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Q&A: Yapstone CEO Matt Golis Running for VRMA Board Seat

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VRM Intel Staff
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Tyler Hurst VRMA Board of Directors

Former Yapstone CEO and current Co-Chairman Matt Golis is looking to serve on the VRMA Board of Directors. Golis is running against Tyler Hurst, Director of Sales at LiveRez, for the supplier seat recently vacated by Lee Hughes, CEO at CSA Travel Insurance.

We reached out to Golis to learn more about his motivation for wanting to serve on the board and his feelings about the association and where the industry is heading.

Related: Q&A: LiveRez’s Tyler Hurst Running for VRMA Board Seat

 

Matt Golis VRMA BoardQUESTION: What motivated you to want to serve as a VRMA Board member?

Golis: After being an active member (including a VRMA sponsor) for the past 9 years and attending many VRMA meetings, I have always wanted to contribute my experiences in the industry for the betterment of VRMA. After being CEO of a fast-growing Internet payments company for the past 11+ years, I transitioned to Co-Chairman in May which is finally giving me the time to really make a difference within VRMA and several other boards. I have never run for a VRMA seat before because I simply was too busy – now I can help this organization grow and continue to prosper.

 

QUESTION: Do you feel like VRMA is currently moving in the right direction?

Golis: VRMA has made tremendous strides in the past year, as evidenced by increased membership and attendance at VRMA events. In addition, VRMA’s board has attracted fantastic talent to address both VRMA’s role in advocating for professionally-managed vacation rentals and anticipating threats and opportunities to the industry as a whole.

I think I can bring both technology expertise and a Silicon Valley perspective that can help VRMA keep moving in a positive direction.

 

QUESTION: Currently, the VRMA membership represents less than 5% of the total vacation rental management companies in the U.S. If elected, what do you believe can be done to increase the number of members?

Golis: I think there are several ways to increase membership among vacation rental managers:

1. Consider both new locations that have not hosted a VRMA event, as well as locations that are easier to access by plane and/or are a “destination” themselves. Each VRMA conference, I have been impressed with how many attendees are coming to their first event because of the proximity to them. For VRMA to grow its membership (and engagement at conferences), we need to diversify where the events are held and consider locations that maximize ease of travel and new member opportunity.

2. Offering more VRMA-certified training classes that can be taught as web-based training to work towards different levels of professional management certification for vacation rental companies. For property managers that cannot attend events, VRMA has a great opportunity to market web-based training and classes that can both increase membership and potentially provide a great revenue source to the organization. Since many vacation rental managers are in vacation destinations around the US, it is hard for many to travel to a VRMA event. Offering web-based training (with a strong Internet marketing campaign) would be the best way to connect with these property managers that represent the 95%+ that are not active VRMA members today.

3. Continuing to invest in advocacy for the industry, and establishing stronger ties with news sources that are covering many of the short-term rental debates that are affecting professional vacation rental managers. If VRMA makes this investment, the halo-effect from VRMA fighting for the best interests of vacation rental managers can lead to increased membership.

 

QUESTION: Lately, Portland and San Francisco city councils chose to legalize short term rentals in primary homes, but restrict short term rentals in traditional vacation rentals? In addition, municipalities all over the country are facing challenges in regulating vacation rentals. What role do you believe the VRMA should play in government advocacy?

Golis: VRMA needs to play a significant and active role in government advocacy because we can’t afford to allow large short-term rentals that operate like hotel sites define us and our industry. Many of these sites cater to an urban population (i.e. New York and San Francisco) and they are framing the debate around helping hosts generate supplemental income in a down economy. They view vacation rentals as a threat, and have the resources to frame the debate. VRMA needs to both partner and act on its own to define how vacation rentals both operate very differently from other short-term rentals and how the audience that vacation rentals cater to is fundamentally different than those companies trying to profit from urbanites renting out their apartment, home, or couch for a few nights.

 

QUESTION: This year the AH&LA initiated a campaign to demonstrate the lack of standards in vacation rentals. What do you believe the VRMA can do to build, ensure or encourage standardization in the industry? Or do you believe the industry should not be standardized?

Golis: I think the AH&LA knows how much both vacation rental and short-term rental sites are affecting their growth as an industry. I do think there are ways that the VRMA can encourage best practices that only helps the image of the industry, but I am not a fan of imposed regulation on the vacation rental industry. I think VRMA can demonstrate that it is both providing education to its base and training that can show the AH&LA (and hospitality industry at large) that professionally-managed vacation rentals care about maintaining a high standard of quality and service.

 

QUESTION: What business experience and leadership skills do you currently have which you believe will improve the VRMA?

Golis: Having served as a CEO of a company that has grown substantially, from a few to 250+ employees in the past 11 years, I have experience in both scaling teams and addressing the ever-changing needs of the industries we serve (like vacation rental managers). I would look forward to actively contributing my leadership and organizational experience, with a technology perspective that will consider new and better ways of helping VRMA thrive. I am fortunate to know many VRMA members over my past 9 years in this great industry, and want to continue to bring people together to anticipate how VRMA can expand and take on a greater role in making the industry pie even bigger.

 

The election is being held Tuesday at the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference in San Diego, CA.

 

By Amy Hinote, VRM Intel

 

NAVIS and HomeAway release reservation lead interface integrating HomeAway listing inquiries with the NAVIS Narrowcast sales and reservation solution

By
VRM Intel Staff
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Dwellable's Mobile App Study for Property Managers

NAVIS and HomeAway unveiled a reservation lead interface that integrates HomeAway listing inquiries with the NAVIS Narrowcast sales and reservation solution.

The interface allows NAVIS’ new Listing Lead Management system to capture more actionable leads, drive higher conversion rates and increase revenue for vacation rental (VR) operators. NAVIS is the leading reservation sales system provider for the vacation rental, resort, and hotel markets. The HomeAway family, with more than one million live vacation rental listings in 190 countries, is the world’s #1 source for vacation rentals. Click here to learn more about how the NAVIS Listing Lead Management system increases revenue for VR operators.

Lead Management solution is free of charge to NAVIS Narrowcast clients

NAVIS logo“NAVIS worked with HomeAway to develop the most powerful booking and lead management tool for the vacation rental industry,” said Michelle Marquis, NCP, NAVIS’ vice president of marketing and strategic initiatives. “NAVIS Narrowcast clients can now manage and convert their HomeAway and VRBO.com listings at a much higher level with NAVIS’ VR lead management solutions. Best of all, the new Lead Management solution is free of charge for all NAVIS Narrowcast users. We invite everyone to come by our booth at VRMA14 and be first to see how the new NAVIS–HomeAway Lead Management solution can strengthen their operation.”

