Someone just hit pause on the vacation rental industry…and the world.
I never thought in my lifetime that I would witness the global economy come to a screeching halt. It did.
The Minnesota Safety Council says that a train going 55 MPH takes 200 feet to stop in ideal conditions. For the last few years, the economy, and more specifically, vacation rentals were moving at a much higher rate of speed, and we watched that train stop on a dime. To the point that it was excruciatingly painful.
However, as we learned as kids, with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We are now going to be witness to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Bounceback”. I’m sure if they named it, it would be their “most excellent bounceback”.
The stock market will come back.
Businesses of all types will come back.
Restaurants will come back.
And Vacation Rentals will come back.
And this time, we will all come back with a vengeance.
We will rise from the ashes, better than before, having learned valuable lessons. We will rise above this like we did in the aftermath of 9/11 and we will be better than before!
We will not overhire.
We will not overspend.
We will not underestimate the value of cash reserves.
We will be better managers, leaders, and colleagues.
We will value our personal and professional relationships so much more, because we see that those relationships are the ones that pull us through the difficult times.
Relationships are in fact the currency by which we live now, yet we don’t often realize it. As we take stock in what we have now, what’s left, and what we need to rebuild, I hope we realize the true nature of the relationships we have and what they mean to us and our business.
I think Darik Eaton, owner of Seattle Oasis Vacations Rentals, summed it up well when he shared with me what occurred when he called his owners. He said “When reaching out to our management clients I was mentally bracing for impact. However, the relationships built over time are stronger than the disease and the economic impact both on our companies, and our owners.”
As a referral consultant, I see so often with clients that they put off the little things. The small touches that impact others in positive ways, and they often don’t put a great deal of value in them. That is until they need to lean on that contact. At that point, it’s too late.
If you are reading this now, and you think it’s too late, consider this . . . Now is the time to start spending just a tiny moment of your day and reach out to someone in your industry and help them when they may need it most. These tiny moments are deposits of trust in your contacts, and they grow over time, much like compound interest. Start making small, daily or weekly, trust deposits. As that trust compounds over time, you’ll be able to lean on your network of contacts to make a withdrawal in the future.
Use your time wisely after you are out of triage mode so that when it comes time to hit the Play button, you’ll be ready and rippin to go!
Let’s live each day, with a smile on our face, and pep in our step, and the outlook and belief that this industry will rebound better and stronger than before.
#WeAreVR . . . let’s get that trending!
Until next time, don’t forget to Live Happy, Smile A Lot, and Virtually #High5 Everyone Around You.
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