Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Holiday Let Pricing Secrets & Hot Tub Hype: Maximise Your Revenue with Sykes Holiday Cottages

Transcript

Holiday Let Pricing Secrets & Hot Tub Hype: Maximise Your Revenue with Sykes Holiday Cottages · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

• 0:00
  Welcome to Holiday Let's Insider, the podcast that takes
• 0:03
  you behind the scenes of the holiday letting industry.
• 0:07
  Brought to you by Host Planet and Sykes Holiday Cottages, the
• 0:10
  show is packed with expert insights, real world strategies,
• 0:14
  and actionable advice to help you succeed as a holiday let
• 0:17
  host. I'm James Farley, the founder of
• 0:20
  Host Planet, and in each episode we'll dive into key topics like
• 0:23
  property management, guest experience, and revenue growth,
• 0:27
  and we'll be joined by industry experts who know what it takes
• 0:30
  to thrive in this sector. In today's episode, we'll be
• 0:33
  talking to Rachel Brennan about how to maximize revenue all year
• 0:38
  round. Are you looking to take the
• 0:40
  hassle out of holiday letting while setting yourself up for
• 0:43
  success? With Psych Holiday Cottages, you
• 0:45
  benefit from working with a team of real people with vast
• 0:48
  experience and knowledge, or providing a unique service to
• 0:52
  support you every step of the way.
• 0:54
  Eleven time consecutive winners of the Best Large Company for UK
• 0:58
  holiday home rentals at the British Travel Awards.
• 1:01
  Sykes uses industry leading pricing systems, dedicated
• 1:05
  account management and a network of more than 700 booking
• 1:08
  partners to help get the most out of your investment.
• 1:12
  Sykes aims to combine trusted experience with local expertise
• 1:16
  to help make your holiday let's a success.
• 1:19
  Get in touch today to find out Morehead to
• 1:22
  sykescottages.co.uk/letyour Cottage for further details.
• 1:28
  Hello and welcome to Holiday Let's Insider.
• 1:30
  Today's special guest is Rachel Brennan, the senior manager of
• 1:34
  sales and portfolio growth at Sykes Holiday Cottages.
• 1:38
  Great to have you back on the show, Rachel, How's it going?
• 1:40
  Hi, really Well, thank you. Thanks for having me back.
• 1:42
  It is a pleasure. And we've seen each other the
• 1:44
  last couple of weeks at the Holiday Let's Success event in
• 1:48
  Chester, which I think as the title suggests, it was a great
• 1:50
  success. Brilliant to see you there and
• 1:52
  so many owners and property managers.
• 1:54
  Absolutely no, it was fantastic. The feedback's been great, you
• 1:58
  know, linked with current owners that are with us, but also new
• 2:01
  owners that want to join us. So yeah, no, it was, it was a
• 2:03
  roaring success. It was fantastic.
• 2:05
  It sure was. And we'll be doing it all again
• 2:08
  next year as part of the House Planet Roadshow.
• 2:10
  So hopefully we'll see some of those same faces back again in
• 2:14
  Chester in November next year. All right then.
• 2:17
  So to today's show, we're going to talk about how to maximize
• 2:20
  revenue for your holiday rental. So let's start with location.
• 2:24
  Where is the best place to buy and what makes a low location
• 2:28
  resilient all year round? So I think when we consider
• 2:32
  locations, I think for me the sort of lead to, you know, the
• 2:36
  sort. Of travel time that someone's
• 2:38
  travelling on average is around 3 hours, 3 1/2 hours.
• 2:41
  So you want to make sure that you're not too far from any
• 2:44
  major cities from a big population that's going to be
• 2:46
  able to come and stay with you particularly during those winter
• 2:49
  months when that travel. Time gets.
• 2:51
  Shorter and shorter and shorter. You know, just like.
• 2:53
  Myself, we'll go on holiday more.