NAVIS seamlessly receives HomeAway listings in NAVIS’ Narrowcast reservation sales system. The HomeAway inquiry appears as a call on the Narrowcast dashboard screen with a summary of the listing’s information, and property of interest. The system also automatically routes the call to the most appropriate agent for handling. The NAVIS-HomeAway Listing Lead Management interface also lets clients track conversions and revenue attainment for optimized performance management.

The new NAVIS Listing Lead Management system:

  • Increases listing inquiry conversions with automatic lead data collection for more effective reservation handling and outbound re-marketing.
  • Allows automated responses through NAVIS Reach to new inquiries based on home or condo availability.
  • Enables fast follow up from Narrowcast directly to inquiries in one system.
  • Cleanses lead data; consolidates records by household, eliminates duplicates via NAVIS’ CRM.
  • Queues leads to the highest converter on your sales team – or uses other metric of your choice.
  • Shows listing details from the NAVIS Lead Form for informed inquiry management.
  • Provides campaign analysis; attributes the booking to all stages of that lead’s interactions.
  • Provides reporting summaries on bookings, conversion, outbound revenue, and more.

 

NAVIS Reach drives more effective retargeted lead marketing

“HomeAway and NAVIS want to help VR operators get the best value from being partners with each of us,” said Marquis. “Our powerful new Lead Marketing System enables operators to make the most from their investment with those leads.” Marquis noted that listing site leads convert at about 5%. The new NAVIS HomeAway interface captures data on the 95% of leads that typically do not convert and makes that data available to NAVIS’ Reach CRM marketing tool. The result is increased revenue for VR operators.

“Most VRBO or HomeAway leads sit in somebody’s email box. NAVIS Reach allows operators to segment and target those prospective guests into Household Personas and automatically market back to valuable leads. NAVIS Reach lets VRMs automatically retarget an email to somebody who showed interest this year or last but did not book. This takes lead retargeting to a more profitable level.

“The data are strong,” Marquis said. “Narrowcast revenue that comes from listings sites such as HomeAway and VRBO has grown from 6% just three years ago to 23%. NAVIS and HomeAway will continue to work together closely to help NAVIS Narrowcast and HomeAway clients manage their leads for more conversions that boost revenue now and in the future.”

 

Increase conversions with NAVIS

More to consider than the multiple when selling your vacation rental company

By
VRM Intel Staff
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More to condsider than the muliple in your vacation rental amanagement company Exit Strategy

When you have an offer on the table for your vacation rental management company, the price tag jumps off the page. It is especially distracting if the price is higher than you had hoped. Your hard work has paid off, and you want to close the deal as quickly as possible.

However, the dollars signs can be misleading. There are many situations where the highest offer is not necessarily the best offer.

Ben Edwards Transaction Advisor“There are numerous factors involved when determining which offer is best,” said Ben Edwards, President at Weatherby Consulting . “Typically, the time value of money, if financing is involved, deal structure and future tax liabilities consistently require the most review during this process.”

If you get distracted by the offer price, the power shifts to the buyer and you can potentially lose negotiating power as you struggle to defend the original offer price. Due diligence about the buyer and the offer is extremely important before accepting an offer.

Here are five considerations to add to your pre-acceptance checklist.

 

1. Do the net offer proceeds meet your financial exit goals?

At first, the offer price for your vacation rental management company can appear more than sufficient to meet your retirement goals. However, you will find it useful to determine what your net proceeds will be once expenses (accounting, taxes, debts, etc.) have been paid.

“The sales price and your retirement present two interesting discussion points, said Edwards. “The sales price is generally a function of earnings, while retirement needs represent a forecast of expenses needed to sustain your quality of life. Understanding the net amount of your sale on the front end will pay dividends subsequent to closing helping you to more accurately prepare for retirement.”

Note that the initial offer you receive is generally the highest possible price that you will receive from that buyer. During due diligence, the buyer will be looking for reasons to reduce the price. Build in enough room for adjustment and consider your net revenue when assessing the price.

 

2. Consider the structure of the transaction.

Your transaction’s structure can materially affect the amount of taxes you will have to pay, the cash you will realize at closing and the timing of your transition from the business. If you are looking to exit the company at the closing with enough cash to retire, you may not want to enter into an earnout transaction, which would pay you over time while requiring you to work under the new owner for a period.

“I receive this question often…Preferably, cash or cash equivalents at closing are the most prudent way to structure a closing settlement from a seller’s perspective,” said Edwards. “Financing is advisable in certain circumstance where a Class A buyer is participating in the transaction. Generally speaking, any portion of the purchase price paid out of future profits in not advisable or only under specific circumstances since the risk of the purchase price is contingent on future production. If the seller is susceptible to financing risk, he or she should keep the company and pass on the offer under most, if not all, scenarios.”

Transaction structures can be complex, but do not be intimidated. A transaction advisor with vacation rental industry experience can answer your questions so you are comfortable with the proposed structure before you select a buyer.
 

3. Understand the buyer’s valuation.

“Having a transaction advisor is key to helping facilitate the diligence and answer any questions relative to confirming the company’s value,” said Edwards.

In a vacation rental transaction, the buyer will be looking to confirm that the information you provided is accurate during the due diligence phase and will articulate concerns about your company’s performance that lead to reductions in the offer.

Take time to investigate the buyer’s valuation assumptions so that you can preempt any potential adjustments. Then, if you believe there will be substantial reductions in the price during due diligence, you might view this buyer’s offer very differently.
 

4. Assess the buyer’s ability to close the transaction.

You can avoid wasting your time in due diligence by determining whether or not the buyer is able to close on the sale. In today’s marketplace, financing for business purchases isn’t easily obtained.

Edwards added, “With the interest in the vacation rental market, financing requires tremendous diligence by the seller, as well as, strong guarantees from the prospective buyer.”

Here are two ways to secure your position:
If the buyer is financing, get a commitment letter from the lending institution
Investigate the buyer’s history of acquisition both inside and outside of the vacation rental industry.
 

5. Are you ready to let go?

Before you choose a buyer and move into due diligence, look inward. Are you truly prepared to give up your business? Can you visualize your life in its next phase?

“Knowing whether you want to sell is paramount before moving forward with the sale of the company,” said Edwards

It isn’t uncommon to see sellers jump at the highest offer, and later regret the decision.

In many cases, the highest offer doesn’t lead to the best outcome, and spending large amounts of time and energy in due diligence only to walk away with a defunct sale can be disappointing. By taking a closer look at the buyer’s assumptions, motivations and history, as well as an honest look at your own, will increase the likelihood of a successful transaction.

