'll do a charcuterietray for this guest and we'll
discharge you for it, but you'regoing to get full boat on the
house.
So lots of ideas.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I also love the fifth night, and this goes into our
next comment.
But you already have adiscounted rate, so they're not
having to pay another cleaningfee.
So it's already a lower rateand you don't necessarily have
to lower it even more becausethey're still getting a value
there.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So I've learned a new term in the last many years gap
nights.
I don't know what I thoughtthat meant at first, but I have
identified now.
So there's little gaps that youcan't fill and what do you do?
It's lost revenue.
So identify that lost revenueby maybe quantifying the
potential loss from thosefrustrating one or two night
(15:39):
gaps between those longerbookings.
You could realize maybe anotherhalf million dollars in
potential loss revenue from gapnights across your portfolio if
you look at this.
So maybe implement an automatedtext message to your guests
before they arrive or after theydepart for a previous booking.
Before they arrive or afterthey depart for a previous
(16:01):
booking, offer a discounted ratefor those specific gap nights
to fall into what Tiffany wasjust saying there.
Important caveat, though, isclearly state if a cleaning fee
isn't included in the discountgap night to manage those
expectations.
Ensure those discounted ratesare preset within your rate
system to make sure it'sseamless and you don't look like
a blithering idiot when theycall and ask about it and the
(16:21):
person on the front line doesn'thave any idea what they're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
That's so important Underline, highlight, make a
note of that.
So one of the other marketingstrategies that your team needs
to be looking at is data-drivenmarketing through Google
Analytics Any of your Googlepaid analytics.
You need to be reviewing whatyour Google ad performances are
(16:45):
and what search terms areconverting.
More importantly, what termsare not converting.
Take them away and thenreevaluate what your ROI is.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Why are we paying $5.24 a click for this term?
You would be shocked, and thisis going to come up later too.
This does require some work onyour behalf, mr or Mrs Company
Owner.
Just set it and forget it.
Look for yourself and see whatyou're doing.
(17:14):
So, in addition to that, if youuse a tool like Yon Pricing or
whatever, use the market datainsights into your revenue
management software, they oftentell you which dates are being
searched for the most buthaven't been booked.
This is gold.
Folks Target your marketingefforts specifically on those
weeks or dates and if you'rereally a data nerd, you can look
(17:35):
and see where the trends areabout where people come from at
that particular time.
I was shocked to find out oneof the biggest markets for the
Outer Banks at the end of May.
Want to take a guess, tiffany?
Oh, put me on the spot.
I didn't prep you on this.
No, you're not going to get it.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I'm not going to get it.
I admit failure already.
Well, it's more of a surprise.
I admit failure already.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Well, it's more of a surprise.
St Louis, missouri, really, howabout that?
The schools get out in mid-Mayand I guess we're the closest to
East Coast Beach.
I don't know but the number ofMissouri license plates driving
around, it's a little late forthat now.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But if you can find a trend for the future, seize it
or use it for the future.
Now you know you can targetthat marketplace and then you
know that you can look to seewhen their schools are out and
start targeting them ahead oftime.
You know we did this for ourbusiness yesterday where we
found this massive uptick insearches for a specific 30-day
timeframe that historically hasnot been very high occupancy in
(18:42):
the fall, and so we have nowtargeted that completely in our
next round of marketing.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Fabulous.
Hey, here's another idea.
How about following up on leadsthat didn't close?
You get those inquiries andthey slip through the cracks, or
we like to call it crumbs thatfall off the plate.
Have a system for picking upthose crumbs.
Follow up with those potentialguests who showed interest but,
for whatever reason, didn't book.
A personalized email or maybe acall with a tailored offer for
(19:10):
them can convert those people.
And, worst case scenario, maybethey book with someone else and
you find out why.
Again, good information for thefuture.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah and Tim, I can't stress enough that
personalization.
Please don't make it look likea chat GPT automatic response.
Really try to figure out a wayto personalize it.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Okay, now on the last of this precision marketing and
guest engagement number.
It's really in my craw and Itold you a moment ago.
As company owners, you need toroll up the sleeves sometimes,
and this is where it comes.
Optimize your listingpresentations.
When's the last time you wentto your website and looked at
(19:50):
the pictures or the descriptionsor a third-party website?
Professional, high-qualityphotos are non-negotiable.
We know that you need to updatethem seasonally or after any
upgrades.
Consider drone shots.
There's nothing worse thanseeing a picture of a house with
a pool.
It's the end of June and thepicture of a pool has a cover on
(20:12):
it.
Really, come on, folks, makesure you go through those
descriptions.
Have you got compelling,benefit-driven descriptions that
highlight the unique amenitiesof the property, the local
experiences and address thoseguest needs Like perfect for
remote work, family-friendlyfeatures, dog-friendly house,
(20:33):
and then go to those OTAs.
So Sarah and I famously did aspoof, if you will, on terrible
Vrbo listings.
When's the last time you lookedat those?
