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251. Behind The Scenes Of A Large-Scale Property Management Company · Thanks For Visiting

0:00
Meaghan: SEGMENT GAP
0:00
Sarah: Hey, welcome back for another great episode.
0:02
My name is Sarah Karakaian.
0:04
Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are--
0:06
Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
0:07
Sarah: Let's kick this episode like we do every week, and that is sharing
0:09
one of you, our amazing listeners and viewers by sharing one of your
0:13
short-term rentals here on the pod.
0:15
Annette, who are we sharing this week?
0:16
Annette: This week we are sharing @sunsetinnvt.
0:20
Again, that's Sunset Inn VT.
0:23
I'm going to give a little bio.
0:25
The hosts are Sophia and Ashley, and this is a 1787 inn.
0:30
Yes, I said that, 1700s.
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And these two ladies, they are the proud owners on the
0:35
Sunset Inn and the Ginny House.
0:37
They are best friends from high school.
0:39
Love it.
0:39
They went to college together in Boston University, and then they shared a one
0:43
bedroom in New York City for a while.
0:44
They both worked for fashion brands during college.
0:47
So just think about that and then mix that with this historic inn, you'll
0:52
want to do a deep dive on their photos because the design of the rooms is lovely.
0:57
And one thing that I just cannot stop staring at in the inn is the wood beams.
1:02
Man, they are incredible.
1:05
And I don't know if they had to restore them, but it is stunning.
1:09
Check it out.
1:10
The detail, the stuff that has been left behind, and then the new additions
1:15
are just woven with the utmost care.
1:19
Um, and yeah, just stunning.
1:21
I love it.
1:21
They're in business now and they are biz besties, again, and just two women
1:26
rocking it with the Sunset Inn VT.
1:28
Please give them some love.
1:30
Check out the rooms.
1:31
Check out all of the, um, renovations that they've done, and it is stunning.
1:36
And the kitchen, the kitchen cabinets, loving the green that
1:40
they've got going on there.
1:41
So if you're in Vermont, Proctorville, specifically, check them out.
1:45
So Sophia and Ashley from the Sunset Inn, thank you for using the hashtag, Sarah.
1:49
Sarah: #STRShareSunday for those of you who haven't used it yet.
1:53
Annette: And also they have an exterior picture of the home, and they do
1:58
the history of, um, a captain of the Revolutionary War lived in this home.
2:05
They have a story here on who the previous owners were, so check it out.
2:09
All right, Sarah, let's get on to the show.
2:11
Sarah: All right.
2:12
Today we're to get down to business.
2:14
We, Annette and I, always preach about treating your short-term
2:18
rentals like the business it is.
2:20
And so what better way to give you an insider's view of a rockstar manager
2:28
who is running a ton of rentals, really relies on key performance
2:33
indicators to make that next move.
2:34
Relies on historicals.
2:36
Relies on their gut instincts for what to do next.
2:39
Today we have Meaghan Moylan, is a vacation rental
2:42
manager from Destin, Florida.
2:44
After leaving her leadership position of six years with 360 Blue, she moved
2:48
to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where she oversees a portfolio of businesses.
2:51
We'll get into that because I also think that's brilliant the way this
2:55
property management company operates, including Outpost vacation rentals.
2:59
Meaghan, welcome to the show.
3:00
Meaghan: Thank you so much for having me and for the intro.
3:03
I'm so excited to be here.
3:04
Annette: Let's do it.
3:05
So we met Meaghan at, we were on a virtual event together.
3:09
And Meaghan, so you have moved from Dustin, and you were not really on
3:14
the-- you were working with an online business; is that correct, in Dustin?
3:20
Meaghan: So I was working at 360, which was a vacation rental company
3:26
there, and then I was part of the creation and initial build out of
3:31
KeyData, which is a SaaS company.
3:33
Annette: That's where I was getting, the behind the scenes.
3:35
Okay.
3:35
Awesome.
3:36
So why'd we make this move, from Florida to Wyoming?
3:39
That's a big move.
3:42
Meaghan: Yeah, it was not intentional.
3:45
It happened accidentally for sure.
3:47
I decided to leave 360 after six years, and I had grown up there,
3:51
so I started right out of college.
3:54
Had never had a 9-5 in my life, ever.
3:57
Didn't know what I wanted to do.
3:58
I was planning to move to Thailand to teach English, and, um,
4:03
took a job as a reservationist.
4:05
Annette: I was going to say, how'd you get hooked?
4:07
Okay.
4:08
Meaghan: Yeah, I was like, I'll do it for six months.
4:10
And my boss at the time was leading the reservations team and revenue, so she was
4:15
setting all the rates for every single property, and at that time we had 225.
4:20
So she was setting all the rates for every property, communicating with the
4:23
owners when they were worried about bookings, and I was so fascinated by it.
4:28
So I went home and watched YouTube videos on how to do Excel, how to use Excel, for
4:35
the entire weekend because I had no idea other than what I had learned in college.
4:39
And I came to her office the Monday after and was like, I
4:42
really want to help you out.
4:43
What can I do?
4:44
I want to learn everything you do.
4:47
So she was like, okay, and started giving me some tasks, and eventually,
4:52
I took on that role of the director of sales and revenue six months later.
4:58
Annette: Can you tell our audience though, because a lot of our audiences,
5:01
they're owner-operators, so they don't even have contact really with big
5:05
vacation rental companies, so what was the role of the reservationist there?
5:10
And you said you had 225 homes in the portfolio?
5:14
Meaghan: We did.
5:14
So it was really I sat at a cube, um, with a headset on, and every time the phone
5:22
rang, um, I would answer it because our call volume was so high, and obviously,
5:26
it was seasonally, so depending on what time of year we were in, call volume
5:30
would really start to increase, and you would just sit at your desk, and our KPIs
5:35
then, so our key performance indicator, was what we were really monitored on
5:39
how many phone calls we were answering.
5:41
Making sure that we were at our desk, answering those phone calls when
5:44
they were coming in so we could have the best guest experience possible
5:49
and converting those reservations.
5:51
So I would get leads, and pretty much the leads, they would all come in,
5:55
or the majority of them would come in just someone seeing our listing,
5:58
whether it be on the website or on Vrbo.
6:01
It was Vrbo back then, Vrbo.
6:04
This is the first time I've ever been able to say back then in my life.
6:07
But this was very back then.
6:09
This is 2015, um, an Airbnb.
6:13
Annette: Can you share with us, because I think, I mean, there's probably
6:15
so many listeners are like, what?
6:17
Talking to the guests, interact on our phones.
6:22
So can you enlighten us, what are these questions?