 

By Amy Hinote, VRM Intel

Amy Africa -Mobile-Schmobile: 6 Sure-Fire Tips on How You Can Improve Your Mobile Strategy Today!

By
VRM Intel Staff
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Mobile Hospitality Marketing for Short Term Rentals

When I began my internet career, my first “legitimate” email address was a CompuServe number.

Back then, if you told someone you were doing work on the web (or the WWW as it was ever-so-fondly called), they’d often look at you quizzically, wondering whether or not you made a good porn star or how much money you had from trafficking whatever illegal things you were selling.  Allegedly.

By Amy Africa, Mobile-Schmobile: 6 Sure-Fire Tips on How You Can Improve Your Mobile Strategy Today!

These days, I get thousands of emails about mobile with the same sort of questions as folks had then. People want to know what to do, what not to do, and a lot of times they just want to tell me the eleventy bazillion reasons why it doesn’t/won’t work for them.  As if mobile marketing is a choice.  Ha!  I went through exactly the same battles when people told me the internet was like the CB radio.  Ah-em Bill LaPierre.

But I digress…

Here are some of my best tips to improve YOUR mobile journey.  (These come from the questions I am most commonly asked.)

 

1.     Look at what kind of traffic you’re getting…

Separate your handheld traffic from your tablet traffic.  Tablets and phones are NOT the same thing.  The industry experts like to group them together because tablet conversion is 2-3x that of most traditional sites and eleventy bazillion times better than most smartphone conversion. Grouping all mobile traffic together masks phone conversion problems but they need to be separated.

Experts say “oh, you can’t do that because is a Nexus a phone or a tablet?”  Look, it’s not rocket surgery. If you’re taking your primarily phone calls on it, it’s a phone. If you’re using it to play Candy Crush and watch Netflix, it’s a flipping tablet.

Why does it matter?  Mostly because email traffic is typically “phone” traffic and if you learn how to separate it properly, you’ll also figure out how to design to it; what kind of landing pages you need; how you can best use your selling space (selling on a 2×4 is often more challenging than one might think); what things you need to ask for and what you don’t (for example, you don’t need to dedicate an entire screen to asking for the email address of someone coming from email), and so on.

Plus, phone traffic is ON A PHONE.  I realize this is like stating “water is wet” but many marketers tend to forget that if the customer is ON THEIR PHONE and you have a call center it’s much easier – and usually far more lucrative – for the user to push a CLICK TO CALL button than it is to maneuver your shopping cart.

 

2.     Work your transfer.

If you only listen to one tip that I have this is it – if someone puts something in their mobile cart, show it in their regular cart.  You can use email and mobile numbers to help you do this.

 

3.     Use spreaders.

I like to think of the whole sales process as feeding a rat to a snake – and you really want to know where the rat is stuck in the snake so you can squeeze him out the end.

When you know where your rat is stuck in your snake, use a spreader to get them to the next level.  A spreader would be a pushpage, instigated chat, v-chat, sometimes even a text message.  Whatever you need to do to smooth the gap.

 

4.     Don’t get sucked up in the industry buzz.

Learn what’s best for you by trying it, tweaking it, and then perfecting it.   Do more of the stuff that makes you money and less of the stuff that doesn’t.  It’s that easy.

Test out triggered text messages.  A lot of “experts” will tell you that folks hate them.  Personally, I have to be willing to bear your child for you to get my phone numbers these days.  Triggered text for a lot of companies?  Life-changing.  Granted, very few people use triggered text messages properly but they are still one of the best marketing things I’ve ever seen.  In. My. Career.

Work your internal search.  There are hundreds of articles stating mobile search is exactly the same as regular search.  It’s not.  Searches are often shorter and more specific (or way longer and completely incomprehensible) and people tend to make a lot more mistakes.  Plus, mobile search is used more frequently and there is typically much more of a priority put to it.  (Meaning that showing 1,232,832 finds on something isn’t going to be useful to anyone on a mobile device. In fact, chances are they’ll struggle with 20 and look at less than 5.)

Don’t get caught up in the tools, the programming languages or the platforms.  Figure out what your users need.  Look at what features they’re using (or what they’re not); which device(s) they are using; whether or not they are buying or browsing; etc.  If 95% of your traffic is coming from YouTube, you’ll need something entirely different than a company where the majority of the traffic is coming from their email program.

I like responsive design and it’s not a silver bullet.  You can’t just “go responsive” and have all the evils of the world go away.   In fact, for some folks it makes things worse –  not just because it can be slow and pricey – but because it can make marketers really lazy and what you do on your tablet isn’t the same as what you do on your desktop.  Nor is it the same as what you do on your phone.  (Hint: no matter what you do – you are going to need to REALLY work your navigation as if your life depended on it.)

 

5.     Develop new contact strategies.  (Chances are good that your mobile efforts are going to need different contact strategies than your traditional efforts.)  

Because things happen much faster mobile-wise, your contact strategies should often happen much faster too.

With mobile, you’ll also have more contact methods in your arsenal and they’ll work differently.

So what does this mean?

It means that if you’re sending out an abandoned cart program – you’re going to want to mail it faster.  You also may want to add more emails to your plan – so if you normally send out 3 emails, test 5 or 7.  Try SMS as well.  Abandoned cart text messages work really well.  Remember, there’s a big chance that your mobile cart sucks – so don’t send them back to where they abandoned/struggled in the first place – try to get them on the phone or to your traditional site (if your cart is better.)

Store locator emails are another big thing.  When someone goes to your site, and searches to find a store, there’s a pretty big chance that they want to go to that store today.  On the page with the locator, collect their email address and send them a coupon.  Collect their mobile number and send them a text.  Do both.  (If you don’t do offers, send them a “grocery list” of things they should look at – stuff you don’t want them to miss when they visit.)

 

6.     Figure out the importance of your referring URL’s and market to your users accordingly.

So, here’s the thing…

In most cases…

If someone comes in from Facebook, they are not at all equivalent to someone who comes in direct/no referrer.

If someone comes in from a branded PPC search, they are typically lightyears ahead in terms of qualification than someone who came in from a Twitter link.

Social media can drive a ton of mobile traffic but if you’re like most folks, very little of it will immediately convert to a sale.  Customer service nightmares?  Yes.  Sales?  Don’t count on it to pay your bills.  (Hint: If you have to put all your eggs in one basket, put them in your direct/branded keyword strategy.   That’s where you will make the most money.  Period.)

What are YOUR best tips for mobile marketing?  Send ‘em to info@amyafrica.com.  I’ll publish the best ones in a future post.

 

By Amy Africa, Mobile-Schmobile: 6 Sure-Fire Tips on How You Can Improve Your Mobile Strategy Today!