Just take a few hours andreview your images, the listings
, particularly on Vrbo andAirbnb.
Are your headlines relevant?
Are the headlines dated?
Book by May 20th to get aspecial look at it through the
(20:58):
guest's eyes, you will besurprised.
That's all I'll say.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, tim, that's so important because I think a lot
of our reservationists end uplooking at our site many times
just as a reference, but youdon't necessarily go into the
OTAs, and so you may even lookat it from the Vrbo or Airbnb,
but you may be using other OTAs,and the other thing is that
look at it on your phone.
So many people spend their timeresearching looking at their
(21:24):
phone and not at a desktop, andyou really need to make sure
that all those pictures comethrough consistently on a mobile
device as well, and I'll goback even more so when we talked
about driving in and dialing into specific properties.
You really need to go to thosespecific properties that are not
(21:45):
doing as well as the yearpreviously.
Go and look at all of thedifferent listings that you have
and make sure that they'recoming across in the way that
you intended with, say, all ofthe amenities and features and
great pictures.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I had that happen to me earlier this year.
There was a property that waslagging.
We looked at it on our websiteoh looks great, and just the
blind trust that everything wasfeeding through properly.
One morning two of us looked atthe house on Verbo.
The money shot was the outsideshower.
What that's?
(22:21):
Picture number 53.
How is that the number one onthe rotation?
So we had to go back to Verbo.
We got it corrected eventually,but that owner never forgave us
for the outside shower in thefirst picture.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Oh yeah, well, I'm glad you found that and that's a
note to everyone else out.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yes indeed.
Okay are we wrapped up number?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
two Can we go to?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
number three.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I think we're ready for it All right.
So number three we've talkedabout marketing, we've talked
about revenue.
Now we've got to talk about howwe're cutting expenses.
So, lean operations and costmanagement.
You need to be doing it all thetime, but right now that needs
to be a major focus.
So, first and foremost, rightnow we're reviewing all of our
(23:07):
discretionary spending, so we'retaking a hard look at all
non-essential expenses and wherewe can trim fat without
impacting the guest experienceor property quality.
For the last couple of years,when the cash flow has been high
and occupancy has been high,you want to do everything and
buy everything, even as itrelates to maintenance costs.
(23:29):
What all are you buying insupplies and inventory?
You need to be watching some ofthat and you need to challenge
every reoccurring subscriptionor service.
Is it still providing you value?
You need to take a deeper diveinto that.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Again from the trust department.
You should inspect, not expect,or, as Ronald Reagan used to
say, trust but verify.
How about overtime and payroll?
When's the last time you lookedat the time cards?
With potentially fluctuatingbooking patterns, you need to
closely monitor staff hours.
(24:04):
Can you cross-train staff tomake sure you don't have
excessive overtime?
Do you have one particularindividual who seems to have
overtime every week?
Maybe there's some correctivemeasures you need to take
Scheduling being doneeffectively to minimize that
unnecessary overtime, especiallyfor your maintenance team and
for your housekeeping crews.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So I'll tell you a horror story, tim, that I just
recently experienced in one ofour companies.
Please, so, please.
This is it'll make you cry.
So in one of the businesses, werealized that a specific
individual had an absorbentamount of overtime, and part of
it was because, even if theywere on vacation or had PTO,
(24:48):
they were still collectingovertime just by coming in 20 or
30 minutes early or late eachday.
So for some reason, thatindividual wasn't flagged, and
so that was a significant amountof money.
That was just a very easyreview and course correction.
So you really need to dive intothose numbers and also remind
(25:11):
your employees or yourcolleagues of what your actual
policy is as it relates to someof that overtime, because that
will start to get you duringthis peak season.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
That's where supervision comes into play as
well.
I know this next little bulletline item.
It could be a podcast onto itsown.
In fact, it may be a podcastonto its own coming soon.
And that's adhering to yourbudget and then re-forecasting.
Tiffany, what do you got there?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You need to be reviewing your current spending
against established budget.
One of the things that we'relooking at and I know we
mentioned marketing, but callingyour database of former guests
shouldn't be a cost you need tobe looking at what does your
overall marketing budget looklike?
We're doing that right now andbefore we hadn't put in several
(25:59):
sponsorships for local communityevents that don't necessarily
drive a lot of bookings to ourarea.
We're probably going to have tocut some of those and then
really reassess what's great forthe community and being a
community partner, and thenwhat's just because it's a
friendship thing and we'regiving money out to.
You really need to have somediscernment there and you really
(26:22):
need to come and look andreevaluate that budget and make
the necessary changes.
If your revenue projectionshave shifted, you've got to
reforecast your budget for thesummer just to ensure that
you're remaining profitable forthe rest of the year.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, I've had numerous occasions I think I've
mentioned here.
We run our company as an openbook management company.
We do our budgets.
The year before it was in thefourth quarter of last year we
did our budgets.
So I had one of my departmentheads say look at what a great
job I'm doing on saving money onexpenses.
I haven't spent all of my money.