6:25
Even though the person has seen the listing online, what do you feel
6:29
like those top three questions, as a reservationist, you were still
6:33
getting answered after people had already reviewed the listing online?
6:37
Meaghan: Oh my gosh.
6:38
The first one, no matter what, it doesn't matter if the calendar was
6:42
open, was, is this property available?
6:45
Every single time.
6:46
Annette: Okay.
6:46
Meaghan: Um, so that was number one.
6:48
Annette: All right.
6:49
Meaghan: And at this time, we really liked that the guest was calling in
6:54
because having that personal touch, and getting one of us on the phone,
6:57
I think there were six, seven of us answering phones at this point.
7:02
We wanted to get them on the phone so we can convert that sale.
7:04
And we were incentivized that way.
7:06
And so it was helpful for us as a team because we knew if we were converting
7:10
them, we were all going to make more money, but also it was easier to convert
7:13
them when you got them on the phone.
7:14
So the first thing they would ask is, is this property available?
7:17
Which, of course, yes, it is.
7:19
And then they would want to understand the price and the breakdown.
7:22
So in 2015, rates were not rolled at all.
7:26
So you got to see you're enrolled, I mean, when your fees go into your rental rate.
7:32
So had very single fee from the very beginning.
7:35
And now you can show just the rental rate and the taxes if you want to, um, which
7:40
is helpful for those guests that might not understand that you have to charge
7:45
fees in order to make money as a business.
7:49
Sarah: Amen.
7:49
Meaghan: A lot of the time we get these phone calls, um, just asking, what's
7:53
this cleaning fee, and what goes into it, and why am I paying this amenity fee?
7:58
Which was really required of us to charge to pay the
8:02
subdivision that the home was in.
8:04
And so really just explaining those.
8:06
And then in Destin, of course, you want to know how far the home is to the beach.
8:10
And here in Jackson it's how far do I have to drive to go skiing?
8:14
Annette: I love this.
8:15
This is taking us back in time with the reservationist.
8:18
Okay.
8:18
So you learn Excel.
8:19
I just wanted to pause there because a lot of the hosts that listen are newer
8:23
hosts and they're like, I can't tell you the last time I've picked up the phone.
8:29
You made a reservation last week for us.
8:31
Sarah: I did pick up the phone and make a reservation for us.
8:33
Annette: But it was-- yeah.
8:34
And that's the--, I can't remember the last time I picked up the
8:36
phone to make a reservation at all.
8:39
Ooh, goodness.
8:40
I'm dating my--
8:41
Meaghan: Oh my gosh.
8:42
I'm dating myself.
8:43
Annette: Well, no, I'm really just thinking through the last time I picked
8:48
up the phone to book a reservation.
8:51
So, um, interesting.
8:53
Sarah: There's tons to talk about, but maybe we just parlay
8:55
this into where you are today.
8:57
Your reservationists, what do their jobs look like today in Wyoming?
9:01
Is it a lot of phone calls in a cubicle or does it look different?
9:05
Meaghan: No, it looks a lot different, which was very hard for me to wrap
9:09
my head around when I first started.
9:12
I remember being like, why doesn't everybody wear a headset
9:14
and they're not at their desk all the time answering phones?
9:17
I don't understand.
9:17
Sarah: Where is their Britney mic?
9:20
Meaghan: Yeah.
9:20
Right.
9:21
They have so much more flexibility in their roles now.
9:23
They're not having to sit at a desk with a headset on 24/7.
9:28
And that, to me, originally was jarring, and now is amazing just to show how
9:33
much things really have evolved in the past eight years at this point.
9:37
I mean, people don't want to talk on the phone as much as they did back then.
9:41
I don't.
9:41
I know that I don't.
9:42
To y'all's point, I never, ever, ever call to book anything.
9:47
I always book it online because we've reached this era of, what's
9:51
the quickest way I can do anything?
9:53
So they do a lot of talking back and forth on, um, live chat.
9:57
So we have a chat functionality on our website.
10:00
And guests just want that immediate connection with someone who is
10:05
sitting at their desk who can answer them via keyboard really, really
10:08
quickly, and they're not having to go through the touch tone of, press
10:12
1 for reservations, and press 2.
10:13
I mean, we all hate those.
10:15
I was trying to call my mortgage lender the other day and I was like,
10:19
well, I have to block off two hours.
10:21
Sarah: Just to get through to someone.So much.
10:23
Meaghan: Phone call.
10:24
Sarah: Yes.
10:24
Which honestly, everyone, this is a great reminder and tip.
10:28
It's the golden rule.
10:30
Treat others like you want to be treated, but also in terms of customer service,
10:34
what makes you angry when you're out there in the world trying to get things done?
10:37
How can we remove that friction from our potential guests?
10:41
Which also I want to point out, I love how you went home that weekend,
10:44
got some Excel, YouTube University, Excel spreadsheet lessons because
10:47
you wanted to do something that you didn't have prior experience in.
10:50
But what you did was you were a self-starter.
10:53
You're like, what can I do to show my superior, or my boss, or the director
10:57
that I would love to go in this direction?
10:59
And you went and you did something to show them you're excited,
11:02
and you followed through.
11:03
So that's another great tip for anyone out there right now wanting to get involved in
11:05
something, whether it is buying your first property, um, managing several properties.
11:10
What can you do for someone who is ahead of you to help you get there?
11:14
What was that new job like, um, when you moved from reservations up?
11:17
And was it everything you hoped it would be?
11:21
Meaghan: So scary because when you are, and everybody knows this, whether
11:25
you have one property or 700, when you are changing a rate for your property,
11:32
the amount of anxiety that you have of leaving out a zero is just insurmountable.
11:39
And it's really funny because I did leave a zero out.
11:43
Absolutely.
11:44
And I think it was like-- it was an expensive mistake
11:47
when I very first started.
11:49
And I remember just being racked with guilt and anxiety, and my boss
11:53
saying, this is a rite of passage.
11:55
When you enter into this role and you start changing rates, it happens.
12:00
Everybody screws it up at one point.
12:02
You don't do it again.
12:04
Once you understand and you feel this guilt and this anxiety of
12:08
someone booked this property for--
12:10
Annette: They stole it.
12:11
Meaghan: $40 a night.
12:13
Yeah, I know.
12:14
And it's awful, the anxiety that you feel, and you want to-- fixing it right away
12:20
and having to communicate with the owner.
12:22
I mean, it's definitely a mistake that if you make once or twice, you're like, okay,
12:26
I'm going to definitely take some extra time the next time I edit these rates.
12:30
I think a anxiety or just a fear that we have no matter how many
12:35
homes we have, and that connects us, everybody has to change rates for their
12:39
property no matter how big you are.
