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Transcript_TFV_342_HostingHotline
[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello. Welcome back to another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.
[00:00:04] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we’re–
[00:00:06] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
[00:00:06] Sarah: And this is the–
[00:00:07] Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.
[00:00:09] Sarah: The Hosting Hotline is where you can call in, ask any hosting question you want, any hosting business question you want. If we don’t have the answer, we’re going to find it for you. But today we have a question from Francesca about how to separate herself in a good way from her competitors.
[00:00:25] Questions: Hi, Annette and Sarah. This is Francesca. I am looking for ways to enhance the guest experience through concierge services. Just as a quick example, I saw someone post that, they’ll put away Instacart groceries for guests before they arrive, and I’m looking for unique and creative concierge services to offer guests and differentiate from competitors. So if you have any suggestions, that would be awesome. We are in a beach market if that’s helpful. Thank you.
[00:01:00] Sarah: Francesca, thanks for calling in to the Hosting Hotline. If you want to call in and ask your question, go to hostinghotline.com. You record your question, we’ll play it here on the podcast, and you’ll help thousands and thousands of other hosts. Annette, what are some of our thoughts?
[00:01:13] Annette: I have a lot of thoughts about this. Francesca, one differentiator that you didn’t let us know, but all of these can be either or, was, are you wanting to add this on as a revenue stream? Is this concierge service going to bring revenue in? But all of these avenues, you could do them for free or you could have a small investment for your guest.
[00:01:33] So I just want to put that out there before we dig in, that you can do either or, however you want to serve your guest.
[00:01:40] Sarah: You can think about it in two ways too, is something that’s going to bring revenue because they purchase it from you or something that’s going to bring in revenue because, like you said, Francesca, you’re going to stand out in the marketplace, and so someone’s going to book your property over someone else’s, therefore increasing your occupancy rate.
[00:01:57] And maybe they’d stay longer or invest more of their time and come back to you every year because– so I love your thought process, Francesca. And however you get that, “revenue”, there’s no necessarily right or wrong way to do it, but we have some ideas for you.
[00:02:11] Annette: We’re going to stick with that initial one where you said you saw someone else in your community is putting away Instacart groceries. Number one, you could offer that, and you don’t even have to pick up the groceries. You can have Instacart, but have that service.
[00:02:23] If they are coming for a week, that might be something lovely. They’re not having to go to the grocery, pick everything up, and then put it in the property. So right there, you can start with something along the lines of either you shopping or you or them having Instacart and you making sure that the fill the– we like to call it fill the fridge.
[00:02:40] You could have a fill the fridge service. One thing that stands out for me is I know beach towns. I never plan ahead for dinner reservations. And every place is always like, oh, it’s a two- hour wait. It’s a three-hour wait. Helping me plan my evenings and where I’m going to eat, and knowing ahead of time. A, helping me make reservations, and then, b, really sussing out what are the best locations.
[00:03:09] But if you could actually help me set it up, let me know how far away it is from your property, you have a reservation at this time on this night, that is a true concierge. Hotels, that is something that they really shine at, is helping their guests plan dinner and also make those reservation forums.
[00:03:25] So I think that is something that a lot of people are accustomed to. And I would love help with that because after we’ve been at the beach all day and then I’m tired and I just want to eat, and then I like find out that it’s a three-hour wait to sit down for dinner, that’s not a fun feeling. So if you could help guests with that, I think that would be amazing.
[00:03:44] Sarah: To elaborate on that is a beach experience in general, Francesca, and here’s where I think we as hosts might– it’s a double-edged sword because you do want to put yourself into your experiences and into your short-term rental because you are unique. There is no one else like you. And so when you impose that onto a home that is unique, that experience itself is like no other.
[00:04:06] That being said, we have to remember that our guests are thinking about them and their experiences, and we all have our own different blueprint. My husband and I go to the beach. He loves to snorkel and be in the water the whole time. That is not my jam.
[00:04:21] I would like a cocktail, and I want to read a self-help book under the sun, probably no umbrella, no one yell at me. And I could do that for hours. So we have our two different experiences. And I’m saying that because I want to direct you Francesca, too, to our podcast Episode 287.
[00:04:38] There could be a really fun way that you build beach experiences for your guests, but you maybe develop three or four that are completely different, an experience for someone who wants to just relax the whole time, someone who wants to go and have a party.