I've only spent 94% of mybudget and we're almost to the
(26:57):
end of the quarter, like, yeah,but our income is at 64%, you
still spent 94%.
It's a fail, oh my God.
So there you go.
Hey, another one that's a petpeeve of mine is scrutinize
those credit card charges.
Go line by line through yourbusiness credit card statements.
Are there unrecognized charges?
(27:18):
Are there duplicate payments?
Are you getting the best ratesfrom your vendors?
Negotiate where you can to makesure you're getting the best
price.
And I always like to go back tothe advice I got from my dear
old mother and that was signyour own checks.
That was advice I got from mom.
Of course, that was in a dayand time when we signed checks.
I still do sign a few checks,but that's the literal portion.
(27:42):
But there's also a figurativeportion of signing own checks,
awareness of what you arespending and what you are
receiving.
If you ignore those autocharges on services that you
subscribed to two years ago,that Tiffany sort of alluded to,
before you're writing thatcheck, whether you realize it or
not, that's what you're doing,and so go back through there and
(28:05):
go.
What is this line item?
What is Elm Street Technologies?
Does anybody know?
Nobody knew, but we're payingthem $250 a month or something,
so those things happen.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And that adds up.
I know I had mentioned thisearlier, but I really feel like
maintenance department whetheryou have it in-house or it's
contracted is something that youreally have to dive into,
especially right now becauseeveryone is driving costs up.
So some of these preferredvendors, how much are they
increasing in some of theirrates that you're getting and
(28:40):
having to pay for?
Are you the bank for a lot ofthese owners?
Are you getting paid back bysome of these owners?
And then, if you have amaintenance in-house I'm
currently in the middle of thisbut reviewing all these receipts
, he overpurchases and then justputs it in as inventory, but
it's not categorized within oursystem of when we're pulling
(29:01):
that inventory back out, and soyou really have to review a lot
of those receipts and understandwhat you're purchasing within a
given timeframe and are youutilizing it or do you need to
return it and change out yourpolicy for maintenance purchases
?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I have a new one that's just surfaced in the last
few months for maintenancepurchases.
I have a new one that's justsurfaced in the last few months.
We have a few vendors that weuse that are outside of the
country.
We were getting tariff chargeson the goods that we were
purchasing from them and I did adeep dive.
I'm like wait a minute, you'rejust providing service, You're
not providing us a good.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
There's no tariff on that.
What are you doing to me here?
Oh, you're right.
Oh, we'll take that off thebill, no problem, can't just
(29:57):
charge us.
So if you weren't watchingthose bills, if you weren't
paying attention to what timeframe you had already placed the
order, and or if it was alreadyin the United States and not a
part of that tariff exchange,you need to come back and make
sure you contact that vendor.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So we've given you three.
Is there a fourth, or do wehave just three areas?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I don't know.
I think I'm overwhelmed just bythe story.
You know, I felt really goodthat I was doing all of these
things, but now I'm like man, Ineed to really get to work.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Maybe go back and try again.
The summer season is prime timefor many of you in vacation
rentals, but success in 2025demands more than just opening
your calendar.
It requires strategic pricing,targeted marketing, meticulous
guest experience management and,of course, smart cost control.
By implementing these stepswe've given you from reviewing
(30:50):
your rates with purpose toactively pursuing gap nights to
scrutinizing your expensesyou'll not only fill your summer
calendar, but also set thestage for sustained success
throughout the year.
Don't wait.
Choose one or two points rightnow from today's discussion and
put them into action this week.
We want to hear from you.
(31:11):
The bottom line is we'll lookforward to you thanking us.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
We're waiting.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Okay, so that'll do it for this episode.
I think we've already teed upwhat the next episode might be.
You want to get into that alittle bit, Tiffany.
Let them know what's comingdown the pike.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Absolutely.
You alluded the budget, sowe're talking about things you
can implement right here, rightnow, during this different time
of summer occupancy, but youalso need to be taking a much
deeper dive into your budget.
So that's what we'll bechatting with, and we may have
someone come and join us who isa master at spreadsheets and
(31:50):
P&Ls.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
We have spared no expense on this guest and we
have a good idea that he will behere, so you can look forward
to that.
Until next time, keep after it,folks.
So long, bye-bye.
You're listening to the Vacation Rental Key with T&T
, the podcast for vacationrental managers by vacation
rental managers.
I'm Tim Cafferty and I managetwo companies, one in Virginia
and one in North Carolina.
I'm one of the two T's.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And I'm the other, T Tiffany Edwards, born and raised
in the vacation rental business.
I help manage our familybusinesses from Key West all the
way to Kauai.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
In the next 30 minutes we're going to give you
our keys to success in thevacation rental business.
To success in the vacationrental business.
Welcome back everybody to theVacation Rental Key with TNT.
Happy summer Tiffany, happysummer we're right in the middle
(00:57):
of it.
Oh, my goodness, it feels likeit's been summer for about a
month, but I think the calendarsays it just happened this past
weekend.