12:41
Annette: Well, I was going to say, listeners, Meaghan just said it.
12:43
It's a rite of passage.
12:44
You will do it.
12:46
I know this is the big thing, especially on Airbnb that gets you when you
12:49
send over a special rate and you forget to put the cleaning fee in.
12:53
There's just little things.
12:54
Or you know there's a big event coming to your town, you have it
12:57
written down on your to-do list, change the rate, you forget to change
13:01
it, and then somebody books and you're like, yeah, I gave it away.
13:05
I gave it away to them.
13:07
Sarah: My question to you, Meaghan, is did you ever go to the guest and say,
13:10
hey, we made a mistake, or did you let the guest have it at that rate?
13:13
Meaghan: Yeah.
13:13
Sarah: Oh, so you did.
13:14
Okay.
13:14
Annette: Because they know.
13:15
If it's $20, they know.
13:17
They know they're stealing.
13:19
Meaghan: Yeah.
13:20
And there has been a couple of-- this is all back in the 360 days,
13:25
there were a couple of errors.
13:26
There was one, we had acquired our largest local competitor, and
13:31
they also had about 200 units.
13:34
And so we doubled in size overnight, huge adjustment.
13:37
Forty employees that came over with the acquisition.
13:41
It's a great story.
13:42
And I was overseeing revenue at the time for, now, all these
13:47
new properties in our portfolio.
13:49
So I was adding all the rates to them.
13:50
I had no connection with the homeowners yet because I'd never spoken with them.
13:54
And it was all prior to go live.
13:57
Because the day that you announced the acquisition, you go live on your website
14:01
and you start booking those properties.
14:02
And so it was like 3 o'clock in the morning trying to get
14:05
it all done, left out a zero.
14:07
And we did approach the guest for those.
14:09
And it was an immaculate property, beachfront, over
14:13
$2,000 a night to rent it.
14:15
And I can't remember if I did it for $200, and I mean, it was a big mess.
14:20
Sarah: Yeah.
14:21
Meaghan: Yeah.
14:21
It was certainly noticeable, and we called the guest and essentially
14:26
just said, please understand.
14:28
And then honestly, transparency, I think, we always say clear is kind.
14:34
And just saying to the guests, hey, we're human.
14:36
We do all these rates behind the scenes.
14:38
We completely understand that this feels like a bait and switch to you.
14:43
Please know that this is an error on our part, and we're not able to rent this
14:48
property for this price, but we have all these amazing properties in this
14:51
price range, which look a lot different than this beachfront property that you
14:54
were booking, but I'm sure-- I mean, to your point, Annette, they know.
14:58
When getting this at $1,000, this seems like a great deal.
15:03
Annette: This is a teachable moment, what you just said, that's why you
15:05
have to be on top of the reservations.
15:07
And the person most likely knows if they got a steal of a deal, there's a reason.
15:12
And it's one of those things, don't waffle too much.
15:15
Get right to the point with them, clear is kind.
15:18
And I think the faster you let them know this was an error, once two days,
15:23
three days, four, it's like, okay.
15:24
Now you're like, eh, I should have-- I'm not on top of my-- first of all,
15:27
I'm going to tell I made an error now?
15:29
It's taken me days to get back with them.
15:31
It's just looking like I'm not on top of it all.
15:33
So if you can get to them, I think speed matters in that time.
15:37
So listeners, if it happens, you got to make that decision quick.
15:40
Am I going to let them know?
15:43
And there's differences too.
15:45
Is it just a small error and you learn, or is it a really-- like
15:49
what you said, revenue is severely impacted by 2000 to 200 a night.
15:54
So they know.
15:55
All right.
15:56
So you just call, and you're upfront.
15:58
Let them know.
15:59
Meaghan: Upfront as soon as you notice it.
16:02
And here's the thing.
16:02
When the booking comes in and you're watching those reservations, everybody
16:06
is, no matter how many homes you have, you see it, immediately your stomach drops.
16:10
Don't waste any more time.
16:11
I think that putting off those conversations, I know I have been
16:15
there many times, seems much easier.
16:18
During Covid, having to call the guests letting them know that the beaches were
16:22
closed and vacation rentals were being shut down and we were going to have to
16:25
give them a credit versus a refund, I mean, I would rather, in that moment,
16:29
have delayed those conversations for days and days and days just so they
16:32
could be in the bliss that they were still having their vacation and they
16:35
were going to get all of their money back right away and-- just bite the bullet.
16:40
Just do it.
16:41
You feel better after every single time.
16:43
You might leave the conversation a little shaken, or you always
16:46
have the option of eating it.
16:48
You can pay for it.
16:49
And there have been times when we've done that too.
16:52
I think it really depends.
16:53
I think if you do wait longer than that 24, 48 hours, that's
16:58
probably the best thing to do.
16:59
Because it is your error, and the guests didn't do anything wrong.
17:03
Acknowledging that, I think, is important, especially if you've waited longer than
17:07
that 48-hour mark to let them know.
17:09
At that point, it's like, you should probably just pay for it.
17:12
Just take the L.
17:13
Sarah: Yeah.
17:14
I call it eat the frog.
17:15
Someone once told me that because I was like, I don't want to do this thing.
17:19
But then it just weighs on you.
17:20
So eat the frog.
17:21
Get it done.
17:22
All right.
17:22
Talk to us now about the company that you work for.
17:24
What is your position now?
17:26
How many homes do you have?
17:28
And yeah, what does the team look like?
17:30
Paint us a picture.
17:33
Meaghan: Okay.
17:33
So let's see.
17:34
It's a totally different role than I had previously.
17:38
So I am the executive director of the Outpost Group, which is, you
17:42
can really see it as a mini private equity firm, almost like a family
17:47
office, I guess we would say.
17:48
It is definitely not a huge, massive corporate structure by any means.
17:54
I think that I chose very carefully to go from small business to small business.
18:00
Even with 600 homes, we were still very much a family at 360 Blue.
18:03
And the same is true at Outpost.
18:06
So at the Outpost Group, we have Outpost vacation rentals, and we
18:10
manage 250 properties that are all located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
18:16
Well, actually we have two in Watercolor, but those are family-owned
18:20
properties, and that's in the Panhandle of Florida as well.
18:23
But for the majority, 248 of them are located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which
18:27
is where our business is located now, and all of our employees are here as well.
18:32
Um, we also have a coffee roasting business that we purchased
18:37
about a year ago, which has been such an exciting adventure.
18:40
And that business, we were one of the largest customers, or the largest
18:44
customer, um, because we put mini bags of coffee in all of our units.
