Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Which Tools Actually Boost Your Airbnb Income?

Transcript

Which Tools Actually Boost Your Airbnb Income? · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

0:00
Welcome to STR Pricing Secrets. This series is powered by host
0:04
Planets and Beyond, the global leader in revenue management for
0:08
vacation rentals. This series is your go to guide
0:11
for mastering pricing strategies that maximize your earnings,
0:15
whether you're a seasoned host or just starting out.
0:18
We'll break down the latest trends, expert insights, and
0:21
actionable tips to help you boost occupancy, increase
0:25
revenue, and stay ahead in the ever changing short term rental
0:29
market kits. Ready to unlock the secrets to
0:32
smarter pricing? Let's dive in.
0:39
In today's episode, we'll focus on how to utilize both tech and.
0:43
Expertise to boost revenue at your vacation.
0:46
Rental and with me to run through all the essentials on
0:49
this topic is Charlie Gibbons, Sales Manager at Beyond and the
0:52
country lead for the UK and Ireland.
0:55
How's it going, Charlie? Yeah, it's going great.
0:57
James, Thanks very much for having me.
0:58
How are you? It's a real pleasure.
1:00
Yeah, I am. Very well.
1:01
Thank you. OK, then what would your message
1:04
be to STR operators who are not? Utilising automation, would you?
1:09
Say that they're being left behind so I always encourage my
1:12
team you know to think the same way and I always operate from
1:16
the perspective that you know property managers owners alike
1:19
they'll always have a better understanding of the nuances of
1:22
their business and if their property managers working on the
1:25
behalf of owners their owners expectations as well as their
1:29
listings right Equally, I acknowledge I'm biased right I
1:33
work for beyond. So naturally, I'm a fan of
1:35
automation. But to answer your question
1:36
honestly, regardless of that, yeah, I'd absolutely say that
1:40
SDR operators aren't leveraging automation today, maybe aren't
1:44
being left behind. Maybe the way I'd put it is
1:46
saying leaving money on the table, especially when you
1:49
consider the evolution you've seen across the markets across
1:52
the globe over the past few years, but certainly true in the
1:55
UK as well. And truthfully very much the
1:57
case post COVID. So the example I can give is
2:01
most property managers as an example today understand, you
2:04
know, opportunity versus risk that's presented to them within
2:08
their markets. And one of the most obvious
2:10
examples of that is how seasonality changes in their
2:13
market. And that's great, right?
2:15
Their understanding is key, but the reality is even across the
2:19
highest demand periods in any year, demand isn't always the
2:22
same as it was previously the last year and even during the
2:26
same period of the same year either side of a particular
2:29
point. So you know, comparing one
2:30
weekend in the third week of August versus the second, you
2:34
shouldn't assume the level of demand is always going to be the
2:37
same or at least the same as it was in previous years.
2:40
So the reality is if you're not leveraging an RMS like Beyond,
2:45
you're not dynamically pricing. Even if you're the most expert
2:49
property manager with decades worth of experience, the reality
2:52
is you've probably got between 8:00 and in, you know, most, in
2:55
some cases even 18 unique seasons across your pricing
2:58
rates throughout the year. If you then compare that to
3:01
somebody who's using a platform like Beyond, the way that we
3:05
treat each price for each individual day is calculated
3:09
based on the unique level of demand for each one of those
3:12
days. So you take 8 to 18 seasons and
3:14
now all of a sudden if you're using our tool, you're pricing
3:18
for 365 days worth of unique seasons, right?
3:23
If the algorithm that drives that price as well is based on a
3:26
rich data set, naturally, I'd like to believe that Beyond
3:29
offers the most sophisticated and accurate data set in the
3:31
market. What we're going to help you do
3:34
is those prices evolve based on evolving demand.
3:37
You know is find those increments over time that in the
3:40
end culminate into what is revenue lift for your business.
3:43
But ultimately the difference when you put into perspective
3:46
what's the impact of automation when somebody's leveraging
3:50
dynamic pricing versus maybe somebody who's sticking or
3:53
twisting when they compare to how they put in previous years.