Winter Park, CO Vacation Rental Experience

By
VRM Intel Staff
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March 2014 –March at Winter Park Resort was truly a Winter Wonderland! I stayed with Winter Park Lodging Company, easily one of the most fun, tight-knit teams in the vacation rental industry. Their hospitality was off-the-chart! And that is from a southern girl! (read more about them)

Winter Park on top of the world!

The resort has everything you need and is so much fun! But I have to say my favorite part of this trip was snowmobiling with Grand Adventures! I was a little scared at first but caught on after a bit, and I think this could be a new hobby for me!

My condo at the resort was perfect and it was nice to have all of the resort amenities. The ski culture is still intimidating to me, but this resort makes it less so. The condo had a fireplace and opened out to the huge hot tub, grilling area with the big outdoor fireplace and was about a 3 minute walk to all of the restaurants in the resort.

Winter Park Resort Vacation Rental review

In town, the food was surprisingly good, and the bars are super fun.

But I have to say, my favorite was the Smokehouse BBQ. Between the B.B. King poster and Auburn signs (War Eagle!), I was right at home, but the barbecue was outstanding. I’m still craving it.

This is an easy place to go if you’re single. Driving is not necessary. people are super nice, there are many areas to read and write, and even the snowmobiling was single-friendly!

I will most definitely be back!

Pics below.

Winter Park Snowmobiling with Rachel

Winter Park BBQ for Auburn Fans Winter Park condos for singles

Winter Park Snowmobiling

 

 

 

Northern Michigan Vacation Rental Experience

By
VRM Intel Staff
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Northern Michigan Vacation Rental Private Lake View Sunsets

Northern Michigan Vacation Rental Private Lake View SunsetsAugust 2014 –Chicago was getting pretty stifling in the late part of the summer, so I needed to get out of the city and see some stars! That’s what I told Alan Hammond, owner of Holiday Vacation Rentals in Northern Michigan.

He delivered! I grabbed a couple of my friends and drove to Harbor Springs, Michigan to get some peaceful, siren-less R&R on Lake Michigan. We stocked up the cooler with meat and veggies for grilling out and wine for drinking, and stayed at Eagle View, a huge 3 BR private home rental on the lake.

Located along the Tunnel of Trees, this house was so quiet and serene…and clean! This was one of the cleanest vacation rentals for a house its size I’ve stayed in. The kitchen had absolutely everything we needed, including grilling utensils.

Lake Michigan Private Beach Vacation RentalWe had tons of plans to get out and do all kinds of things in the area, but we loved the house and the private beach so much that we stayed in and read, cooked out, sat by the fire, had wine and cheese, laughed, talked and watched shooting stars.

It was a huge contrast to our daily lives in Chicago, and it was so needed!

We also got a chance to go to dinner with Alan Hammond and his truly beautiful inside-and-out wife Kathie. We went to  Legs Inn, a Polish restaurant on the Tunnel of Trees, and only two miles from our house. There was a deli/country store on the way that we later used to to grab fresh bread, cheese wine, and a couple of t-shirts.

Lake Michigan Vacation Rentals Legs InnI highly recommend Legs Inn for dining. We sat on the Lakefront porch –they have a beautiful garden there–and had smoked whitefish, fried Pierogi, Kabanosy (Polish Sausage), Bigos (Hunter’s Stew), Golabki (Cabbage Roll), and grouper…and of course, wine!

Harbor Springs Michigan Vacation RentalsHarbor Springs is one of the cutest upscale towns I’ve seen. Very American with a walking vibe. Cute shops and coffee shops. I recommend the Stained Cup Coffee, which has fast wifi. Get the Torte Rustica (sausage spinach, roasted peppers and cheddar cheese on crustini crust topped with whipped eggs and more cheddar and mozzarella).

I will definitely be back and stay at this house again…without a doubt!!

Grilling out at Northern Michigan vacation rental

 

By Amy Hinote

Vacation Rental Pros Facebook Photo Contest Rules

By
VRM Intel Staff
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0

“Pets on Vacation” PHOTO CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS CONTEST. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

1. Sponsor: The “Pets on Vacation” Photo CONTEST (the “Contest“) is sponsored by Vacation Rental Pros and VRM Intel (hereafter “Sponsor“) with offices located at 1567 Ridge Avenue, Suite 707, Evanston, IL 60201.

2. Eligibility: These are the Official Rules (the “Official Rules“) for the Contest. The Contest is open only to persons who are legal residents of and are currently located in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands), who are at least eighteen (18) years of age on or before November 15, 2014. Any individuals (including but not limited to employees, officers, directors, consultants, independent contractors, and interns), who have, within the past six (6) months, performed services for the Sponsor (hereafter the “Administrator“), their parent, subsidiary, or affiliated entities, or agents acting on behalf of the above entities, including but not limited to all other promotional partners, or any organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Contest or supplying the prize(s), and/or their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees and distributors, and immediate family and household members of such individuals, are not eligible to enter, play or receive a prize. “Immediate family members” shall mean parents, step-parents, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. “Household members” shall mean people who share the same residence at least three (3) months a year. Eligibility is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

3. Entry Period: Consumers may enter the Contest between October 15 at 12:00 am Eastern Time (“ET”) and Novemeber 14 at 11:59 pm ET (the “Entry Period“).

4. How to Enter: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You may enter the Contest during the Entry Period as follows:

Enter via Facebook (WooBox): Visit http://woobox.com/

Limit one (1) entry per person/email address. If an entrant submits multiple entries, all subsequent entries (other than the initial entry) will be automatically disqualified. All entries are subject to verification by the Administrator. Entries must be uploaded in compliance with the Contest requirements. Entry entries that do not meet the specifications or otherwise do not comply with the Official Rules herein may be automatically disqualified. Incomplete, illegible or mutilated entries will be automatically disqualified. No responsibility is assumed for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, altered or illegible entries. Any attempted form of entry other than as described herein is void. Administrator and or Sponsor will determine in its sole discretion what constitutes a valid entry. All materials submitted become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged. In the event of a dispute about the identity of an entrant, entries will be declared made by the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry (if eligible). “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

The potential winner may be required to provide Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address associated with the winning entry. Entries must be submitted from a valid e-mail account, which may be identified by reverse domain name search.

5. Entry Requirements: Your Entry must meet the following criteria:

Specific To “Pets on Vaction” Competition

  • Photo entries only.
  • Photos must be submitted as per the instructions on the contest submission.
  • Entry indicates an agreement and understanding of the following:
    • If chosen as the prize winner, every effort will be made to fulfill the prize no later than December 15th 2015.In the event the grand prize cannot be fulfilled as advertised, VRM Intel will provide an alternate equipment prize of the grand prize winner’s choice with a retail value of up to USD$100.