18:49
So it just made sense when the owner was looking to transition out.
18:53
And with that, we branched off and we started a little coffee shop in
18:56
downtown Jackson that opened last June.
19:00
So that's an interesting company.
19:02
And then we have Terrain, which is a landscaping and snow removal company.
19:06
Really the idea there is so many of our properties, of course, need snow
19:10
removal and landscaping all year long, um, depending on what season we're in.
19:15
And being able to control that experience by having our own company
19:18
and being the vendor allows us to take better care of our owners.
19:23
We also have a cleaning company called O2 Cleaning, which, um, all of our
19:28
housekeepers are employed by O2 Cleaning, and they're not contractors, which
19:32
is really different in the industry.
19:34
The first time I had ever seen that.
19:36
And then we have, uh, Provisions, catering, which we are a partner in.
19:41
And Provisions has been great because they're private chefs as well.
19:45
So we utilize them as our in-home private chefs for any high-end clients
19:49
that we have that come in that want to have a private chef experience.
19:52
And they also cater large scale events.
19:55
So if anyone's coming for a wedding, then, um, we're able to
19:58
really sell them on Provisions.
20:00
And I think that's it.
20:01
It's hard to keep track of them, but the Outpost Group, we have, essentially,
20:05
centralized marketing, finance, HR, and a little bit of operations with
20:10
this little family office that we have.
20:11
So we do all the marketing for all the entities.
20:14
We do all the finance, all the HR, so payroll processing, we create all
20:18
the budgets, um, and then we help out on the operations side as well.
20:21
So it's a little bit of a different setup than most companies, but
20:25
it's been really great for us.
20:26
Yeah.
20:27
Sarah: This is why I think having you on our podcast is so brilliant, because
20:30
you have me all hyped up and inspired.
20:32
Because I know I talked to--
20:33
Annette: Do you want a landscaping company?
20:34
Sarah: No, I talked to Annette about this before.
20:35
Annette: She saw me pull some weeds last week and now she
20:37
wants a landscaping company.
20:38
I can lay some mean mulch.
20:40
Sarah: It's called Annette Mulching Services LLC.
20:43
No, because I've asked and I've thought about buying a laundromat.
20:47
Because in our metro market, laundry is such a pain point.
20:50
Or starting a cleaning company.
20:52
And obviously, it's for a very, very, very small business.
20:56
That's a big--
20:57
Annette: But it's possible.
20:57
Sarah: But it's not, not possible.
20:59
And so I have so many questions for you because I feel like our listeners
21:01
are also like, wait a minute.
21:03
I haven't thought this big yet.
21:05
I could do these things.
21:05
Annette: Or they have the business already, or a family member or
21:09
someone they know they could loop in.
21:11
AD MARKER
21:12
Sarah: My first question to you is, is it okay to assume that you
21:17
not only service your properties that you manage but you also offer
21:20
these services to the community?
21:21
Is that correct?
21:22
Meaghan: Yes, that's correct.
21:24
Annette: Do your homes take precedent?
21:26
It's okay, because I would.
21:28
I'm not lying.
21:30
Work comes first.
21:31
Because we have guests if--
21:33
Meaghan: Yes.
21:34
Okay.
21:35
So it's difficult.
21:37
So snow removal season, if there is an avalanche or something crazy,
21:42
because things like that happen in Jackson, Wyoming, which is
21:45
very new to me, but it is real.
21:47
Or if there is a flood because of an ice dam on someone's roof, and
21:52
if they're not an Outpost client.
21:54
If it's an emergent situation, then they definitely take priority.
21:57
On a normal day, we definitely try to prioritize.
22:01
God, this is terrible.
22:02
Sarah: No.
22:02
I don't think it's terrible.
22:04
That's why you guys have--
22:05
Annette: That's why you built it.
22:06
Yeah.
22:07
I'm going to ask you the most-- just get it out there.
22:10
Comparatively, when you were in Destin, did you have any of the
22:13
stuff in-- you did not have any of the stuff in house, correct?
22:16
Because you said this is the first time you're--
22:18
Meaghan: No.
22:18
Our cleaners were contractors, and everything else was
22:21
really contracted labor.
22:22
Yeah.
22:23
Annette: Do you feel like-- is it a night and day difference?
22:26
Could you ever imagine going back to contractors again?
22:30
Is it a whole new world having all of this right there under the same roof
22:34
at your disposal, and as employees?
22:37
Meaghan: Yes.
22:38
I definitely think it depends on your location.
22:41
That has a huge, huge part in it.
22:46
In Destin, there are 15,000 vacation rentals along the stretch
22:51
of 30A and Santa Rosa Beach, a little bit past Destin, 15,000.
22:55
In Jackson, probably 800, 800 to a 1,000.
22:59
Very, very small.
23:02
The cleaner situation or the housekeeper situation in Destin,
23:05
there are thousands of housekeepers.
23:07
Here in Jackson, you don't have any outskirts to live in.
23:12
There is not really a cheaper area.
23:13
There is, but it's going to take you an hour and a half to drive
23:16
here, and you're not going to be able to get here in the winter.
23:19
And I think that this is the case for a lot of ski markets, um, or
23:23
mountain destinations in general.
23:25
Just the labor crisis is so real.
23:28
And I think having our housekeepers as employees that are eligible for
23:32
health insurance and other benefits makes all the difference in the world.
23:36
It is definitely more expensive as a company, but the retention of housekeepers
23:43
is a night and day difference.
23:45
Absolutely.
23:46
And just feeling like a lot of times it's a little bit like they're
23:50
not really a part of the team when they're contracted laborers, and
23:53
you don't really get the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them.
23:56
And this situation, when they are employees, you feel like one team.
24:01
And I think there's a level of appreciation that's there for the
24:05
housekeeper that maybe doesn't exist when they are contracted laborers.
24:08
Annette: I would love also, and this is where you can't really quantify
24:13
this in spreadsheets, you just said, hey, it's more expensive to have
24:16
this stuff in-house, but I believe over time, it's an investment.
24:21
It's a human capital investment, and over time, I think, hopefully, makes
24:25
you a lot more money just because you're not having to give any refunds
24:29
because of the type of work that's done.
24:32
You are not having to scurry, and just mental mortgage, that space that it's
24:37
taking up, and all of your heads wondering if things are going to get done well.
24:40
And so it's one of those things that I encourage everybody, it's hard in
24:44
the beginning because you see bigger dollar signs, but in the long term,
24:48
I think it's a huge investment.
24:50
Do you know when they decided to do that?
24:52
Was it because it was such a pain point or what that inflection point
24:55
was for them to bring it in-house?