• 2:55
  Towards sort of Devon, Cornwall for our big, you know, summer
• 2:58
  vacation. But then we'll.
• 2:59
  Possibly go to. The Lakes and the Peak District
• 3:02
  in North Wales for some shorter breaks during the winter.
• 3:05
  So for me, getting yourself, you know, within, you know, sort of
• 3:09
  100 miles. 50 miles of a major city centre is something that.
• 3:13
  Could be key and also having really good transport links in
• 3:18
  there because not. Everybody has a car.
• 3:20
  So one that's accessible close to shops.
• 3:23
  Close to pubs so that you can. That are going to be open all
• 3:27
  year round as well. Local attractions, local
• 3:30
  amenities, experiences that people can add to.
• 3:33
  Those those days. But also making sure that you've
• 3:37
  got great care appeal. From your property, this
• 3:39
  fantastic, sort of sort of. Easy parking and things nearby,
• 3:43
  but also that you're not up some really steep steps or that
• 3:47
  you're up a massive hill. So if you think.
• 3:48
  About some of the, you know, bad weather that we can have during
• 3:51
  winter and then the property becomes.
• 3:53
  Completely inaccessible? That's not that's.
• 3:55
  Not really what we want. So our data is showing in terms
• 3:58
  of location. Wise, the number one.
• 4:00
  Spot and it has been pretty consistently for a good.
• 4:03
  Couple of years now is lake destruction, so that is the
• 4:06
  number. One spot in second place was
• 4:09
  Cornwall and in 3rd place. Was.
• 4:12
  North Yorkshire Moors and Coast, so they're the sort of top three
• 4:16
  locations in terms of having. The highest booking booking
• 4:19
  performances. The ones that didn't quite hit
• 4:22
  the top spot. You're talking about Devon,
• 4:25
  North Wales, Northumbria there as well, so.
• 4:29
  There is, you know, some locations that you know you
• 4:32
  don't. Traditionally think of year
• 4:34
  round. Bookings in there like like,
• 4:35
  come on, Devon. But they still can be around
• 4:38
  bookings, you've just. Got through?
• 4:39
  Really. Smart when it comes to price.
• 4:41
  During the sort of off. Peak season so that you can
• 4:44
  still get people coming. And get people experiencing
• 4:47
  because you know, Cornwall and Devon can just be as beautiful
• 4:50
  in the winter and then you've not got the crowds of people
• 4:52
  around you as well, which is which is lovely.
• 4:54
  But you can command more money. During the sort of summer
• 4:57
  seasons. Then you've got to be savvy.
• 4:59
  You've got to be. Competitive with your pricing.
• 5:01
  In the off peak. So I think for me.
• 5:03
  Get yourself a couple of. Hours out of.
• 5:05
  Out of the major city centre, make sure.
• 5:07
  There's really good public transport links.
• 5:09
  Make sure you've got local amenities that nearby that are.
• 5:12
  Going to be year round, there's no point in advertising that
• 5:15
  they're there and then they're all closed up.
• 5:18
  And then making sure that. Your property is safe and
• 5:20
  accessible during those winter. Months as well.
• 5:23
  And I would say at the start, if you're looking at buying, just
• 5:26
  do your research about a location, you know, get there
• 5:29
  and make sure you're clued up about any licensing or
• 5:32
  regulation that might be, might have been implemented in that
• 5:35
  location as well. So yeah, how important is it to
• 5:38
  really dive deep into your research?
• 5:42
  Oh, absolutely. I mean the, the regulations,
• 5:45
  licenses and things are constantly changing.
• 5:47
  So you've got to make sure that you're in the know, but also
• 5:50
  that sort of lead time from application to actually getting
• 5:53
  a license through or anything like that.
• 5:55
  How long is that going to take? The last thing you want to do is
• 5:57
  be ready to open your door to guests.