3:57
But I hope that makes sense. It certainly does, yeah.
3:59
So how does Beyond strike the right?
4:03
Balance between automation and utilizing the human expertise of
4:09
property managers. Is a great question and
4:12
naturally it's one that we love to answer here at Beyond.
4:14
But I guess forgive me for repeating myself First, it goes
4:18
back to the first point I made, which is we may be experts in
4:21
what we do. We may be experts from a data
4:23
science and dynamic pricing perspective, But that doesn't
4:27
mean that we understand the nuance of your listings, your
4:30
owners, their expectations, as well as the uniqueness each
4:34
listing offers within the market better than our clients.
4:38
So we balance automation through the concept of partnership, I
4:41
guess, and what we layer in across our service is human
4:45
centric expertise and resources around the tool.
4:49
And to ensure that those nuances, right, are translated
4:52
effectively, not just into the recommendations we make, but
4:56
making sure that that is again unique to each individual
4:59
listing and its individual performance within any given
5:03
market. It sits to kind of give you a
5:05
bit more meat on the bone. That's in the form of onboarding
5:08
managers who guide our new clients through what is
5:11
typically, you know, the first critical 4 weeks.
5:14
I would say the onboarding process, it's very much a
5:17
calibration period and you only get one chance to make a good
5:20
first impression, right? So it's critical that in that
5:23
time, we're translating the feedback of our clients about
5:26
the nuances about how goals change depending on the listings
5:30
and that's passed through to our revenue management team.
5:33
And then ultimately that culminates in again, adapting
5:36
our recommendations in line with those nuances as well as
5:40
ultimately what we're seeing as that listings performance
5:42
relative to the market, it says. How do you?
5:45
Deal with. Those property managers who were
5:48
worried about relying too much on automation, worried that it
5:53
might diminish their expertise. I'm sure you deal with revenue
5:56
management people from property management companies who?
5:59
Maybe they don't trust the dynamic pricing?
6:01
Tools. Or maybe they don't want to be
6:02
out of a job. But.
6:03
How do you address those concerns?
6:06
So yeah, appreciate the question and respect anybody who
6:11
approaches, you know, the concept of change with, you
6:14
know, you could say healthy curious skepticism.
6:18
The best first point to make is that no dynamic pricing tool
6:22
today, beyond included, should ever be treated as a set and
6:26
forget a solution. I think if you're taking a hands
6:29
off approach when you're making a change to the dynamic pricing,
6:32
it's naturally going to not just diminish, you know, their own
6:36
expertise if they're a property manager with a lot of
6:38
experience, but it's also going to diminish the ROI in terms of
6:42
what you can expect from any RMS, especially in terms of
6:45
beyond. That's true.
6:47
Often I feel that for those that are at least skeptical, let's
6:51
say, about the meaningful impacts automation can represent
6:54
for them if they're using the best tools in the right way,
6:57
it's more coming from a place of leveraging automation in order
7:01
to empower what they're doing. But often I feel like the
7:05
concern isn't diminishing their expertise.
7:07
It's more so a concept of, you know, fear of losing control is
7:11
probably the best way to put it. And that makes sense because,
7:14
you know, people with several years, decades worth of
7:17
experience, you know, they put the blood, sweat and tears into
7:20
these things in order to make them as successful as possible.
7:24
You know, for those that are concerned, I'll always come back
7:27
to this analogy. Building the most effective
7:30
dynamic pricing strategy as part of your overall revenue
7:33
management strategy is a bit like painting a work of art.
7:37
It requires several inputs over time, like brush strokes, you
7:42
know, and often that requires finessing as you look to create
7:44
the most impactful picture possible.
7:47
But what did the best paintings in the world all have in common?
7:51
They sit within a frame, right? And this could be likened to the
7:54
customizations that we offer as well, which ultimately represent
7:57
the window of acceptability that's defined by these experts
8:02
that we're talking about to enable that automated strategy
8:05
to work within those kind confines and those confines
8:08
only, you know, remember, Beyond isn't an entirely outsourced
8:13
revenue management service. Our clients remain the painter,
8:17
and we work with them as consultants to provide the most
8:20
proactive suggestions about how to create the most effective,
8:23
impactful paintings possible. Makes a lot of sense.