24:57
Meaghan: Pain point is definitely part of it.
24:58
I mean, I think that every manager goes through this time period of, Sarah,
25:04
you mentioned it earlier, you start to think, do I need to buy, or should
25:09
I start my own landscaping company?
25:11
Because depending on these vendors sucks.
25:14
It's terrible.
25:15
And in Destin, it was pool vendors.
25:17
Annette: Oh man, I can't imagine.
25:20
Yeah.
25:21
Meaghan: Oh my gosh.
25:22
Eight percent of our properties had pools, and when the pool heaters
25:25
weren't working, which they never do, in Jackson, it's snow removal.
25:30
You've got to get out of the driveway.
25:32
And when you're calling vendor after vendor and they have
25:35
no-- you're not a priority.
25:37
They have a million other jobs to do.
25:39
They're the only vendor in town because you live in Jackson, Wyoming.
25:43
And so they have this monopoly and control over you.
25:46
And so I would say it's probably two to three years ago.
25:50
It was definitely before my time at the time I started.
25:52
And it's funny because when I first started, I was like, can't believe
25:56
you guys are doing it this way.
25:57
It's so expensive.
25:59
It's very similar to the sales crew or what we call the reservations team.
26:04
When I first started, I was like, well, what do you mean they're not
26:06
at their desk answering phones?
26:07
You have to unlearn what you have learned over time, which is that
26:12
contracted cleaners are the way to go, and your reservations team, no
26:16
matter what, should be answering every single phone call within 10 seconds
26:19
and sitting at their desk all day.
26:21
Some people might say that those are a thing of the past, and I think that
26:25
unlearning what you've thought you'd known, especially in an industry that's
26:28
really new, I still think vacation rentals are really new, and I think we
26:32
have evolved so much over time, and it really requires-- it's so funny because
26:36
I preach to the team all the time.
26:38
They're probably so sick of hearing it, like, we will pivot no matter what.
26:43
I am never too dedicated to one decision.
26:47
We'll admit when we're wrong.
26:48
We will change our processes accordingly.
26:51
We'll try something, it won't work, we'll try something else.
26:54
I'm never married to anything.
26:56
It is important, especially in this industry, to evolve
27:00
as the times start to change.
27:02
And it's funny because I'm looking back on this being like, am I a hypocrite?
27:06
But I definitely had to change my mind, and I think that it's
27:10
been for the better, 100%.
27:12
Sarah: Because there's probably things that you think about "pivoting", or not
27:15
having your mindset on something, but then there are things that you don't even
27:18
think about that there's a way to pivot.
27:20
Because it's so ingrained in all you've ever known that, of course, you
27:23
come to this new company and they're doing things way different, and you're
27:26
like, oh my gosh, your mind is blown.
27:29
So my question to you is, you have a lot going on.
27:33
You have a lot of different businesses.
27:35
They're not all directly related necessarily.
27:37
I mean, they all help each other out.
27:39
But you mentioned key performance indicators.
27:43
I think this is a great conversation for, if you've got one property, you
27:47
still need to measure your performance to make sure that you're staying
27:49
profitable to not only 250 homes but all these ancillary businesses.
27:54
What do you guys focus on?
27:56
Meaghan: So I think when you're talking about the vacation rental industry, um,
28:00
in general, like you said, whether you have one home or 250, a lot of times it's
28:06
really easy to focus on your revenue.
28:09
And that's your main key performance indicator.
28:11
I'm at $60,000.
28:13
Last year, at this time, I was at $55,000.
28:16
Where is that $5,000, and how can I make it up throughout the year?
28:19
Revenue is a huge piece of it.
28:22
That's my background.
28:23
That is what I always go back to because that is literally how you
28:27
can keep your business afloat and your owners happy if you have owners.
28:31
But there are so many operational KPIs as well.
28:34
So on the maintenance side, I think it's really important to understand your
28:39
own performance, whether you have an in-house maintenance team or you have
28:43
contracted, um, laborers that come in and fix a plumbing issue that you have.
28:48
Understanding how many of those work orders you're getting.
28:51
So how many complaints have I gotten about this toilet?
28:53
I've gotten three complaints this year about this toilet, and it typically
28:57
takes the contractor that I'm using three days to resolve this issue.
29:02
And I'm usually having to refund $50 a day for it, or whatever number.
29:07
Okay, well over time, that's $150.
29:10
That's three guests that the toilet has impacted.
29:13
And understanding those numbers and writing them down, whether it be in
29:17
a spreadsheet, I would always choose a spreadsheet over everything else,
29:20
or if you're a larger organization and you have a software that you can
29:24
input this information in to monitor, that's when you want to pick up the
29:28
phone and call your owner and say, maybe you should get a new toilet.
29:31
Having this data is really, really helpful.
29:34
Or if it's your home, maybe you should get a new toilet.
29:37
This data tells us something.
29:38
Or if the resolution time with this one vendor that you're using is
29:43
longer and longer every single time, maybe it's time to switch vendors.
29:46
But I think that if you're not monitoring this and you're not writing it down, we
29:53
are all so busy, and we forget about it.
29:55
So we call the same vendor.
29:56
So we don't fix the toilet.
29:58
And at the end of the day, it's eating the frog.
30:01
I saw this thing.
30:01
It's eat the frog first.
30:03
First thing you do in the morning, eat the frog.
30:05
Get it over with.
30:05
Sarah: Get it done.
30:07
Meaghan: And so I think monitoring the performance of those things, like I
30:09
said, whether it's in-house or you're using contractors, on the guest service
30:13
side, how many, um, complaints have I gotten this month, and how long has it
30:18
taken me to resolve those complaints?
30:20
How many dollars have I refunded this month?
30:22
We monitor refunds like crazy, and we set goals for the team that's
30:27
responsible for giving those refunds, that guest service team, so we can
30:30
ensure that we are keeping an eye on how much money is going out the door.
30:35
And if it's this one incident that keeps popping up, that we're fixing
30:39
it and communicating right away with that owner that it needs to
30:42
be fixed for future reservations.
30:44
Annette: If you can, give us some examples of what you do refund
30:47
for when a guest reaches out.
30:50
Meaghan: So if a guest books a specific unit for a hot tub but the hot tub doesn't
30:54
work for their entire stay, we all know those, I booked this property for this
30:59
reason, and then it doesn't-- I know.
31:01
And you're like, okay.
31:04
Um, so we do refund for those.
31:05
And I think it's hard to put a value on those things.
31:08
That's really where you find yourself in that position where you're like,
31:13
okay, what is the actual value of a hot tub every single day?
31:17
How many days have they not had it?