• 6:00
  And then not. Have the right licensing in
• 6:01
  place so that you're closed off. And you can't even start
• 6:04
  advertising without them. So then you're starting to
• 6:07
  advertise when actually you want to be welcoming your first
• 6:09
  guest. And that's.
• 6:10
  That's no good for anybody. So even as soon.
• 6:12
  As you've sort of purchased the property, I would advise getting
• 6:15
  those applications. In as early as.
• 6:17
  Possible. It should be.
• 6:18
  Almost the number one thing. You do after you're getting
• 6:20
  keys. Is just checking.
• 6:22
  All of those things, but not only even just on the sort of
• 6:24
  licensing and and regulation side of things, but who's going
• 6:28
  to do all of your cleaning? You know, you've got to make
• 6:30
  sure that you get all of this spot on and right.
• 6:32
  That is really high quality standard of cleaning.
• 6:35
  All year round. But when we are thinking about
• 6:37
  winter, we're thinking about shorter breaks.
• 6:39
  Are you going to be able to take multiple changeovers in one
• 6:42
  week? You know, is your clean going to
• 6:43
  be able to do that for you? The last thing you want is you
• 6:46
  happen to trek there several times in a week to do it
• 6:48
  yourself. So.
• 6:50
  If you're not close by, these are the things you've got to be
• 6:52
  thinking about and thinking about them.
• 6:53
  Early as well. Yeah, clearly.
• 6:55
  Think about the logistics, think about your finance, you know, if
• 6:58
  you need a mortgage, that kind of thing.
• 6:59
  Think about your tax implications and speak to the
• 7:02
  experts in these areas. OK, then so we're talking about
• 7:06
  how to maximize your revenue on this one.
• 7:10
  And one area where people talk about a lot when it comes to
• 7:13
  holiday letting is pets. So is accepting pets a good
• 7:19
  revenue driver or is it too much hassle?
• 7:22
  So pets was our. Top search feature this year so
• 7:26
  it was #1 spot. It is around 28% of all of our
• 7:30
  bookings has got. A pet guest.
• 7:32
  Included in the party size. So if you think about when
• 7:36
  you're not accepting pets, you are closing yourself off to that
• 7:39
  market. Now we.
• 7:40
  Always say to owners. It's not.
• 7:42
  Necessarily a driver that you. Can then command a much higher
• 7:45
  price. Just for accepting pets because.
• 7:48
  You'll also be taking. Bookings that don't have pets.
• 7:50
  And they shouldn't have to sort of pay for that.
• 7:52
  What I'd probably say is maybe. An uplift of maximum 5%, that's
• 7:56
  just going to help to cover. If you wanted to use every, you
• 7:59
  know, includes the pets in a really nice.
• 8:00
  Welcome pack or any additional cleaning that you might have.
• 8:04
  It's more a driver that it's going to unlock.
• 8:07
  That sort of 28. Percent of audience to you.
• 8:10
  That you. Can actually take those
• 8:11
  bookings. And when you look at our whole
• 8:13
  portfolio? About 60% of them do take pets
• 8:17
  and about 40% don't. So you want to be in that 60% so
• 8:21
  that you're coming up in into those searches?
• 8:24
  As I said, most search feature that we have.
• 8:27
  For the whole of 2025, so I'd recommend as I said, except in
• 8:32
  pets, as long as you've got again, a fantastic cleaner.
• 8:35
  Your photos look fantastic as well.
• 8:37
  People know. The cleanliness of the property
• 8:39
  is going to be to a really high standard.
• 8:41
  It doesn't then put people off booking when they're not taking
• 8:45
  a pet and the revenue can come. From the extra bookings that
• 8:48
  it's going to, hopefully. Generate.
• 8:50
  So it's going to generate on average, we find about 3
• 8:53
  bookings a year, which rough and tough works out at about 17%
• 8:57
  more revenue just for accepting. Pets.
• 8:59
  So it's a. It's a fantastic.