8:28
What are the biggest misconceptions?
8:32
Out there that people have about using a revenue management
8:37
system like Beyond. How long do you have James?
8:40
This is this is an interesting question, but again one I'd
8:44
really love to answer. I guess my first point is what
8:47
we just said, that it connects to the last question you asked.
8:50
For me, one of the biggest misconceptions is that by using
8:54
an automated system like Beyond, you're going to lose control or
8:58
effectively diminish the inputs your expertise can have in order
9:03
to get the best possible outcome for your listings and to create
9:06
the best possible strategies. Again, Beyond is there not just
9:10
for people who are making a change from non dynamic
9:13
solutions into dynamic, they're also there and available and
9:17
effectively used by the most professionalized organizations
9:20
in the market with some of the most expert revenue managers
9:24
available. So you know, for me, again,
9:27
we're here to empower what people do and to help them take
9:30
the next step. It's not a case of coming in and
9:33
telling people that in any way that they've been doing it wrong
9:35
and dynamic pricing is the right way to go.
9:38
If in the end, what we're able to create is a strong
9:41
partnership that's going to keep your business thriving, that's
9:44
going to keep your owners happy, and ultimately that's going to
9:46
keep you satisfied with the tools that you tools that you
9:49
use. There are a few of us.
9:52
And so again, I hope you don't mind me going on.
9:54
Shut me up, James, if I'm rambling.
9:56
But I also believe there's a bit of a misconception that dynamic
10:00
pricing's overall goal is to simply increase rates or for
10:04
lack of a better word, gouge the market.
10:07
The reality is what we're looking to build for property
10:09
managers, owners alike, are sustainable dynamic pricing
10:13
strategies, right? And our job is to help you
10:16
create what is the most accurate price at the right time that
10:20
evolves proactively based on the level of demand in your market.
10:23
So just think about what that actually means, right?
10:26
You know, we're helping property managers fight for more
10:29
occupancy during periods of low demand, even during higher
10:32
demand periods. You know, compare Monday versus
10:35
Friday. Typically, it's going to be
10:36
harder to talk about Monday than it is on that Friday.
10:39
But likewise, yes, it's true as well in high demand periods, we
10:43
help property managers identify opportunities to capitalize
10:47
them. But again, coming back to the
10:48
one word that's most important to do it in a sustainable way,
10:52
right? There's something that's quite
10:55
close to beyond that I'd love to kind of just spend a moment on
10:58
as well is that sometimes I do hear that property managers,
11:02
even people who using Beyond or using other providers, they kind
11:05
of think that the data that powers algorithms is the same
11:09
across the board because they know that all providers, most
11:12
providers I should say, leveraging some form of scrape
11:15
data from OTAs. I suppose this is where I really
11:19
want to stake my flag in the ground like unlike many of our
11:23
competitors as a simple example, we also don't leverage third
11:26
parties to supplant our understanding of demand.
11:29
Our data pipeline is owned entirely in house.
11:32
It's been managed by more than a decade by our data scientists
11:36
who have themselves right, several decades worth of
11:39
collective experience in revenue management alone.
11:43
And you know, beyond is the only provider in the industry that
11:45
also offers you the ability to couple, right, the data pipeline
11:49
that we use to drive our algorithm, even with people's
11:52
consumer search traffic that's coming from their direct
11:54
website. So, you know, again, if you've
11:57
got a growing direct business, you've got nuanced demand that
12:00
comes through there. We're the only provider within
12:03
our data layers that's actually injecting that into the
12:06
algorithm so you can capitalize on the, you know, the, let's
12:09
say, the varying demand from your website versus what's also
12:12
happening on the OTAs too. You know, for me, I think
12:16
they're kind of some of the three major points.
12:18
But you know, if anybody's out there, come and speak to our
12:22
team. Don't be afraid to come and
12:24
share your concerns. And you know, we'll always be
12:26
happy to talk to you about the realities of beyond.