31:18
And you have this like internal battle of, I could either offer
31:23
them $150 and they laugh in my face and think that I'm so insensitive,
31:28
or I could offer them a $1,000.
31:29
And they're like, I just freaking took this $1,000 street to the bank.
31:34
I wasn't even intending on using that hot tub.
31:36
And I think that is really where I would say I'm very much a data
31:41
person, but I think gut matters there.
31:44
Talking with your guest, understanding their story, and how much use they were
31:50
going to get out of this particular item.
31:51
Cleaning complaints, I would say, number one, we all deal with them no matter what.
31:55
Even if our cleaners are employees, of course, there are instances we have
31:59
where we have to refund cleaning fees.
32:01
Um, and I think that really depends on how impacted is
32:05
this guest's day by this issue?
32:08
And really quantifying that to you is understanding your guest, and how
32:13
upset they are, and why they're here in the first place, and what they were
32:17
planning on doing with this hot tub.
32:19
Or if they were going to have a dinner tonight with their whole family, and
32:22
now the floors are all disgusting and we have to send a cleaner back.
32:26
I know that that's not a cut and dry answer, but I really
32:29
don't think there is one.
32:29
I think it's different every time.
32:31
Annette: And the cleaning, just to touch on it, you will send
32:35
someone back out plus do a refund there in some situations, correct?
32:39
Meaghan: Some situations, absolutely.
32:41
Um, and I really think that that's our way of, we want to
32:45
lock in this guest to come back.
32:46
Not every single guest we want to come back.
32:48
We've all experienced those as well.
32:50
But for the most part, we're trying to lock in a repeat renter, and it
32:55
depends on how severe the situation is.
32:56
Okay, if there's sand on the floor or dirt on the floor, then like,
33:00
hey, we'll send somebody back.
33:01
We'll get that mopped up right away.
33:02
And if the guest is like, absolutely, that sounds great, no,
33:04
we won't refund their cleaning fee.
33:06
If the guest comes in, a bathroom's disgusting, they found sand in their
33:11
bed, um, that used to happen in Florida all the time, unfortunately, we're
33:16
sending someone back right away to remake the bed, and we're going to
33:18
take some money off your cleaning fee.
33:20
I think it just depends on the severity of the situation.
33:22
And of course, you get the guests that are irate, but you also have the guests that
33:27
are like, sure, of course, remake the bed.
33:29
No big deal.
33:30
We totally understand.
33:31
It happens.
33:32
Sarah: Yeah.
33:32
Meaghan: Those are the best guests.
33:33
Sarah: Thank you to those guests.
33:34
Also, I feel like I'm getting a lesson in, if I want a better refund as a consumer,
33:39
I just need to come in guns ablaze.
33:42
No.
33:43
I don't have that in me.
33:44
I wish I did, but actually, I don't wish I did.
33:45
I'm okay with being a flexible guest.
33:47
All right.
33:49
We could talk to you all day.
33:50
I said a million times.
33:51
So I do want to get into, as the business you are 250 properties plus
33:56
all these businesses, what's going on right now in your market, in the way
34:01
you guys are running things as you see the future vacation rentals now post
34:06
Covid being, um, new to all of us?
34:08
What's going on?
34:10
I know that's a vague question, but take that for whatever you will and give me the
34:13
first thing that comes to your brain as to how you guys have pivoted since then.
34:17
Meaghan: Things are a lot different now.
34:19
It's really funny, when I first started in 2015, our hands were on the wheel all
34:25
the time when it came to rates in revenue.
34:28
We are decreasing pricing.
34:30
We're increasing pricing.
34:31
We are very, very hands-on.
34:35
Absolutely no cruise control.
34:37
Covid happened, and after the couple of months that we all had of, are
34:43
our businesses going to fail, what does this mean for us, are we going
34:46
to make it out of here alive, then things blew up in the industry, and
34:52
you're cruise control all the way.
34:53
All you were really doing was pressing the increase button on your rates.
34:57
And what you had to worry about was, can I take care of all these guests that I have?
35:02
I've never seen anything like this before.
35:05
You were so focused, or we were so focused.
35:07
I think the whole industry was of service.
35:11
You're very service-oriented.
35:12
Revenue, we're printing money right now.
35:14
We're not having to worry about anything.
35:16
And I think that we've seen, um, I know that we have in Jackson, and I've talked
35:20
to a lot of other managers as well, since beginning of 2022, maybe last
35:28
spring, things look a lot different.
35:30
You are not on cruise control anymore.
35:32
There has been a regulation that has started to happen, and we've gone back
35:36
to this 2019 pre-Covid era demand levels.
35:41
The world is open.
35:42
People are traveling to all destinations.
35:44
I mean, you talk to one person and they're like, it's because
35:47
travel to Europe opened up.
35:48
That's why everybody-- and then you talk to another person and
35:50
they're like, it's the economy.
35:52
Gas prices are really high, and people are wanting--
35:55
We don't know.
35:57
I think it's a combination of everything, but all we know is
36:00
that it does not look like what it used to for the past three years.
36:04
We are not on cruise control anymore.
36:06
We do have to lower rates sometimes.
36:08
And, um, I think educating employees that came on during Covid that maybe
36:14
weren't used to that has been difficult.
36:18
Understanding that setting rates for next year doesn't necessarily look
36:22
like increasing across the board.
36:24
It is very, very intentional at this point, and we have to monitor that demand
36:29
more than we ever have before because it is not completely unconstrained, and we
36:35
have so many people wanting to book and we don't even have enough availability.
36:39
Um, and I think that that's a good and bad thing.
36:41
I think it's initially scary because you're like, okay I've spent the last
36:45
three years not really worried about this.
36:47
But I also think there are blessings in it that your team needs a break.
36:51
Our team needs a break.
36:52
We all needed things to go back to normal.
36:54
They were going to eventually.
36:56
And I think now, for us, it is a lot more reliance on those KPIs, and talking
37:01
about the importance of marketing, and ensuring that our rates are a fair
37:08
price compared to our competitors, and that we are taking really good care
37:11
of the guests and coddling them when they're here so they want to book again.
37:15
I think depending on those repeat renters now more than ever is really important.
37:19
Yeah, it's different.
37:20
It's really different.
37:22
Annette: Since you are a management company, how are you letting
37:25
the owners know that though?
37:27
It's an easy conversation to have here on the podcast, but what are you doing
37:31
when you're confronted with someone?
37:33
And I know we have a lot of listeners that are like, what's going on?
37:36
Is the market saturated?
37:37
So how are you having the conversations with the owners that
37:39
there is a steep decline in revenue?
37:42
Meaghan: So it's funny because there's another internal battle.