General Competition Requirements

  • Must be your own original work.
  • Cannot have been submitted in any other prize promotion or featured on a public website.
  • May only contain content, for which you have, or have the power to grant, all required consents and approvals.
  • Must comply with all Terms of Use of Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms). LINK
  • Cannot contain, as determined by Sponsor, content that is sexually explicit, violent, derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, which violates any law, or which communicates a messages inconsistent with the positive good will to which we wish to associate.

Submissions must not: (a) violate any third party rights, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademark rights, or rights of privacy and publicity; (b) contain defamatory statements; (c) include threats to any person, place, business, or group; or (d) be obscene or indecent. Any elements that appear in the submission, including, without limitation, images, text, or other materials used must be entirely original and created by the entrant, or be in the public domain. Use of any elements that are not original or in the public domain will result in disqualification of a submission, in the Sponsor’s sole discretion. If a submission depicts any third party, that third party must be of the age of majority in his/her jurisdiction of residence and you must have permission from that third party to grant the rights to the Sponsor described in the “Sponsor’s Rights to Entries” section below. By submitting an entry, you represent that (a) you are the creator of the submission, (b) you own all rights to the submission, (c) the submission does not infringe upon or violate the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third party, (d) the submission has not previously been entered in any other contest, and (e) the submission has not been previously published in any medium.

The Administrator will not make available to the general public or to the Judges any entry that is obscene, pornographic, violent, offensive in any manner, or in any other way not suitable to be published (as determined solely by the Administrator). Entrants agree that the inability to publish an entry, or the obscenity, fraudulent nature or invalidity of the registration information (as determined by Sponsor or the Administrator, at their sole discretion) will render the corresponding entry void.

Associations for Vacation Rental Managers

By
VRM Intel Staff
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OPMA: The OPMA is a professional advocacy organization that is dedicated to promoting the value of the rental experience through onsite property management companies. As an industry advocate, OPMA seeks to gain legislative influence on behalf of it’s members and the greater industry, define a common set of core values and unite its members under a common vision and banner. Read about OPMA’s latest initiative.

 

VRHP: The Vacation Rental Housekeeping Association is the right place for vacation rental managers who are looking to improve their housekeeping and maintenance departments and network with like-minded property managers, This year’s VRHP Conference is being help Nov 10-12 in Charleston. Take a look at the agenda and get more information on how to register.

Consulting and Transaction Advisory Services in the Vacation Rental Industry

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VRM Intel Staff
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Weatherby Consulting provides transaction advisory, consulting and asset management services with proven success in creating opportunities and solutions in the vacation rental industry. They deliver high-impact results, provide partner-level attention and implement tailored solutions to address each of their client’s unique goals and objectives. CEO Ben Edwards will be presenting a bootcamp workshop at the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference entitled Budgeting and Financial Management. Read more about the workshop.

Keyless Locks and Smart Home Technology for Vacation Rentals

By
VRM Intel Staff
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Kaba: Kaba’s Oracode keyless door locks allow for the remote management of access to vacation rental properties, through an easy-to-use and secure web-based solution. Oracode’s unique web based, keyless system uses an electronic push-button lock that grants access through time-sensitive codes. Since codes can be given days, months or years in advance there is no need to store or distribute keys or keycards to guests, staff or vendors. At the 2014 VRMA Conference, they will be promoting their new partnership with BeHome247. Read more about Kaba and their integration.

 

 

PointCentral: Smart Home Control for Vacation Rental Management –PointCentral property automation is a cellular, Smart Home solution that can be accessed from any web-enabled device. With no upfront capital investment, vacation rental managers gain superior control of their entire inventory of homes – Keyless Access Control, Energy Management, Site Monitoring, and Improved Client Satisfaction. Smart home control is revolutionizing vacation rental management. But don’t just take our word for it. VRMs are leveraging the power of smart home control every day. Check out these video testimonials.

Floor Plans for Vacation Rentals

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VRM Intel Staff
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TruPlace Interactive Floor Plans: TruPlace combines professional photography with accurate floor plans and insta-load technology to give guests an online tour through your homes. Their interactive floor plans are proven to increase revenue, bookings and lead time, and they recently partnered with FlipKey to offer floor plans and improve conversion rates on listing pages. Read more about TruPlace’s partnership with FlipKey.

Credit Card Processing for Vacation Rental Managers

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VRM Intel Staff
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Ascent Processing: Payment processing with a personal touch Ascent Processing is a small, progressive, client-centric electronic payment and gateway service provider. They are committed to excellence and have a high standard of ethics in our tight-knit vacation rental industry. “We are proud to be a Bronze VRMA sponsor.  Stop by our booth and learn about the payment processing programs available to our industry.  The incentives can save quite a bit of money on credit card processing fees,” said Regina Ebert

Travel Insurance Companies for Vacation Rentals

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VRM Intel Staff
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Red Sky Travel Insurance: –The travel insurance team you can count on. Red Sky’s ownership and management team have been in the vacation rental industry for decades, so they know from experience the challenges you face. Their commitment to personal attention is more than a strategy – it’s a core belief that’s rooted in their experience on your side of the rental counter.

 

  Rental Guardian makes it simple for those in the travel/tech, property management and online travel markets to offer travel and damage protection products to their guests, travelers and tenants. Rental Guardian will be announcing two new exciting product launches, as well as a major enhancement to the Policy Manager feature set. Visit the Rental Guardian booth for more info.

Property Management Software in the Vacation Rental Industry

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VRM Intel Staff
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HomeAway Software: You know them as the provider of Escapia, V12, PropertyPlus, First Resort and Entech, but HomeAway Software is now doing much more. At this VRMA conference, HomeAway is highlighing the new technology in gladRESPONDER –Read more about gladRESPONDER.

 

LiveRez: Having partnered with 800+ property management companies in just the past six years, LiveRez is the fastest growing and most-used cloud-based software for professional vacation rental managers. From Google Glass to iVacationRental to smart home integration, LiveRez has several new features and products being released at VRMA 2014. Read more about LiveRez’s new offerings.

 

Maxxton: Maxxton goes beyond VR software. It is a complete ERP management system that gets your vacation rental business online and offers superior property management. Last year, Maxxton exhibited at the 2013 VRMA Annual Conference in Nashville,TN where we announced our global expansion to the U.S. vacation rental market,” said Chris Connar, VP of Sales and Marketing. “This year, we are pleased to attend the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference in San Diego,CA alongside new partners sharing several mutual U.S. based clients

 


Streamline: Better Software | Better Pricing | Better Service
Streamline is a one of kind solution built by property managers for property managers to help companies maximize profits and efficiency. Partner with Streamline vacation rental software and you will never have to switch systems again. Proud corporate Silver Sponsor of the VRMA. Find out more about Streamline’s vacation rental software.