• 9:01
  Driver yeah, it's, it's about the visibility as well, isn't
• 9:04
  it? Like you were saying, if you're
• 9:06
  accepting pets and it's ticked, everybody who's searching for
• 9:09
  them will see you. So you're just going to appear
• 9:11
  in more search results. Let's look at other features
• 9:16
  then which are moving the needle right now.
• 9:19
  You've mentioned pets is number one.
• 9:21
  I'm thinking about things like having a hot tub, EV chargers,
• 9:27
  wood burners, games rooms, all these kind of things.
• 9:31
  Ideally if you're setting a holiday let up tomorrow, what
• 9:35
  are the different facilities amenities that you that you
• 9:37
  should have to to really get that extra revenue?
• 9:41
  Yeah. So 2nd, which you won't be
• 9:43
  surprised with was hot tubs of the most search features.
• 9:45
  So you've got that. You nailed that one there, so.
• 9:48
  Hot tubs. Is is a big one.
• 9:49
  There's other ones. That is, you know, proximity to
• 9:52
  a beach sea. Views also in there but.
• 9:54
  That's not necessarily in everyone's control.
• 9:57
  Only if you're buying. But other ones that you can put
• 10:00
  in there you're. Right, great Wi-Fi.
• 10:03
  And I think having poor. Wi-Fi is probably worse than
• 10:05
  having no Wi-Fi at all. So we're talking about Wi-Fi
• 10:08
  that can take. Multiple devices at once.
• 10:10
  That you can work comfortably from that Wi-Fi, having a great
• 10:13
  workspace so that you can work, you know, a.
• 10:15
  Lot of us are working. Remotely these days so.
• 10:18
  You can work anywhere you know across the.
• 10:19
  UK and get everything done. You're not.
• 10:21
  Going to be able to do that without the.
• 10:23
  Wi-Fi, again, things like they can take their gaming consoles.
• 10:26
  With them so that they can they can go on games while they're
• 10:29
  there. Or even just streaming and
• 10:30
  downloading videos you. Know if it's a rainy day that
• 10:33
  they're going to be able to have something that's going to keep
• 10:35
  the kids entertained while they're while they're indoors.
• 10:39
  EV charging points are certainly.
• 10:40
  On the Rise and. Particularly if you are.
• 10:42
  Quite far away from public EV charging points so that you.
• 10:47
  Can make sure that those. Who do have an electric?
• 10:50
  Car are going to easily. Be able.
• 10:52
  To to sort of recharge with that again, all of these features
• 10:58
  apart from the likes of hot tubs, swimming pools, saunas,
• 11:01
  they can command a higher. Price, so you are.
• 11:04
  Going to be able to command a much higher price than others,
• 11:06
  but when we sort of think. About Wi-Fi in games.
• 11:09
  Rooms, we're not necessarily going to add lots and lots and
• 11:12
  lots of money on, you know, in terms of a weekly rental for
• 11:14
  those, but it is going to make you more.
• 11:17
  Attractable to the property. That's down the road that
• 11:20
  doesn't. Have all of those things, so
• 11:22
  it's about. Getting you booked first.
• 11:23
  Getting you seen? Ticking more boxes.
• 11:25
  Even ticking. Some boxes that customers didn't
• 11:27
  think they needed. I've done that before.
• 11:29
  I didn't think that we needed. A full table you.
• 11:31
  Know for when we went on holiday but as soon as I seen one of the
• 11:35
  options had it, it was then my number one thing well.
• 11:37
  All the others don't have a pool.
• 11:38
  Table, so we'll go for that one so.
• 11:40
  It's making a stand. Out, you know you've got to
• 11:42
  become that destination, a reason of why they want to
• 11:45
  choose you over everyone else. So adding all.
• 11:48
  Of these that your property. Can.
• 11:50
  Is something that I would I would definitely recommend in
• 11:52
  relation to Wi-Fi these days. Are there any properties which
• 11:55
  don't have Wi-Fi in your portfolio?