So we are into it and with thesummer season we're at go time
for a lot of our folks that arelistening out there.
You know, the landscape is morecompetitive than ever.
(01:18):
The post-pandemic bookingfrenzy is settled, economic
headwinds are out there andthey're making travelers more
discerning and supply hasincreased in many markets.
So this means that simplyhaving a property isn't enough.
You have to be proactive, youhave to be data-driven, you have
to have strategies to make sureyour summer is as successful as
(01:42):
possible.
I hope you agree.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Absolutely, and whether you're a seasoned
veteran in this business oryou've just started in a
post-pandemic, the informationwe're going to share today is
vital for the summer slowdown.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I think a lot of the markets that we're speaking to
right now are seeing thatslowdown If you read any of the
national trends that's happening.
And so here we are in late June.
Is it time to panic?
No, we are here to calm yournerves, don't panic, but you do
(02:18):
need to get some stuff going tomake sure you have a great
summer season.
So we've drilled it down to afew points here today.
Again, we like to number thingsand give you takeaways, and I
think people are going toappreciate a few items on here
that maybe they didn't have ontheir list, and they can make
proactive decisions right now tomake your summer the best it
(02:40):
possibly can be.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Absolutely, and with these points, they follow into
two separate buckets, reallyfocusing well, three actually
really focusing on revenue andrates, a marketing component and
then overall review of yourexpenses.
So let's just jump right intothat.
Rates and revenue, tim, youmentioned earlier.
Don't panic, that is number onethat I would like to share with
(03:05):
everyone.
A lot of people just assumethat you should drop your rates
and continue to drop thembecause you get nervous and
scared, and you cannot do that.
You need to be very thoughtfulabout your rates and not make a
knee-jerk reaction to devalueyour properties.
Instead, you need to implementa thoughtful and data-driven
(03:26):
review process.
And you know, tim, youmentioned some of this earlier
in an article I'd love for youto share about.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, some of you may have noted that one of your
co-hosts was mentioned in theNew York Times.
Actually is the first two wordsof the article you pointed out
to me.
It said- Above the fold.
Above the fold, I was news fora few minutes and it didn't even
have any caveats like convictedfelon Tim Cafferty or anything
(03:57):
like that.
It was actually industryspecific.
So I was very honored by SydneyEmber who called me and did a
great job on that story aboutbookings overall.
But I talked about, and shehighlighted in that article, the
changing dynamics of thissummer's bookings.
We took some proactive stepshere by two companies but they
(04:19):
were thoughtful back to yourpoint about not panicking and
they were responsive to thetrends we picked up on.
Talk to the people that talk tothe people.
What are your reservationagents telling you about their
interactions with guests andwhat can you do to get to yes
when the guest calls to book aproperty?
(04:39):
That's what I think we reallyshould think about.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And most of those.
What to get to?
Yes, common trends between alot of your potential guests.
So identifying what thosetrends may be, and then how do
you make decisions or assimilateto those trends?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, the trends for us in this market, the two
markets I'm in traditionallyseven-day rentals.
I know some of you are outthere scoffing ah, that hasn't
happened in the age.
Well, I guess we were the lastto adopt less than full-week
bookings and it made a hugedifference for us.
We've booked more than 400stays between Memorial Day and
(05:19):
Labor Day on less than full-weekstays and it's saved our bacon.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And a lot of people who may be listening, tim may
not understand the structure ofsome of your properties.
You have larger homes, so, andin an area that typically
doesn't open up for less thanseven days.
So this is actually a very,very big, dynamic switch from
the guest and what the consumeris wanting.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Another thing under that is making sure you know
what your owner's goals are.
Now, I just mentioned that wemoved to less than full-week
rentals, but not all of myowners were on board with that
and it's important that you know.
Is the owner focused onoccupancy at any cost, or do
they prioritize a higher ADR,even if it means fewer bookings?
(06:05):
You need to tailor yourstrategy to their specific
financial goals and communicateclearly.
Communication is really the keyon this.
You must overshare with yourowners so they can't say later I
never heard from you.
Actually, I usually have a story.
I had an owner contact me lastweek about how slow bookings
(06:26):
were and the lack ofcommunication they had on our
part.
I can't get a hold of anybody.
So when I went to investigatethe matter, I found the owner
had been contacted 53 times byour owner relations staff since
January and almost everycommunication it was about his
rate structure was unrealistic.
(06:46):
Of course he's a doctor, he'snot wrong.
He keeps weird hours and in theend we found in that particular
case our manner ofcommunicating was not resonating
, so we switched it.
His rates have reduced, by theway, tiffany, and, amazing, he
has bookings now.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Amazing and after only 53 tries you could get
there.
54th one did it.
Fourth is the trick.
You know the other part that wedo with the owner,
communication as well is take anapproach for their property but
also give them, and paint them,a picture of the overall
community.
So what are we seeing withinthe area and then what are we
(07:26):
seeing overall of an industrytrend.