12:28
And as always, you'll be the best judge of what makes the
12:31
most sense for your business. Absolutely, and we'll put links
12:34
in the show notes so people can get in touch with the team at
12:37
Beyond Charlie. Let's move on to emerging
12:40
trends. We're talking.
12:42
Just about second quarter of 2025.
12:46
What's been happening so. Far this.
12:48
Year and what? Are the key things that.
12:50
House and property managers need to know.
12:52
About in relation to revenue management?
12:55
So I promise this isn't a plug, James, but the first thing I'll
12:58
always say is that, you know, again, demand is unique not just
13:02
to a city like London, but demand is unique to the very
13:05
specific markets, even within a place like London.
13:09
So I think if people are really interested to understand the
13:12
most compelling, let's say, stats, insights, come and have a
13:16
chat with us. We're always happy to offer you
13:18
an insight into what's happening within any specific market
13:21
because again, there are always nuances.
13:23
But I would say broadly, if we think about the industry, the
13:27
word on everyone's lips, for me at least based on who I've been
13:30
speaking to this year, is booking lead time, OK,
13:34
especially post COVID. And again, This is why looking
13:38
forward into the future and comparing demand pacing is so
13:42
important, is that booking trends have changed dramatically
13:45
and you know, aren't always consistent with what's been
13:48
happening in the previous year. I would say people are very
13:52
aware of the fact that guests are continuing to look, let's
13:55
say more opportunistically about how they book their stays.
13:59
That means in many markets booking lead times are changing.
14:03
You know, more people are probably asking themselves with
14:05
their partners or their families, you know, when's the
14:08
right time to go and do we hold out and, and you know naturally
14:12
that that should impact how people are subsequently evolving
14:16
their rates dynamically throughout the year.
14:17
So broadly, I'm hearing booking lead times are shrinking.
14:21
That needs not just an emphasis on how your rates are changing
14:26
within that booking lead time, but that also extends to how
14:29
people are pricing for last minute bookings.
14:31
Because unless you're using a tool that automates last minute
14:35
discounts, it can be pretty hard to stay on top of because again,
14:39
it kind of changes every single day.
14:41
As well as that, I think it's fair to say, you know, how
14:44
consumers are are booking, you know, ultimately their stays is
14:48
changing. We talked a lot about the future
14:51
of the stays industry. I think the reality is people
14:54
are becoming more empowered through certain tools.
14:57
The use of AI is becoming more prevalent and naturally that
15:00
that is impacting how people are ultimately finding the listings
15:04
that are looking to book and where they're looking to book.
15:08
As well as that, there are kind of two other points for me.
15:11
Flexibility and minimum stays is really critical and key.
15:15
Going back to that point about people being more opportunistic
15:18
in the way that they book, normally that means that they're
15:21
looking for shorter stays. You know, if you, you and the
15:23
partner have a little bit of time over the weekend, you see
15:26
the opportunity. You know, that's how a lot of
15:28
bookings are coming through at the moment.
15:30
So if you're in traditional summer markets, you're used to
15:33
in summer offering, let's say, more traditional higher minimum
15:38
stays. I'd really encourage everybody
15:40
at the moment, especially ahead of Easter, to think about
15:44
whether or not there's an opportunity.
15:46
Either it requires you to sit down with your owner or
15:48
something you can control yourself to be a bit more
15:50
flexible with the minimum states that you're offering.
15:54
And finally, you know, everybody is, I'm sure, very keen to grow
15:58
this part of their business. But the the prevalence and the
16:01
opportunity that's represented in terms of direct business,
16:05
it's never been more powerful than ever before.
16:08
You know, I myself recognize the value that the OTAs bring to our
16:12
industry and, and I'm sure many people do too.
16:14
But you know, the concept of building your own personal
16:17
brand, injecting that into your direct website, and ultimately
16:21
marketing yourself as a business has never been a more powerful
16:25
tool when you think about how can I grow revenue year over
16:28
year. So really encourage everybody to
16:31
think about experience in terms of the experience that they're
16:34
offering with their listings and how they're marketing that, but
16:37
also experience of themselves as a brand and how they're
16:41
marketing their business across their direct websites and how
16:45
they're driving people to it. Is is it's never been more
16:47
important than it is now. Yeah, things we talk about a
16:50
lot, being flexible and encouraging those direct
16:54
bookings, it's gonna help you. Get more.