• 11:58
  So we actually tested this a while back.
• 12:02
  So, you know, the sort of fear of missing out, the FOMO, we did
• 12:06
  the Jomo, which was the joy of missing out.
• 12:09
  And it was all properties that didn't have Wi-Fi and that they
• 12:12
  could completely disconnect from, from the world.
• 12:15
  It got single digits in terms of hits and views that we had.
• 12:19
  So it was definitely not something that people were
• 12:21
  looking for. With a game, you know if I want
• 12:23
  to disconnect. And I want to be with the
• 12:24
  family. It's just that the work phone
• 12:26
  gets turned off. But I don't want to give up the
• 12:28
  whole facility of having Wi-Fi there because we do like to
• 12:33
  watch movies. So it's one of those they can
• 12:35
  turn it off if they need to. So I wouldn't push it of just
• 12:38
  everybody, you know, having that sort of disconnect.
• 12:41
  They'll do that if that's the type of holiday that they're
• 12:43
  looking for. And yeah, if our Jomo was
• 12:46
  anything to go off, it wasn't no Jomo in the in the psych
• 12:52
  audience. Let's talk specifics then.
• 12:54
  When it comes to pricing, what's the biggest mistake that owners
• 12:59
  make and what's the fix? So for me owners getting fixated
• 13:05
  on a per person per night rate and this sort of like nightly
• 13:08
  price and then times in that I7 to get their week price and
• 13:12
  having that. Stagnant, you know, throughout
• 13:14
  the whole year. There's no seasonality into it
• 13:16
  and sort. Of having this.
• 13:18
  Quite flat. Fixed.
• 13:20
  You know, sort of. Rate and also then not having
• 13:23
  any income maximization or revenue management tools to then
• 13:27
  actually react to changes within the market.
• 13:30
  I think you can really miss out on on extra revenue when demand
• 13:34
  is high, but also when demand is.
• 13:36
  Lower you've got. Lots and lots of weeks going on
• 13:38
  to it. My best piece of advice is that
• 13:42
  you need to get comfortable with what you're earning.
• 13:44
  For the year. So you've got to almost more the
• 13:47
  obsession needs to move away from the per night rate to.
• 13:49
  The year. Income that you're yielding that
• 13:52
  sort of return on investment, how much that you want to make
• 13:55
  and then sort of almost work backwards from that and then
• 13:58
  having that. Flexibility.
• 14:00
  So it's sort of going with a weak price that you're happy.
• 14:02
  With a sort of short break floor price.
• 14:05
  That you're happy with and. Then knowing that depending on
• 14:08
  the trends, as long as you've got all the right tools,
• 14:11
  platforms, if you're with an agency that's got all of that
• 14:13
  data backed behind them, they're going to make sure.
• 14:15
  That your price is right. No matter what that you're
• 14:18
  maximizing on it. So get obsessed with your annual
• 14:22
  yearly income and make sure that you put some safeguards in place
• 14:27
  that you're willing not to go, you know?
• 14:28
  Lower than these. Sorts of prices so that you're
• 14:30
  always going to be able to to meet your minimum costs and then
• 14:34
  allowing sort of the data to. Drive your price for me.
• 14:38
  Is is the biggest one and and it changes so often.
• 14:43
  We have fantastic revenue management tools and it's
• 14:46
  millions and millions of. Price changes that that does.
• 14:48
  On a on a sort of yearly basis and if I break that down, how?
• 14:51
  Many properties we've got. It's roughly.
• 14:53
  Around 1000. Price changes per property per
• 14:55
  year, so it's got to be automated.
• 14:58
  You've got to have a smart system that's doing this for
• 15:01
  you. You.
• 15:01
  Can't sit there and analyze all of this and then change your
• 15:04
  prices 1000 times and. It is that you're going to miss
• 15:08
  out on revenue. So we class.