 

VRMA changes dues structure

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VRM Intel Staff
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Join the Vacation Rental Managers Association

The Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) recently announced the organization is lowering its dues. The base fee remains $495, while the per unit fee decreases from $3 per unit to $1 per unit.

Vacation rental manager dues will be assessed as follows for 2015:

5 units to 2,000 units…..
$495 base fee plus $1 per unit
2,001 to 5,000 units…….
$495 base fee plus $1 per unit (cap $3,495)
5,001 to 10,000 units…..
$495 base fee plus $1 per unit (cap $6,495)
10,001+ units……………..
$495 base fee plus $1 per unit (cap $9,495)

 

“I am extremely pleased with the reduction in dues recently passed by the VRMA board,” said Ben Edwards, VRMA President. “This reduction in dues simply removes a barrier to membership, allowing more members to join the association.  As a result of this reduction, the association has increased its membership more than 20% creating tremendous momentum for the association.”

In 2009, the VRMA voted to add $3/unit to the dues structure. The fee was voluntary in 2009 and became standard for all manager members in 2010. At the time, it was widely understood that the $3 per unit fee would be used to fund marketing and distribution efforts involving the Switch project and the website DiscoverVacationHomes.com.

The Switch project was later tabled in 2013 following an internal shakeup at Pegasus Solutions, then technology provider for the project, along with a change in direction at the board level and a general shift in the marketplace.

“To me, the reduction in dues signals that the association objectives are again to provide a forum for education,communication, networking and political advocacy,” said Pedro Mandoki, CEO at Mandoki Hospitality and former VRMA President.

Several volunteer task forces and committees set out to work with past and present members to determine the best course of action moving forward with the goal of re-engaging large companies such as Meyer Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores, AL.

“We appreciate the substantial effort VRMA has made of engaging members and collecting data from different task forces before arriving at this decision,” said Michelle Nelson, COO at Meyer Vacation Rentals. “I enjoyed being a part of the Member Value Task Force this year and know other members will also benefit from the initiatives we discussed, as well as the overall objectives of the association. Their willingness to be flexible to member needs  further strengthens their reputation as a significant industry association resource and partner. ”

However, a segment of the membership expressed concerns that the lowered dues wouldn’t add to the sustainable growth or financial health of the association. Jim Morris, President at Lake Tahoe Accommodations, said, “We have been very successful in the past few years and credit VRMA for having contributed to our performance. The existing structure (dues) seemed ok for Lake Tahoe Accommodations.”

While several members found the existing structure feasible for their businesses, many welcome initiatives and policies which are also inclusive for larger companies.

“I am hoping it will bring back larger companies which found the dues cost prohibitive,” said Claire Reiswerg, at Sand ‘N Sea Properties in Galveston, TX. “Several of these companies still engaged with VRMA, but they found it more cost effective to pay the non-member rate to attend the conferences which they still felt were valuable.”

Reiswerg added, “The more companies that join the VRMA, the better the organization can promote professional management and provide education and awareness.”

Get information about joining the VRMA.

 

By Amy Hinote

 

Airbnb wins, vacation rentals lose in San Francisco

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VRM Intel Staff
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Airbnb Rebrand, new logo

After six years of operating in San Francisco, Airbnb will finally become legal on its own home turf.

The city’s board of supervisors voted to legalize and regulate short-term stays through a controversial piece of legislation that has been two years in the making and comes in the midst of one of the city’s most acute housing shortages in history. David Chiu, who is the president of the board of supervisors and is running to represent San Francisco in the state assembly this November, has been the one leading the legislative process.

By Kim-Mai Cutler, TechCrunch

I wrote a piece earlier today describing some the law’s changes and some of its more controversial points. The key changes include a limit on non-hosted rentals for up to 90 days per year. That’s on the concern that Airbnb will eat into the city’s limited housing stock.

Another key point is the creation of a public registry, where hosts will have to pay a $50 fee, register with the city Planning Department and pledge that they’ll abide by the 90-day limit. They’ll also have to pay the city’s hotel taxes. They — not Airbnb — are responsible for certifying that they’re only hosting 90 days a year and for keeping records that prove this.

During the four-hour long debate, city supervisors added several more amendments. Those include:

A private right of action in specific cases

Before, the law was primarily reactive. The city planning department, which is already overloaded and doesn’t have the financial or headcount resources to police thousands of short-term rentals, would respond to complaints.

Now, if a building has a history of Ellis Act evictions, there is a private right of action for housing non-profits to sue and stop that activity. They are not eligible for civil penalties, so they aren’t financially motivated. They also have to have been around for at least five years, which will prevent people from inventing non-profits to file frivolous lawsuits.

There’s also a private right of action for these non-profits to sue in clear cases when there are residential housing units that appear to have been converted into permanent hotels.

Buildings that have had Ellis Act evictions are also not eligible for short-term stays.

What’s the Ellis Act? Well, San Francisco city and California state rental laws have some strange overlaps. The city has incredibly strong rent control laws, that cover 172,000 of the city’s 376,000 housing units. As long as the tenant handles their basic obligations like paying rent on time, they can’t really be evicted and there’s a culture of lifetime tenancy in the city that’s fairly unique. But the state of California passed a law in the mid-1980s that allows landlords to “go out of business” and take their rental units off the market. The concern in red-hot San Francisco housing market is that this law is abused and landlords will take their units off the market to convert them into tenancies-in-common or permanent Airbnb rentals. This change is supposed to clamp down on that.

There were also a couple of rejected amendments.

David Campos, who is Chiu’s rival in the election next month, wanted Airbnb and other hosting platforms to pay an estimated $25 million in back taxes.

He said, “I’m proud that Airbnb started here in SF on air mattresses and now it is a company valued at $10 billion.” But he added, “This is about ensuring that a multi-billion dollar company has to pay their fair share of taxes. It shouldn’t be the little people who should pay taxes. It should be everyone who benefits from being a part of this city that has to pay their fair share.”

The issue with the amendment, however, is that it would prevent the law from taking effect until the city treasurer certified that back taxes were paid. Then there would be this whole question of collection. Would it come from the company? Or would the company be compelled to go after every single one of its hosts over the past six years to pay for previous taxes?

Another amendment to cap hosted rentals up to 90 days.

This was out of concern that enforcing hosted versus non-hosted rentals would basically be impossible. How would you tell if hosts were present or not?  Again, this was struck down based on a lot of feedback from home sharers that they are very dependent on their income to pay for living costs.