So it allows the owner tounderstand in a broader sense
how they level in comparison toa local area and then to the
overall industry.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I hope all of you have some sort of dynamic
pricing.
It's really non-negotiableTools like Beyond or Price Labs
or Wheelhouse.
They are your best friends inthis situation and leverage that
data, emphasize the use of thatsoftware to identify which
types of properties are fallingbehind.
(07:59):
For example, smaller propertiesmight have a bigger issue than
properties with a differentlocation and they might be more
flexible to fill thoselast-minute gaps, while the
larger, high-value propertiesmight need earlier and more
targeted bookings.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, and Tim, that's so important too, because when
you segment your properties fromthe lower breadroom count to
the higher, you really have tolook at what is your window of
when you could get someone backin.
So if you're down in occupancy,but it's for some of those one,
two bedrooms, you do have theopportunity to kind of change
those rates and compare them tothe area and get those bookings,
(08:37):
whereas those five bedroomsfour bedrooms you need to look a
little bit more into the weeksto come, months to come, to pick
(08:57):
up on some of that occupancy orspecific market insight may
lead to better decisions.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
For example, last August I remember there was a
particular operator who I won'tname their name, but the
software suggested a sharp dropin the daily rates on specific
properties.
But that person said what thesoftware didn't know is we have
a huge festival that's coming onthis particular week.
It's going to draw huge crowds,but they don't book until 25
(09:30):
days prior to arrival.
So that's where really theexpertise came in and overrided
that algorithm and it reallygives you the opportunity, as
the manager, to highlight yourvalue.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And we actually just internally had this conversation
last week because we had asimilar event that is upcoming
and know that other people inthe area are dropping their
rates.
But we have got to hold becausewe know that we're going to get
those last minute bookings inthere and we know that we can
drive it through differentmarketing.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You know one of the other things we've seen.
I'm not sure if I've sharedthis trend with you, but the
week of July 4th, which is likenext week, is very soft, and my
experience as a manager I havebeen doing this for more than
seven years when July 4th fallson a Friday, bookings are in the
(10:17):
commode.
People just don't travel whenJuly 4th is on a Friday, for
whatever reason.
I guess they stay at home andenjoy the fireworks there.
They don't have extra days off.
I don't know what it is, but itis a trend and it's something
we were able to anticipatebecause we had the knowledge of
history.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
That's a really great takeaway.
Holidays, and when they fall,are really important to make
sure that you focus on.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Okay, so is that number one?
Did we actually number thatnumber one?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
mastering your rates and revenue.
It's more than just a numberfolks.
We've had in particular units,what days they're searching for,
so we can develop a betterstrategy and also really
understand what the marketaround us is starting to drive.
So you need to really look atthat, if you have it, and go to
a unit by unit level or propertyby property yeah, unit.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I don't want to have a unit on a property.
Don't get Doug Kennedy startedon units, He'll scold us.
Okay, so that's number one.
Number two would be, let's say,precision marketing, not just
marketing and guest engagement.
Let's hit some points on thisone, Tiff.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
One of the things that I feel like are so
underutilized is, at this pointin time, instead of pressing
panic, to really understand thatyour most valuable asset is
your existing customer base.
So you really need to focus onimplementing targeted email
campaigns with exclusive offersto those brand loyalty guests.
(12:02):
Use the social media togenerate those magic moments of
guests enjoying time.
Help get them encouraged towant to get away and replicate
that memory and really considerpicking up the phone.
We start to do cold calls atthat point and let people know
we miss them and encourage themto come back and stay with us.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The old FOMO.
Nothing like seeing a pictureof a family sitting at the beach
and you're going gosh, I wishwe were there.
Okay, so I'm going to addsomething to that, literally and
figuratively.
How about creating a value-addprogram, instead of just
lowering rates and advertisingspecials?
Don't race to the bottom onprice.
(12:45):
Instead, offer incentives thatadd value without slashing your
ADR.
Okay, tim, what does that mean?
Okay, how about gift cards to apopular local restaurant?
Or maybe there's an attractionin your area, maybe there's a
concert or a festival and youcould offer tickets to local
events.
Or maybe, if you do less thanfull week stays, a percentage
(13:09):
off the extra night to encouragea longer stay.
Or maybe even curating a localwelcome basket with regional
treats and insider tips.
It could feel like they'regetting something special by
booking with you.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Absolutely.
And then you're not trainingthe consumer to wait to the last
minute and get a lower rate,your value add and I love the
idea of a local welcome basketbecause it's just a nice
hospitality first impression.
When you walk in they knowthey're getting something, but
they don't exactly know all theother treats.
And while you can implement allof this at last minute, I would
(13:46):
really suggest that in the offseason you start to curate the
relationships with other localbusinesses so that you have some
type of quid pro quo, so thatin the time that you may need to
offer gift cards or some ofthese services, you can call up
other local vendors to make thishappen.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
If you're anything like me, whenever I'm out in the
community and I see thoseowners of those businesses,
what's the first thing they dowhen they go up to you?