• 15:10
  That as sort of super. Income maximization, that's.
• 15:14
  Where the only gives us. Permission to an increase to an
• 15:17
  unlimited amount, but decrease to those sort of like base rates
• 15:20
  by a maximum of say 20% and that just gives us the sort of the
• 15:24
  guard rails to move within anyone.
• 15:28
  That's on super income maximization.
• 15:30
  Compared to an. Owner who's on complete fixed
• 15:32
  pricing. It's around a 36.
• 15:34
  Percent increase in price same. Product You've not added a hot
• 15:38
  tub. You've not added this.
• 15:40
  You know this big costly feature.
• 15:42
  You've not moved the location of the property.
• 15:44
  It's the same product. But you've just got smarter
• 15:46
  tools in there and it's around 9 bookings so for me.
• 15:49
  That's probably the biggest feature that will get you more
• 15:51
  bookings and more revenue just by having smart pricing
• 15:53
  involved. Yeah, let the experts take care
• 15:56
  of it because if you've got the the static way of doing things,
• 15:59
  you're you're only going to get so far if we look at short
• 16:05
  breaks, split weeks, late availability policies, just
• 16:10
  being flexible, basically. How does this affect conversion?
• 16:15
  So we've actually recently. You know, produced the the sort
• 16:17
  of staycation index of 2025 and it dives quite a lot into this,
• 16:21
  into the sort of customer behaviour how you know the
• 16:24
  booking trends have changed and that's probably one of the.
• 16:27
  Biggest shifts that we've seen, you know, we are in a sort of,
• 16:30
  you know, cost of living crisis and.
• 16:31
  People, you know, I think we anticipated that people might.
• 16:34
  Look to maybe down grading. The sort of tick rating they
• 16:37
  might. Downgrade location and go.
• 16:39
  For, you know, maybe stay, you know, a little bit further out
• 16:42
  of maybe the honey pot area that the touristy area that they
• 16:44
  usually go into. What we probably didn't
• 16:46
  anticipate was the willingness of actually choosing a shorter
• 16:49
  stay and still keeping the tick. Rating the same or the?
• 16:52
  Star rating and still keeping the location the same, but
• 16:55
  actually going for a shorter time and we are seeing people
• 16:58
  taking more frequent sort of shorter.
• 17:00
  Breaks throughout the year rather.
• 17:01
  Than just one large holiday so this sort of staycation
• 17:05
  snacking, micro tripping, you know, sort of.
• 17:07
  Around the country is definitely going going more one they get
• 17:11
  out of their four walls more often, you know, with stresses
• 17:14
  everyday lives. But also they get to.
• 17:15
  Explore more. Locations and experience of the
• 17:18
  location. So what we've seen and and where
• 17:21
  the staycation index sort. Of goes into that detail is.
• 17:24
  It's around an 8% decrease in the the lead time between
• 17:27
  booking and then departure of that.
• 17:30
  So it's around around 100, just over 100 days now between them
• 17:35
  booking and then them actually going on holiday and that can
• 17:38
  vary across locations. So where we're thinking of our.
• 17:41
  Two sort of top spots before we're thinking of Cornwall,
• 17:44
  Cumbria, theirs. Is more like 6 months, so it's
• 17:46
  about 180 days on average for them.
• 17:49
  So they do get booked up much. Quicker, but for other locations
• 17:53
  we are telling owners to sort of.
• 17:54
  Hold their native because we are in this sort of.
• 17:57
  Shift to a last minute market, but for.
• 18:00
  Owners, you know. Key bit of advice.
• 18:02
  There is to be ready. Be ready at all times, you know
• 18:05
  make sure that the property is. Cleaned, you've got the change
• 18:07
  over. You know ourselves.
• 18:09
  We know that we're still. Marketing that property, even on
• 18:11
  the day of arrival, we're still marketing it because.