16:56
Reservations increase your occupancy, increase your
16:59
profits. Yeah, it's kind of common sense
17:02
in this. Pretty fairly tough.
17:04
Market as we're in at the moment.
17:06
Maximize your holiday Let revenue with Beyond.
17:09
Are you leaving money on the table without dated pricing?
17:13
Beyond is the global leader in revenue management for short
17:17
term rentals, helping hosts and property managers boost revenue
17:21
by up to 35%. With real time market insights,
17:25
automated pricing updates and AI driven strategies, Beyond takes
17:30
the guesswork out of setting rates so you can you can earn
17:33
more while doing less. Join thousands of successful
17:36
hosts who price smarter Fillmore nights and maximize profits.
17:41
Try Beyond today and watch your revenue soar.
17:45
Visit beyondpricing.com to get started, Charlie, then talk to
17:49
us about. New customers.
17:51
When new property managers come on board, just talk to us about
17:54
the onboarding experience and. What it's like joining platform
17:57
like beyond? Sure.
17:59
I guess maybe we should split this question in two.
18:02
Let's talk a little bit about people who are thinking right
18:06
about dynamic pricing and potentially not yet at that
18:09
point where they're willing to look maybe because they're not
18:12
sure how or where to go. You know, I think the first
18:16
point is to have a clear understanding of your own
18:18
decision making process. What do you need to know in
18:22
order to feel comfortable to move forward with any platform?
18:24
Put beyond to one side from 1 moment.
18:26
What makes the most sense for you and what's the key criteria
18:29
that you want to assess when you're evaluating the relevance
18:32
of any provider? Also, be clear on the level of
18:37
support that any provider is going to offer you.
18:39
I would really encourage everyone to, you know, seek to
18:41
understand the enablement journey, so to speak from any
18:45
provider that they're willing to create for you and make sure
18:48
that it kind of fits the bill, right.
18:49
Make sure that you're satisfied with the answers that you're
18:51
getting. I think also it's fair to say,
18:54
evaluate any provider's understanding of your local
18:57
markets. Again, you're the experts, so be
19:00
curious to understand how the data reflects, let's say, trends
19:03
based on your experience. You're the best judge of how
19:06
accurate this is or is not for that matter.
19:09
And you know, ultimately I would be looking and encouraging
19:12
people to work with providers that are at front with their
19:16
data insights and are prepared to show their experience and how
19:19
they depict that data and make sure it makes sense for you and
19:23
make sure that it compares to your experience too.
19:26
As well as that, it goes without saying, you know, spend time
19:30
evaluating not just the upfront cost, but the cost of investment
19:33
if you compare it to the return on investment and validate based
19:37
on your evaluation whether the value you've identified makes
19:41
you confident in any systems ability to deliver on the ROI.
19:45
And of course reach and seek to go above that break even.
19:50
Likewise, maybe one of the final points is don't be afraid to ask
19:53
for help, you know, whether it's managing discussions with the
19:56
your owners. We appreciate that can kind of
19:58
be a bit of a daunting prospect prospect for anybody who's not
20:02
dynamically pricing and consider the change.
20:04
But also ask for help around how to manage internal stakeholders,
20:08
you know, leverage the potential suppliers you're working with to
20:12
help you articulate the value proposition if you're bought in.
20:15
But likewise, ask for help around resources that can also
20:19
help owners there understand what does that change represent
20:22
for them, whether or not they're going to lose any form of
20:25
control. And you know, ultimately what
20:27
the outcomes that they can come to expect.
20:30
Suppose then the second part of that question, if you'll forgive
20:32
me, James and I, I hope you don't mind.
20:34
I am monologuing a bit. I like to talk is the onboarding
20:39
journey, the beyond offers. So remember what I said, you
20:42
know, beyond recognises that you're only going to get one
20:45
opportunity to make the best first impression.