“There are many people who absolutely rely on the income that they derive from these hosted rentals to make it in San Francisco,” said supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents part of the Mission and the Castro District.

Bluetent brings RezFusion to 2014 VRMA Annual Conference

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VRM Intel Staff
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Bluetent is a digital agency specializing in the vacation rental, resort, travel and tourism industries, providing strategic consulting, brand design, web development, email marketing, social media and search / inbound marketing services. We build lasting customer relationships through innovation and quality in the digital space.

Bluetent Vacation Rental Internet MarketingFor more than twelve years, Bluetent has worked with clients in the vacation rental industry to drive conversions through branding, development, strategy, and creativity in digital marketing.

RezFusion is Bluetent’s core platform and incorporates the knowledge and best practices the team has gained over the past 12 years of working within the industry. While it offers robust features and functionality right from the core, it also allows for endless customization.

Additionally, Bluetent has designed RezFusion to be incorporated into a full marketing strategy – so from email marketing to search engine optimization, social media to paid advertising, content strategy to brand development, Bluetent can do it all for vacation rental managers.

 

Vacation Futures relaunches with new wholesale vacation rental platform

By
VRM Intel Staff
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0

Vacation Futures announced the launch of a totally new and improved version of www.vacationfutures.com. Based on vacation rental management input, feedback, and participation in recent months, Vacation Futures rebuilt their wholesale vacation rental solution from the ground up to respond to your needs.

Vacation FuturesSpecific innovations include the following:

Rational Pricing:  Gone is the convoluted pricing model.  Going forward, it is simple:  pay 5% of the accepted offer amount to move to due diligence.  If in the first 14 days of diligence you are not satisfied or no longer wish to add the property for ANY REASON, they will credit the entire amount minus a $250 service fee to your account and release the property to the second highest bidder.

Standard Contract:  This best-in-class guaranteed rental contract was prepared in conjunction with input from managers and the advice of our counsel, a law firm with international experience in leisure, real estate, and vacation rentals.  No more haggling over arcane contract provisions.  You are protected; the homeowner is protected.  Negotiation just got easier.

Streamlined Due Diligence: Vacation Futures knows how frustrating it can be to win an auction only to lose the deal in due diligence.  In addition to their standard contract that simplifies negotiation, they also rebuilt our proprietary online due diligence tools to make it easier and faster than ever to get deals done.

Register today to grow your inventory.

Edwards to give Budgeting and Financial Management Seminar in San Diego

By
VRM Intel Staff
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On October 29, the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference will feature a post-Conference Bootcamp Seminar in San Diego from 1-5 p.m. entitled Financial Management and Budgeting, conducted by Ben Edwards, Weatherby Consulting LLC/Newman Dailey Resort Properties.

Ben Edwards Consulting for Vacation Rental and Real Estate IndustriesThis is an engaging workshop filled with information on how to improve a vacation rental company’s financial management and budgeting processes in order to stay competitive within the vacation rental management industry.

The four hour hands-on Financial Management and Budgeting Seminar has been designed to:

  • Discuss the objectives behind financial management and reporting
  • Provide fundamental, industry-specific education about accurate and timely financial statements, including chart of accounts, transactions and transaction flow, balance sheet, income statement and cash flow
  • Outline the importance of creating and maintaining a budget
  • Demonstrate how to create a budget for a vacation rental management company and how to use this information for accurate forecasting
  • Explore ways to manage against a budget, including controlling expenses and understanding the metrics associated with top line revenue
  • Examine what other company owners and managers are successfully managing their finances

“I’m extremely excited to discuss this facet of the business with our peer group,” said Edwards. “Financial management and budgeting is the foundation for most vacation rental management companies and is paramount to running a successful business. That said, this comprehensive session will provide vacation rental managers with the information necessary to run their financial accounting department at a consistent and reliable level to the betterment of their vacation rental management business.”

 

In concurrent boot camp seminars, Doug Kennedy will be presenting on Reservations Training, and Amy Hinote, VRM Intel will be conducting a workshop on creating a 2015 marketing plan and budget.

“These post-conference seminars have been designed to be granular and highly actionable and have been specifically created to grow a vacation rental management business in 2015,” said Hinote. “Regardless of the company size or stage of growth, we feel like every attendee will walk away with a new lease on how to approach the upcoming year.”

The workshops are being held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina and attendees can register at http://www.vrma.com/2014bootcampsessions.

LiveRez is heading to 2014 VRMA Annual Conference with strong momentum

By
VRM Intel Staff
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LiveRez held its first LiveRez Partner Conference, an event that left its partners with a new-found sense of excitement and community (see below). Since then, they’ve been on fire with new features, functionality, partnerships and products. Here are a few recent announcements from LiveRez heading into the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference.

 

Related articles:

 

 

 

 

Kaba Oracode: Flexible, Easy and Efficient Keyless Locks

By
VRM Intel Staff
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Kaba is a leading supplier to the vacation rental market. Its Oracode keyless door locks allow for the remote management of access to vacation rental properties, through an easy-to-use and secure web-based solution. Oracode’s unique web based, keyless system uses an electronic pushbutton lock that grants access through time-sensitive codes. Since codes can be given days, months or years in advance there is no need to store or distribute keys or keycards to guests, staff or vendors.

Kaba Keyless LocksThe “no keys, no cards” concept is ideal for all parties involved – and can even be linked to most Property Management Software and integrated with home automation and energy control systems.

Any property can benefit from the unique Oracode System

Flexible, Simple and Efficient!

 

Kaba – Beyond security

With its innovative products, systems and services, globally active technology group Kaba (SIX Swiss Exchange: KABN) is a leading provider of high quality access management solutions, locks, cylinders, physical access systems, enterprise data and time recording, and hotel access systems. The Group is also the global market leader for high security locks, key blanks, transponder keys and key manufacturing machines. The listed Group employs around 7,500 people in more than 60 countries. For more than 150 years, Kaba has set trends in security and beyond – in terms of functionality, convenience and design, and always with a focus on optimum value to customers.

 

Kaba Partners with BeHome247 to integrate keyless locks and smart home technology

Kaba and BeHome247 announced a collaboration that offers an integrated home management solution for property managers active in the vacation rental market.

For more than 10 years, Kaba Oracode keyless door locks have facilitated the remote management of access to vacation rental properties that issues time-sensitive codes for guests, staff and vendors, and eliminates the need to distribute keys or keycards with technology that also addresses common challenges facing property managers–security while dealing with guests, housekeepers and service personnel, owner and guest satisfaction, and the need to keep expenses in check.