• 18:15
  We know that there is last minute and bookers out there and
• 18:18
  a. Lot of people are.
• 18:19
  You know. They're wanting to make sure
• 18:20
  when they're spending their money that.
• 18:21
  They're spending it. Right.
• 18:23
  And that it's going. To the right place and.
• 18:26
  Sort of thinking, well, I'll hold off and see what the
• 18:28
  weather's going to be like that weekend and then we'll just go
• 18:31
  or you know that, Bill. Is coming a bit cheaper or a?
• 18:35
  Quite a bit of a bonus. You know what, let's go away for
• 18:37
  the weekend. So we are seeing.
• 18:39
  That and. We've adapted our.
• 18:41
  Approaches because, you know, a couple of years ago.
• 18:43
  Three nights was the minimum. That we would.
• 18:46
  Accept for a stay for a property.
• 18:49
  Now it isn't. Now we've with.
• 18:50
  The owner's. Permission if they're.
• 18:52
  OK with doing so. It can be two and even one night
• 18:55
  stays. So last year when even one night
• 18:57
  stays were introduced, I think we took just under 1101 night
• 19:02
  stays. Now we price those differently
• 19:04
  so. I spoke to you about pricing
• 19:06
  before and those. Guardrails, that short break
• 19:08
  sort of floor price will never go lower than it.
• 19:10
  That's what they're actually paying for that that one night
• 19:12
  stay. So the average rental for.
• 19:14
  One night. Last year was about four. 122
• 19:17
  lbs. So it's quite, it's quite a lot
• 19:19
  and it'll, you know, it'll make sure that cleaning and
• 19:21
  everything's covered for that. So it's, it's just being
• 19:26
  flexible, you know, ensuring that you can take a changeover
• 19:29
  on any day, that it doesn't matter how close to.
• 19:32
  That that. That sort of departure days,
• 19:34
  you're going to be able to take it.
• 19:36
  So just be ready at all times. Because it's it's definitely.
• 19:39
  Shifting and it's showing no signs of stopping at the moment.
• 19:42
  Yeah, 100%. I mean, a lot of people with the
• 19:44
  one night stays, they might charge a two night price because
• 19:48
  like you're saying there, they want to cover their costs.
• 19:51
  And and in terms of the late bookings, I mean, I've got a
• 19:53
  couple of properties myself and this, this trend just doesn't
• 19:56
  show any sign of stopping. It's just constant, you know,
• 19:59
  it's people arriving on the day, a day before, a couple of days
• 20:02
  before. So and and also I think with the
• 20:05
  shorter breaks as well, we were talking before about getting
• 20:08
  more eyeballs on your listing if you accept pets if you only
• 20:12
  have. Seven nights stays, then you'll
• 20:15
  only be seen by the people who want a minimum of seven nights.
• 20:18
  If somebody wants 4 nights, three nights, five nights,
• 20:20
  they're just not going to see you right?
• 20:22
  So your visibility is going to be a lot lower.
• 20:24
  Yeah, correct. And This is why we have a lot
• 20:28
  of. Partnering websites as well
• 20:29
  because. We've all got specialisms, we've
• 20:31
  all got things that we do extremely, extremely well.
• 20:34
  And you know, our average night stays is just under 6-6 nights.
• 20:38
  So it's, so it's quite a long, you know, sort of period, but
• 20:41
  then we'll have short breaks. Coming through our.
• 20:43
  Website as well, but then that's when you are listed with an
• 20:46
  agency such as Sykes that you're not just listed on Sykes.
• 20:49
  Platform you're. Also then listed on
• 20:50
  airbnbooking.com and verbo which?
• 20:53
  For them, their sort of average night stay is.
• 20:55
  Under two nights, just over from night.
• 20:57
  So they're definitely playing in that short break market, but you
• 20:59
  just don't want to play in just one market.
• 21:02
  You've got to, as you said, more eyeballs.
• 21:05
  You've got to widen that audience as much as possible.