[00:04:54] Annette: Someone who’s super active.
[00:04:55] Sarah: Yes.
[00:04:56] Annette: Like fitness. That’s how they get their fun time in.
[00:05:00] Sarah: And once they book, before they arrive, Francesca, and you can do this via an email funnel of sorts, and ask them questions or build out a little quiz, which doesn’t have to be anything giant–
[00:05:12] Annette: It could be a survey of three questions.
[00:05:13] Sarah: Exactly
[00:05:14] Annette: How do you enjoy vacation?
[00:05:16] Sarah: Yes. They answer a few questions, and then you could pop out, this beach experience would be perfect for you. Because the way you delivered it, they’re already having an experience at your beach house before they even arrive. And then depending on what their answer is, maybe it’s the active beach option of a place where they can go hike, maybe a place they can go–
[00:05:37] Annette: Snorkel.
[00:05:37] Sarah: Snorkel, right. And then they can go to the restaurant that. You have to walk up a big flight of stairs, but the views are incredible, things of that nature. And then you can tell them, like, I think you should do this, this, and this, and we’d be happy to make reservations for you.
[00:05:50] So going back, you used the word concierge, Francesca, and I have to go back to my hotel days. The hotel I worked at, those concierge there, that was their career, is figuring out who that person was and how New York City could fit into what they would find really enjoyable.
[00:06:07] Because you can match them up with something that is actually going to give them a worse time than if they just want to choose it on their own. So I like that.
[00:06:15] Annette: Another thing is use your past guest and use your competition. Please go through all of your reviews, your competitors reviews. You can put those into ChatGPT and ask ChatGPT, what is the theme here? What is the number one thing people are excited about? What is the thing that they’re giving me great reviews about, and it can be both your properties and your competition, and just continue to highlight those and maybe bring those out for each and every guest.
[00:06:41] I would really, really dig into that. And there’s some other things you can do on the beach too, is you could maybe curate a picnic. I know some places you are allowed to have bonfires, and you could set those up ahead of time, or maybe it is a beach massage. It just depends, again, what that guest is looking for.
[00:06:59] But I think doing maybe a really short survey at the beginning of their stay. Tell us, like Sarah said, what your beach vacation style is. And maybe guide them through that, and then you can curate what would be best. So maybe you have those four different itineraries ready for them. So you are only doing the work once, but the guest feels like it was created for them each and every time.
[00:07:22] Sarah: I’ll give you one more tip that just came to mind, Francesca, and it’s ask the people you already know. I don’t know if you’re active on Facebook, or maybe you have a private Insta– just people who know you in a way that you can communicate with them and ask them, when you go to a beach town, what’s the one thing you wish was planned for you? What’s the one thing?
[00:07:39] Annette: Dinner. Dinner.
[00:07:41] Sarah: We know where Annette’s mind is.
[00:07:42] Annette: I want dinner.
[00:07:42] Sarah: What’s the one thing that is never thought of enough? And ask different people. Ask people with kids, ask people without kids, ask people with partners. Ask people without partners so you can get a nice variety and see what is out there that like you– because I love that word created that you used Francesca.
[00:07:57] You understand that filling the fridge is a standard concierge service, and we think you should offer that. But yeah, how can you differentiate yourself? And I think you should. I know that you asked us, and those are our thoughts, but ask your friends and family.
[00:08:08] Annette: Yeah. And I think a cool thing to do too would be maybe do a hit or miss list of– because I know that you go to a beach town and there’s all these blogs out there, or you even see all the billboards, and it’s like, make sure you swim with the dolphins, or make sure you go to this museum, or make sure you do this excursion. And it’s like, help them know like, hey, this is a hit or miss, or this– you’re going to see a ton of ads for this. This is worth it. Or maybe do a worth it, not worth it.
[00:08:36] And where you can maybe rate them by price, but help them like, hey, this is super cheesy, but honestly, it is a blast. You want to make sure that you do this. Or, hey, you know what? That really isn’t worth it. It’s going to take you most of the day. This is your investment. So help them know if it’s a hit or miss, or if it’s worth it or not. I think that insider scoop, your guest would really appreciate.
[00:08:58] Sarah: And with that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
[00:09:00] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–
[00:09:01] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
[00:09:02] Sarah: Talk to you next time.