20:48
And that's just as true when you think about dynamic pricing in
20:51
general as it is about making the right best impression for
20:54
your owners too when you're coming on board with the new
20:56
system. So for our contracted users,
20:59
what we're offering is a dedicated onboarding service.
21:02
It's fully included within the cost of our fees, no extras, no
21:06
hiddens. We're going to connect you with
21:09
a dedicated team of onboarding managers, experts in their field
21:12
who understand, let's say people's concerns coming in and
21:15
also recognize what enablement is most important and when it's
21:20
most important to deliver it, typically through what is a four
21:23
week onboarding journey. Behind the scenes, our revenue
21:27
managers are working to analyze each one of your listings for
21:30
you. So before any light air prices
21:33
are launched, that analysis gets taken in and ultimately spat out
21:37
in terms of recommendations, which is presented to you for
21:40
your review. And only when you're satisfied
21:43
with what's been presented that we launch and go ahead.
21:46
But it's a calibration period. So what are we doing?
21:49
We're constantly reanalyzing performance of the listing
21:52
relevant to the market and relevant to its own unique
21:56
attributes. And let's say, revising and
21:58
revising our recommendations over a four week period to
22:01
ensure that not just your listings are in the best place
22:04
at the end of onboarding, but you yourself are in the best
22:07
place to understand, let's say, how can I use this tool to my
22:11
greatest advantage? And how do I get the most out of
22:14
the partnership in between onboarding and let's say, the
22:18
end of any term? Of course, you're going to be
22:20
working with dedicated customer success managers.
22:24
We obviously have a scaled offering in terms of our service
22:27
relative to the size of anyone business.
22:29
But that's simply so we ensure that, let's say regardless of
22:32
your size, we don't let that impact in any way the quality of
22:36
the service that we deliver. And again, working in the scenes
22:39
continuously are our data scientists to optimize the
22:43
algorithm and our revenue managers to optimize the
22:45
performance of each one of your listings.
22:48
But I hope that makes sense. It does make sense and.
22:51
Let's finish then with the. $64,000 question, which is if
22:55
you're a property manager and you've not been using dynamic
22:59
pricing and you start using it, what's the expected impact?
23:06
I think that's a great question. So remember again, no dynamic
23:11
pricing tool in the world is a set and forget.
23:14
And I think anybody who starts with dynamic pricing and expects
23:17
it to work almost like an outsource service, that's going
23:20
to negatively impact the results that you're ultimately able to
23:23
achieve. However, somebody coming from a
23:26
non dynamic pricing solution, moving to dynamic pricing, let's
23:30
say with beyond and working in combination with our services.
23:34
On average what we're seeing over a 12 month period is a 24%
23:38
lift for non dynamic pricing users, people who are working
23:43
with other dynamic pricing tools and moving to beyond.
23:46
On average we're seeing a 16 to 18% increase year over year.
23:51
But again, it's all about how you buy into the partnership,
23:54
how much effort that you put into the platform and how well
23:58
you work with us and ultimately the resources, the
24:01
recommendations we make in order to make sure that that number
24:04
grows as as much as possible. Well, those percentages sound
24:08
pretty good to me. Charlie, it's been a real
24:12
pleasure. Thanks for joining us on STR
24:14
Pricing Secrets. My pleasure.
24:16
Thanks for having me, James. Great to chat to Charlie Gibbons
24:19
there from beyond. Those expected revenue increases
24:24
certainly sound good to me. If you're not utilizing dynamic
24:27
pricing for your short term rentals, give it a go.
24:31
All right, that's it for today's episode of STR Pricing Secrets.
24:35
Remember, this series is sponsored by Beyond.
24:37
And if you'd like to try their dynamic pricing tool, head to
24:40
beyondpricing.com. For more free education tips and
24:44
trends from the STR industry, visit House Planet dot Club.
24:48
You can sign up for our newsletter, listen to our
24:50
podcasts, and download a suite of ebooks for hosts and property
24:54
managers. That's it for today's episode of
24:56
STR Pricing Secrets. Until next time.
24:59
Happy hosting.