37:46
I think there are so many in this business where you're like, do I wait for my owner
37:50
to notice that things are a little bit softer than they were last year, or do I
37:56
get out in front of them now and tell them what's going on without causing panic?
38:03
I would always choose the ladder.
38:04
I think it goes back to clear is kind.
38:07
Owners are going to notice, or some of them are at least, the
38:10
revenue-driven ones that have to pay their mortgage, that depend on this
38:14
income to send their kid to college.
38:16
Whatever it is.
38:17
They're going to call you.
38:19
You do not want to be on the other end of the phone when you haven't
38:22
already reached out proactively.
38:23
It's just not a good look.
38:25
And I think it's one of those eat the frog first things too.
38:29
They're not fun conversations to have to talk to your owner, but I think that
38:33
you are the expert in this situation.
38:35
You have access to the data because you do.
38:38
You have your past data, you have tools.
38:40
There are a thousand tools that exist right now to use.
38:43
I would encourage using one, or even talking to somebody else in your
38:47
location I think is really helpful.
38:48
And I think as managers, there is a little bit of anxiety there, wanting
38:52
to keep things really close to the best, um, but I always encourage it.
38:57
Everybody's going through the same thing you are too.
38:59
You just want to know that you're the best, and that you're keeping
39:02
an eye on things, that you have the data in front of you.
39:04
So we send our owners an email every single month with revenue information.
39:08
Of course, you want to put a spin on things.
39:10
I don't necessarily think that making everything seem
39:14
great is the right decision.
39:16
I think just letting your owner know that you're aware and what your
39:20
steps are to fix or remedy whatever you might be seeing in the data.
39:25
So for example, hey, occupancy for this July is 5% lower than
39:31
it was this time last year.
39:32
We understand that you're likely looking at this too, and you're keeping an eye
39:36
on your reservations in the future.
39:38
The great news is, June, 15% better than it was previously.
39:43
We see those weeks fluctuate from year to year.
39:46
On the marketing side, we have scheduled your home to have new photos taken.
39:50
We are sending out these two emails to our database of 10,000 people this month,
39:55
and we typically see a return of X.
39:58
And I know that sounds like scary, but this is pretty easy data to get ahold of,
40:03
like I said, no matter what size you are.
40:06
Um, and I think once an owner reads that email, they're like, oh, okay.
40:09
They see it, but it sounds like they're really on top of it.
40:12
Sarah: Yeah.
40:12
and listeners, I will encourage you, if you're not a manager of other people's
40:16
properties, do this for yourself because Annette and I see it all the time.
40:20
Our people tell us they feel like occupancy's down, they
40:24
feel like their revenue's down.
40:25
And we often ask them like, okay, but do you know that it is, and compared to what?
40:30
And like you said, okay, July is down, but June is up.
40:33
We have to look at this holistically.
40:34
And so a lot of our listeners are owners of their own property, and
40:39
I'm sure most of you got into this and own your own property to build
40:42
wealth, but also to cash flow.
40:43
And so it's just important to keep these metrics for yourself
40:46
too, and to report to yourself.
40:47
Annette: What if our listeners, Meaghan, they are self-managing
40:50
right now and they're like, you know what, I don't have the time anymore?
40:55
I love my property, but I want to see if I can hire someone to help me with this.
41:02
What would you tell our listeners who are maybe thinking about hiring
41:06
a management company or a co-host to help them with their property?
41:10
If you were in their shoes, what would be the top two or three things
41:14
that you would make sure that the company that they're going to hire
41:18
is doing or promising they will do?
41:22
Meaghan: Okay, so this is a great question, and I have a house in Florida
41:26
that is currently for sale, but I have toyed with renting it out for a long time.
41:30
So I think about this pretty often.
41:32
Um, I think the first thing that you need to understand as an owner,
41:35
and this depends on what type of financial situation you have.
41:39
For me, it is, what do I need to cash flow?
41:43
To be able to either pay my mortgage or have this play money that I want, whatever
41:48
you have for your second property.
41:50
So what do you need at the end of the day?
41:52
Because it's going to come down at some point to a management fee, whether
41:56
it is a 15% management fee, or in ski destinations, often it's 35%.
42:02
That's the norm.
42:03
And so if I pay 35% to a manager, am I still going to be able to pay my bills at
42:08
the end of the day if I have a slow month?
42:11
So that's the first thing.
42:13
The second thing is, is there a dedicated person that I can communicate with?
42:20
I think it's really, really helpful.
42:21
I think for a lot of companies you call in.
42:25
And we talked about this earlier, having to call in and press the touch tone.
42:29
Um, one thing both at Outpost and at 360, you have a dedicated property manager
42:34
that you were assigned to as a homeowner.
42:36
Annette: Love that.
42:37
Meaghan: It makes all the difference in the world.
42:39
This is your home.
42:39
You care deeply about it, especially when a lot of strangers are in your property,
42:44
uh, no matter how amazing they are.
42:46
That is a little bit scary to think about.
42:49
And you want a connection with somebody that you don't have to go
42:53
through 30 minutes of waiting on the phone to get to this person.
42:56
This person knows your home.
42:58
They're in it frequently.
42:59
Um, you can communicate to them what is really important to you.
43:03
I think that that's also very important when you're shopping
43:06
for a management company.
43:08
Oftentimes you find owners are either very, very income-driven, or they're
43:13
not so income-driven, they're very driven on the care of their property.
43:17
Communicate that very early on because your manager needs to know that.
43:23
They're either going to lower your rates during a downtime.
43:27
I could go on and on all day about how lower rates does not increase
43:32
wear and tear on a property.
43:33
I think that that is like the biggest myth in our industry.
43:37
I think most people would probably disagree with me, but like I've
43:40
seen people spend $30,000 on a property and totally trash it.
43:44
I think maybe there's more entitlement.
43:45
When you do spend $30,000 on a home or a significant amount--
43:49
anyway, I think that's a myth.
43:50
Not afraid to say it.
43:51
But I think communicating that want with your, um, with property management
43:56
companies when you're shopping around, and I encourage people to shop around.
43:59
It's very, very important.
44:01
Um, and then asking your manager, okay, do I have a dedicated person?
44:05
I know my management fee at this point.
44:07
I really like this company.
44:08
Okay, so now you understand that I am really in the middle.
44:12
I care deeply about the care of my home, but I also need to be able to cash flow.
44:18
Now my manager knows this.
44:20
What are your strategies?
44:21
Do you have somebody that's dedicated to revenue that's really
44:24
keeping an eye on those things?
44:26
Is it all automated on a computer?
44:28
I would not choose someone who had fully automated revenue.