BeHome247′s  Enterprise Property Control ™ is the Preferred Home Automation & Energy Control System of HomeAway Software. Enterprise Property Control provides customers the ability to monitor and control their portfolio of properties with a solution that ensures secure access and optimizes energy efficiency. BeHome247 empowers property managers, owners and guests to control door locks, thermostats, pool systems, and many other compatible sensors – all from a tablet, smartphone or PC/Mac.

“Partnering with BeHome247 is a natural extension for Kaba to provide best-in-class service to our growing base of vacation rental customers,” said Stephen Pollack, vice president of marketing for Kaba. “To be able to include the Oracode application on the BeHome247 dashboard and mobile application is a major step forward in the convenience of generating and managing lock user codes.”

“When discussing the potential for this collaboration, it was apparent that BeHome247 and Kaba shared the same vision with respect to the property management community,” said Michael Walther, CEO of Behome247. “As the premier commercial grade lock available, Kaba provides access to guests in a secure and convenient manner, while BeHome247 alerts the owner when conditions within the property have changed. Now, managing these activities is accomplished from a single, integrated solution.”

 

Ascent Processing is adding to its team

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VRM Intel Staff
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Ascent Processing, IncSales Representative (Vacation Rental Management Industry)

Ascent Processing, Inc.

Job Description

The Sales Representative will be responsible for selling Ascent Processing’s payment processing services to vacation rental management companies in a specified territory.  The successful candidate will be able to generate leads, conduct outbound calls, analyze potential clients’ needs, travel to industry trade shows, and conduct face to face meetings.

 

Responsibilities

  • Sell payment processing services to the Vacation Rental Management Industry
  • Identify and contact prospective clients within the specified territory
  • Analyze potential clients’ needs and present detailed proposals
  • Travel within the specified territory to visit with potential clients and existing clients
  • Provide ongoing client training and maintain existing relationships
  • Travel to industry trade shows and present our services to prospects, occasionally speaking to medium sized groups
  • Document all contacts with leads and existing customers in Salesforce.com

 

Desired Skills & Experience

  • Vacation Rental Management Industry Experience
  • Outside Sales experience
  • Proficiency with Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
  • Strong understanding of percentage based math calculations
  • Highly motivated, self starter, that is able to work independently
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including in-person presentation skills
  • Ability and desire to meet projected sales goals
  • Comfortable with the various Vacation Rental Industry technology components

 

Location

  • Remote with travel required (35% – 40%)

 

To Apply

Please email cover letter and resume to (hiring2@ascentprocessing.com) with the description VRM Sales in the subject line.

 

Company Description

Ascent Processing Inc. offers payment processing solutions to businesses nationwide, specializing in the Vacation Rental Industry for over 14 years.  We offer personalized solutions to our clients including the strongest level of ongoing client support available in the industry.

 

See more jobs in the vacation rental industry.  

PMT launches next generation AQR SmartResponder to bring AI to vacation rental responders

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VRM Intel Staff
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Vacation rental technology

October 13, 2014 – PMT, Property Manager Tools, the originator and leader in automated quote response technology, has launched the next generation of their revolutionary quote responder. This release represents the first “Smart Responder” for the vacation rental industry. With this enhanced technology, PMT’s AQR SmartResponder™ will be able to answer questions that guests ask in their inquiry and optimize guest dates to fill gaps.

Property Management ToolsUniform responses are beginning to frustrate guests.  Because other responders use the same template for every PM, guests have begun to figure out those are cookie cutter responses.  Guests just scroll to the total line and move on.  Worse still, some responders get mistaken for advertising, due to their similarity to the listing site’s “your quote is on the way” email.

Since 2011, PMT’s free-form HTML templates – exclusive to PMT users – have allowed each PM to create a unique, stand-out style.  Some PMs have distilled the quote to just a brief paragraph with the total price.  Only PMTs technology can do this.  This causes the guest to slow down and read the response carefully.  Then, with SmartResponse™ the guest finds that the PM has acknowledged their questions, offering a feeling of personal service.

PMs can teach the system to recognize questions on almost any topic, plus PMT will preload their account with common questions such as: Is this unit pet friendly? Do you offer military or police/fire discount? Or, Is there an airport shuttle?

Property Managers save hours each week by not having to reply to free-form guest questions.

AutoFlex™ Dates make AQR smarter still.  When a request overlaps another booking by just one day, other responders will abandon the requested unit and suggest another.  AutoFlex™ Date technology will inform the guest that they can still stay in their preferred unit if they shift their arrival one day.

Robert Simmons, Co-Founder, Marketing Director, states “We believe this advanced technology is going to revolutionize how the vacation rental industry competes against the robotic looking responses by incorporating artificial intelligence. We are also adding this technology to our Mobile Guest App, GoVacation.mobi.  Soon, it will be the most intelligent solution for 2-way communication between property manager and guest – with instant response to common guest issues and the ability to route the issue to the proper department. This will bring more great reviews and prevent bad ones.”

According to Doug Rein, Co-Founder, Technology Lead “The competitors that followed us into auto-response with an imitation of our 2011 product are missing the point. It’s not enough to just respond.  To engage the guest, the reply must be uniquely styled and compelling.  We make sure it addresses the specific unit, season and concerns of the guest.”

For more information and to sign up for a free trial of AQR 3.1 SmartResponder TM, go to www.propertymanagertools.com/aqr

And visit our Booth 332 at the VRMA Conference 2014 in San Diego, CA Oct 26-29

Vacation rental managers across the U.S. are embracing HomeAway’s Glad Products

By
VRM Intel Staff
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0
HomeAway Glad Map

At the 2014 VRMA Annual Conference, HomeAway Software will be offering the gladResponder™,  designed to:

  • Convert more leads into bookings by responding to all inquiries within 60 seconds
  • Respond with crisp, clean, consistent, branded emails that let your guests BOOK NOW
  • Deliver the perfect next best property to inquiries when the selected property is not available
  • Eliminate most repetitive inquiry related calls so you can focus on what matters most to you and your guests

 

Below is a map of vacation rental managers using the Glad Products.

HomeAway Glad Map

 

One Florida vacation rental manager who uses both gladPROFESSIONAL™ and gladRESPONDER™ reported the following results for the month of July:

 $250K in outbound call revenue attributed to gladRESPONDER

 73% conversion on captured inbound calls driven by gladRESPONDER

 2,500 additional inbound calls generated by gladPROFESSIONAL

 

Here is a testimonial from 360 Blue:

 

 Contact UsFor a free demo of Glad products, call (855) 275-4523, reply to this email, or click the button below to fill out the contact form. A friendly sales professional will contact you shortly!

 

Glad Responder by HomeAway

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