How's business?
What does August look like?
Are we going to be busy thisyear?
That's a great opening to say,you know what.
We are going to be a littlesoft for a particular week.
But I was thinking aboutcalling you.
(14:24):
Would you be willing to offer agift certificate that we could
pass along to a guest if theybooked a certain week?
I think you'd be surprised.
The answer is going to be yes.
And if you're sitting backgoing, yeah, well, I don't
really want to take on theexpense for a welcome basket.
Well, maybe your owner sharesthe expense or takes on the
expense because you maybe havethem in the mind of reducing the
(14:46):
rate.
Say, hey, I've got an idea.
Instead of reducing the rate,let's do this.
Instead, we'll do a charcuterietray for this guest and we'll
discharge you for it, but you'regoing to get full boat on the
house.
So lots of ideas.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I also love the fifth night, and this goes into our
next comment.
But you already have adiscounted rate, so they're not
having to pay another cleaningfee.
So it's already a lower rateand you don't necessarily have
to lower it even more becausethey're still getting a value
there.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So I've learned a new term in the last many years gap
nights.
I don't know what I thoughtthat meant at first, but I have
identified now.
So there's little gaps that youcan't fill and what do you do?
It's lost revenue.
So identify that lost revenueby maybe quantifying the
potential loss from thosefrustrating one or two night
(15:39):
gaps between those longerbookings.
You could realize maybe anotherhalf million dollars in
potential loss revenue from gapnights across your portfolio if
you look at this.
So maybe implement an automatedtext message to your guests
before they arrive or after theydepart for a previous booking.
Before they arrive or afterthey depart for a previous
(16:01):
booking, offer a discounted ratefor those specific gap nights
to fall into what Tiffany wasjust saying there.
Important caveat, though, isclearly state if a cleaning fee
isn't included in the discountgap night to manage those
expectations.
Ensure those discounted ratesare preset within your rate
system to make sure it'sseamless and you don't look like
a blithering idiot when theycall and ask about it and the
(16:21):
person on the front line doesn'thave any idea what they're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
That's so important Underline, highlight, make a
note of that.
So one of the other marketingstrategies that your team needs
to be looking at is data-drivenmarketing through Google
Analytics Any of your Googlepaid analytics.
You need to be reviewing whatyour Google ad performances are
(16:45):
and what search terms areconverting.
More importantly, what termsare not converting.
Take them away and thenreevaluate what your ROI is.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Why are we paying $5.24 a click for this term?
You would be shocked, and thisis going to come up later too.
This does require some work onyour behalf, mr or Mrs Company
Owner.
Just set it and forget it.
Look for yourself and see whatyou're doing.
(17:14):
So, in addition to that, if youuse a tool like Yon Pricing or
whatever, use the market datainsights into your revenue
management software, they oftentell you which dates are being
searched for the most buthaven't been booked.
This is gold.
Folks Target your marketingefforts specifically on those
weeks or dates and if you'rereally a data nerd, you can look
(17:35):
and see where the trends areabout where people come from at
that particular time.
I was shocked to find out oneof the biggest markets for the
Outer Banks at the end of May.
Want to take a guess, tiffany?
Oh, put me on the spot.
I didn't prep you on this.
No, you're not going to get it.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I'm not going to get it.
I admit failure already.
Well, it's more of a surprise.
I admit failure already.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Well, it's more of a surprise.
St Louis, missouri, really, howabout that?
The schools get out in mid-Mayand I guess we're the closest to
East Coast Beach.
I don't know but the number ofMissouri license plates driving
around, it's a little late forthat now.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But if you can find a trend for the future, seize it
or use it for the future.
Now you know you can targetthat marketplace and then you
know that you can look to seewhen their schools are out and
start targeting them ahead oftime.
You know we did this for ourbusiness yesterday where we
found this massive uptick insearches for a specific 30-day
timeframe that historically hasnot been very high occupancy in
(18:42):
the fall, and so we have nowtargeted that completely in our
next round of marketing.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Fabulous.
Hey, here's another idea.
How about following up on leadsthat didn't close?
You get those inquiries andthey slip through the cracks, or
we like to call it crumbs thatfall off the plate.
Have a system for picking upthose crumbs.
Follow up with those potentialguests who showed interest but,
for whatever reason, didn't book.
A personalized email or maybe acall with a tailored offer for
(19:10):
them can convert those people.
And, worst case scenario, maybethey book with someone else and
you find out why.
Again, good information for thefuture.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah and Tim, I can't stress enough that
personalization.
Please don't make it look likea chat GPT automatic response.
Really try to figure out a wayto personalize it.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Okay, now on the last of this precision marketing and
guest engagement number.
It's really in my craw and Itold you a moment ago.
As company owners, you need toroll up the sleeves sometimes,
and this is where it comes.
Optimize your listingpresentations.
When's the last time you wentto your website and looked at
(19:50):
the pictures or the descriptionsor a third-party website?