44:31
I would want someone that has either a dedicated person or a
44:33
dedicated team that is keeping an eye on those things that's really
44:36
studying the trends in the industry.
44:38
And what are you doing to market my home?
44:40
Which everybody gets that question, but I do think it's really important question.
44:45
Is it a company that's really focused on OTAs, that they really want to do
44:50
whatever they can to, um, just get your property on Vrbo looking great, have
44:55
it ranking high with the algorithm?
44:57
Or is it a manager that really focuses on direct bookings and they want
45:03
to have as much website presence as they possibly can, so they're not
45:07
putting as much energy into the OTAs?
45:09
Then I would ask them, okay, what's your direct booking person?
45:11
God, I'd probably be terrible at book picking a manager.
45:14
They would be like, miss, you should do it yourself.
45:17
Leave us alone.
45:20
Sarah: No.
45:20
Those are great things to think about.
45:22
Yeah.
45:22
Annette: Yeah.
45:23
Marketing and revenue.
45:23
I think that's a large thing, people.
45:26
Like you just said, oh my gosh, they have a list of 10,000
45:28
people that they can market for.
45:30
They have a revenue manager there.
45:32
Uh, my last question about this is, because I know this
45:36
is all over the board too.
45:37
And you don't have to say which company, just to keep it out there.
45:41
What happens if you're managing and you have an owner that really wants to use
45:45
the property during all the peak times?
45:49
Is that a clause in your contract?
45:50
I'm just thinking, if I'm looking for a manager and I'm like, well, I want
45:54
to use it on Christmas, and I want to use it on New Year's, and I want
45:57
to be able to give it to my friends and family whenever, how do you deal
45:59
with clients like that that basically want to remove all of your revenue
46:04
generating dates from the calendar?
46:07
Meaghan: We appreciate you so much as a homeowner, but we are a business,
46:12
and in order for us-- here's what we really do, is we give them the data.
46:17
We have a full reservations team, a full guest service team.
46:20
We have someone dedicated to your property.
46:23
All of these employees are being paid more than a livable wage to be
46:28
able to take great care of your home.
46:30
We have a revenue manager.
46:31
We have a full marketing team.
46:32
Um, these are benefits that are offered to you in exchange for a management fee,
46:37
but both of us are only making money when we are bringing in reservations.
46:41
We're not making a management fee if you don't have any bookings, so we have
46:45
a caretaking property or a caretaking program that we would love to talk to
46:49
you about where you don't have to rent your home and we take care of it for you.
46:53
Sarah: Oh.
46:54
Boom.
46:55
Meaghan: Yeah.
46:55
We have that at Outpost, and at 360 we called it maintenance only.
47:00
And so one thing at 360 Blue that we had was, we would automatically convert an
47:04
owner to the maintenance only program.
47:06
I think it was 30 days, if they stayed longer than 30 days or something.
47:11
Because a lot of times when owners are staying, they're requiring a
47:14
lot of your team, and you are not making a single penny off of it.
47:17
They're in town.
47:18
They want to talk to you on the phone about getting a
47:21
private chef over to the house.
47:23
They have an issue with the toilet.
47:25
All the things.
47:26
And, um, that can be challenging when you're not bringing in any money.
47:30
And especially if you have a smaller operation and you're paying your team
47:33
members, you need them focused on homes that are bringing in income.
47:37
Annette: I love that.
47:38
So both of the companies had a maintenance program or a caregiving program.
47:42
Sarah: Love it.
47:43
Meaghan: I know.
47:43
Sarah: Because it's not no, it's not yes.
47:47
Annette: Not way you want to do it.
47:50
Sarah: Yes.
47:50
Meaghan: I know.
47:51
Sarah: And we can offer you this program.
47:53
It's perfect for you.
47:54
Meaghan, this was amazing.
47:56
I could talk to you all day.
47:58
You guys are crushing it out there.
47:59
We're so excited for all that's ahead for you and everything
48:02
you're doing for the industry.
48:03
Is there anything you want to leave our listeners with before we sign off today,
48:06
anything we didn't touch on or that you wanted to share just sitting in a seat
48:09
that you sit in with our listeners?
48:12
Meaghan: I think that it's a tough industry.
48:16
A lot of times in the roles that we're in, it's not very glamorous.
48:20
We are talking to angry people, or we are dealing with complaints, or
48:25
we are just inundated with things, whether every single guest is happy.
48:29
It's just a hard job.
48:30
You're doing a lot every single day, and especially for those that only have one
48:35
person, and it's themself, and they're managing one property or two properties.
48:40
I think that you get into the minutiae of your day-to-day,
48:43
and it can be pretty exhausting.
48:45
So I would say that what we do is actually really exciting because for the most
48:49
part, these people that are coming to stay with us, and I think that this message
48:53
gets lost in the day-to-day so often.
48:55
I know it does for me.
48:57
Sometimes they're saving up for two years to take this vacation, and it
49:01
means so much to them, and we really are making these incredible memories,
49:05
and they are actual people too.
49:08
We all go on vacation when we save up.
49:10
We take the time off work.
49:11
We're so excited.
49:12
And I think doing whatever we can to really recognize that as hard
49:18
as the job is on a day-to-day level, it is so meaningful to our
49:22
guests, I think is really important.
49:23
It brings a little bit of happiness back into the job when
49:26
things can start to get rough.
49:28
And if you have one property, and I know it's probably really easy to
49:33
get lost in the day-to-day, but what I would say to you is, stay up with
49:39
what's going on in the industry.
49:41
Talk to managers in the area.
49:43
It is impactful to you.
49:44
Change is impactful to you, whether you have one property or 200.
49:48
So communicate with somebody that you can consider a mentor in the industry, or
49:53
get on LinkedIn and make connections with people in other destinations if you don't
49:56
want it to be in a competitive market.
49:58
Read VRM Intel.
50:00
Become a member of Verma.
50:01
There are things that you can do to make connections that make you feel a little
50:05
bit more connected in the industry.
50:07
Annette: We're going to put your LinkedIn in the show notes, so hopefully
50:09
you'll get some outreach requests.
50:11
And we want to have you on an after show on Instagram so we
50:14
can-- I want to talk about coffee.
50:15
I want to talk about how the coffee's impacted the business.
50:18
Sarah: No.
50:18
Meaghan, you are a wealth of really cool things that your company
50:22
is doing and that you're doing.
50:23
So we can't thank you enough for your hour this morning when we were recording this.
50:27
Yeah.
50:28
And so, listeners, we hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as we did.
50:30
With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
50:32
Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are--
50:34
Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
50:35
Sarah: We'll talk to you next time.