Professional, high-qualityphotos are non-negotiable.
We know that you need to updatethem seasonally or after any
upgrades.
Consider drone shots.
There's nothing worse thanseeing a picture of a house with
a pool.
It's the end of June and thepicture of a pool has a cover on
(20:12):
it.
Really, come on, folks, makesure you go through those
descriptions.
Have you got compelling,benefit-driven descriptions that
highlight the unique amenitiesof the property, the local
experiences and address thoseguest needs Like perfect for
remote work, family-friendlyfeatures, dog-friendly house,
(20:33):
and then go to those OTAs.
So Sarah and I famously did aspoof, if you will, on terrible
Vrbo listings.
When's the last time you lookedat those?
Just take a few hours andreview your images, the listings
, particularly on Vrbo andAirbnb.
Are your headlines relevant?
Are the headlines dated?
Book by May 20th to get aspecial look at it through the
(20:58):
guest's eyes, you will besurprised.
That's all I'll say.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, tim, that's so important because I think a lot
of our reservationists end uplooking at our site many times
just as a reference, but youdon't necessarily go into the
OTAs, and so you may even lookat it from the Vrbo or Airbnb,
but you may be using other OTAs,and the other thing is that
look at it on your phone.
So many people spend their timeresearching looking at their
(21:24):
phone and not at a desktop, andyou really need to make sure
that all those pictures comethrough consistently on a mobile
device as well, and I'll goback even more so when we talked
about driving in and dialing into specific properties.
You really need to go to thosespecific properties that are not
(21:45):
doing as well as the yearpreviously.
Go and look at all of thedifferent listings that you have
and make sure that they'recoming across in the way that
you intended with, say, all ofthe amenities and features and
great pictures.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
I had that happen to me earlier this year.
There was a property that waslagging.
We looked at it on our websiteoh looks great, and just the
blind trust that everything wasfeeding through properly.
One morning two of us looked atthe house on Verbo.
The money shot was the outsideshower.
What that's?
(22:21):
Picture number 53.
How is that the number one onthe rotation?
So we had to go back to Verbo.
We got it corrected eventually,but that owner never forgave us
for the outside shower in thefirst picture.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Oh yeah, well, I'm glad you found that and that's a
note to everyone else out.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Yes indeed.
Okay are we wrapped up number?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
two Can we go to?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
number three.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I think we're ready for it All right.
So number three we've talkedabout marketing, we've talked
about revenue.
Now we've got to talk about howwe're cutting expenses.
So, lean operations and costmanagement.
You need to be doing it all thetime, but right now that needs
to be a major focus.
So, first and foremost, rightnow we're reviewing all of our
(23:07):
discretionary spending, so we'retaking a hard look at all
non-essential expenses and wherewe can trim fat without
impacting the guest experienceor property quality.
For the last couple of years,when the cash flow has been high
and occupancy has been high,you want to do everything and
buy everything, even as itrelates to maintenance costs.
(23:29):
What all are you buying insupplies and inventory?
You need to be watching some ofthat and you need to challenge
every reoccurring subscriptionor service.
Is it still providing you value?
You need to take a deeper diveinto that.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Again from the trust department.
You should inspect, not expect,or, as Ronald Reagan used to
say, trust but verify.
How about overtime and payroll?
When's the last time you lookedat the time cards?
With potentially fluctuatingbooking patterns, you need to
closely monitor staff hours.
(24:04):
Can you cross-train staff tomake sure you don't have
excessive overtime?
Do you have one particularindividual who seems to have
overtime every week?
Maybe there's some correctivemeasures you need to take
Scheduling being doneeffectively to minimize that
unnecessary overtime, especiallyfor your maintenance team and
for your housekeeping crews.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So I'll tell you a horror story, tim, that I just
recently experienced in one ofour companies.
Please, so, please.
This is it'll make you cry.
So in one of the businesses, werealized that a specific
individual had an absorbentamount of overtime, and part of
it was because, even if theywere on vacation or had PTO,
(24:48):
they were still collectingovertime just by coming in 20 or
30 minutes early or late eachday.
So for some reason, thatindividual wasn't flagged, and
so that was a significant amountof money.
That was just a very easyreview and course correction.
So you really need to dive intothose numbers and also remind
(25:11):
your employees or yourcolleagues of what your actual
policy is as it relates to someof that overtime, because that
will start to get you duringthis peak season.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
That's where supervision comes into play as
well.
I know this next little bulletline item.
It could be a podcast onto itsown.
In fact, it may be a podcastonto its own coming soon.
And that's adhering to yourbudget and then re-forecasting.
Tiffany, what do you got there?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
You need to be reviewing your current spending
against established budget.
One of the things that we'relooking at and I know we
mentioned marketing, but callingyour database of former guests
shouldn't be a cost you need tobe looking at what does your
overall marketing budget looklike?
We're doing that right now andbefore we hadn't put in several
(25:59):
sponsorships for local communityevents that don't necessarily
drive a lot of bookings to ourarea.
We're probably going to have tocut some of those and then
really reassess what's great forthe community and being a
community partner, and thenwhat's just because it's a
friendship thing and we'regiving money out to.
You really need to have somediscernment there and you really
(26:22):
need to come and look andreevaluate that budget and make
the necessary changes.
If your revenue projectionshave shifted, you've got to
reforecast your budget for thesummer just to ensure that
you're remaining profitable forthe rest of the year.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, I've had numerous occasions I think I've
mentioned here.
We run our company as an openbook management company.
We do our budgets.
The year before it was in thefourth quarter of last year we
did our budgets.
So I had one of my departmentheads say look at what a great
job I'm doing on saving money onexpenses.
I haven't spent all of my money.
I've only spent 94% of mybudget and we're almost to the
(26:57):
end of the quarter, like, yeah,but our income is at 64%, you
still spent 94%.
It's a fail, oh my God.
So there you go.
Hey, another one that's a petpeeve of mine is scrutinize
those credit card charges.
Go line by line through yourbusiness credit card statements.
Are there unrecognized charges?
(27:18):
Are there duplicate payments?
Are you getting the best ratesfrom your vendors?
Negotiate where you can to makesure you're getting the best
price.
And I always like to go back tothe advice I got from my dear
old mother and that was signyour own checks.
That was advice I got from mom.
Of course, that was in a dayand time when we signed checks.
I still do sign a few checks,but that's the literal portion.
(27:42):
But there's also a figurativeportion of signing own checks,
awareness of what you arespending and what you are
receiving.
If you ignore those autocharges on services that you
subscribed to two years ago,that Tiffany sort of alluded to,
before you're writing thatcheck, whether you realize it or
not, that's what you're doing,and so go back through there and
(28:05):
go.
What is this line item?
What is Elm Street Technologies?
Does anybody know?
Nobody knew, but we're payingthem $250 a month or something,
so those things happen.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
And that adds up.
I know I had mentioned thisearlier, but I really feel like
maintenance department whetheryou have it in-house or it's
contracted is something that youreally have to dive into,
especially right now becauseeveryone is driving costs up.
So some of these preferredvendors, how much are they
increasing in some of theirrates that you're getting and
(28:40):
having to pay for?
Are you the bank for a lot ofthese owners?
Are you getting paid back bysome of these owners?
And then, if you have amaintenance in-house I'm
currently in the middle of thisbut reviewing all these receipts
, he overpurchases and then justputs it in as inventory, but
it's not categorized within oursystem of when we're pulling
(29:01):
that inventory back out, and soyou really have to review a lot
of those receipts and understandwhat you're purchasing within a
given timeframe and are youutilizing it or do you need to
return it and change out yourpolicy for maintenance purchases
?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I have a new one that's just surfaced in the last
few months for maintenancepurchases.
I have a new one that's justsurfaced in the last few months.
We have a few vendors that weuse that are outside of the
country.
We were getting tariff chargeson the goods that we were
purchasing from them and I did adeep dive.
I'm like wait a minute, you'rejust providing service, You're
not providing us a good.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
There's no tariff on that.
What are you doing to me here?
Oh, you're right.
Oh, we'll take that off thebill, no problem, can't just
(29:57):
charge us.
So if you weren't watchingthose bills, if you weren't
paying attention to what timeframe you had already placed the
order, and or if it was alreadyin the United States and not a
part of that tariff exchange,you need to come back and make
sure you contact that vendor.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So we've given you three.
Is there a fourth, or do wehave just three areas?
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I don't know.
I think I'm overwhelmed just bythe story.
You know, I felt really goodthat I was doing all of these
things, but now I'm like man, Ineed to really get to work.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Maybe go back and try again.
The summer season is prime timefor many of you in vacation
rentals, but success in 2025demands more than just opening
your calendar.
It requires strategic pricing,targeted marketing, meticulous
guest experience management and,of course, smart cost control.
By implementing these stepswe've given you from reviewing
(30:50):
your rates with purpose toactively pursuing gap nights to
scrutinizing your expensesyou'll not only fill your summer
calendar, but also set thestage for sustained success
throughout the year.
Don't wait.
Choose one or two points rightnow from today's discussion and
put them into action this week.
We want to hear from you.
(31:11):
The bottom line is we'll lookforward to you thanking us.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
We're waiting.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Okay, so that'll do it for this episode.
I think we've already teed upwhat the next episode might be.
You want to get into that alittle bit, Tiffany.
Let them know what's comingdown the pike.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Absolutely.
You alluded the budget, sowe're talking about things you
can implement right here, rightnow, during this different time
of summer occupancy, but youalso need to be taking a much
deeper dive into your budget.
So that's what we'll bechatting with, and we may have
someone come and join us who isa master at spreadsheets and
(31:50):
P&Ls.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
We have spared no expense on this guest and we
have a good idea that he will behere, so you can look forward
to that.
Until next time, keep after it,folks.
So long, bye-bye.
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