• 21:09
  So you know. Ensuring that you can accept
• 21:11
  everything is the best. Advice here, OK, talk to me
• 21:15
  about the importance of photography.
• 21:19
  How important is it when it comes to driving revenue?
• 21:23
  And if there are people out there thinking, oh, maybe my
• 21:25
  photos are not up to scratch, what's a quick fix that they can
• 21:29
  implement today to drive more bookings?
• 21:32
  So your photography's everything, you know, That is
• 21:35
  you. Showcasing your.
• 21:36
  Property. You know it.
• 21:37
  Should be showing your property. You know, at its finest, really.
• 21:41
  So if we haven't got. Professional photography that
• 21:44
  would be my #1 is. Go and get yourself a
• 21:47
  professional photo shoot done straight away.
• 21:49
  You know, it's been sort of taken on.
• 21:51
  You know, phones and iPads and all of that.
• 21:53
  Make sure that you've got the professional photography.
• 21:57
  Next would be you lead an image, so which image is it that?
• 22:00
  You're going first with because. That's the one.
• 22:02
  That's almost your shop window. That you go and write.
• 22:05
  You want to make that entitled so that they click.
• 22:07
  Through So if you've got any of those.
• 22:09
  Top features that we spoke about, South hot tub, seaviews
• 22:12
  and games rooms, all the rest of it.
• 22:14
  Make that one your money shot. You know, put that one first
• 22:18
  because you're showing that, hey, I've got all of those top
• 22:21
  features in my property. Click.
• 22:22
  Through. If you haven't got those, it's
• 22:24
  not a problem our. Data has sort of shown us.
• 22:28
  That if it's an. External of the property, that
• 22:30
  also leads to more people clicking through and then
• 22:32
  actually spending time on your list and looking at the other
• 22:34
  photographs, reading descriptions.
• 22:37
  So make sure that you've got some beautiful curb appeal
• 22:39
  that's been painted. You know, maybe fresh flowers,
• 22:42
  you know, sort. Of flowers, anything like that
• 22:44
  that's going to make it look beautiful.
• 22:46
  And then go with your external as your first shot.
• 22:49
  And then the last thing I think on photos is that you've got to
• 22:52
  have enough of them that they can get a real feel for the
• 22:54
  property. So you should have all rooms
• 22:57
  photographed. You should have every bedroom
• 23:00
  photographed. So that they can see.
• 23:03
  What that bedroom setup is going to be?
• 23:04
  Like I do this constantly when I book of right?
• 23:07
  OK, that will be my. Room that will be the kids room
• 23:11
  that will be my parents room and we go and you can sort of.
• 23:13
  Visualize staying there and it just makes.
• 23:15
  Things a lot easier and the worst thing for me as a sort of
• 23:19
  customer when I go to fuck is they're not seeing enough and
• 23:22
  thinking well. How close is?
• 23:23
  That room to that room and where is that?
• 23:24
  And even floor plans can be great as well.
• 23:27
  So not just not just photos, but you know, a floor.
• 23:30
  Plan of the. Property that they actually can
• 23:31
  see where they all are, but your description should be just a
• 23:35
  descriptive 2 so that if you don't have those things, you can
• 23:38
  get that feel feel from those. But yeah, photos, as I said,
• 23:41
  it's a shop window, so they've got to be, they've got to be
• 23:44
  great. Definitely, yeah.
• 23:46
  Don't just take the money foam, get a professional in to do it
• 23:49
  properly. Upsells.
• 23:51
  Then what are your favorite upsells that guests love and
• 23:56
  owners really profit from? So you do have things like early
• 24:01
  check in, late check out, you've got things like welcome packs.
• 24:04
  But I would probably say my favorite is the experiences so
• 24:09
  that you. Can add to it and that I can
• 24:11
  plan, you know. Before I've even actually got.
• 24:14
  To the property in the staycation.
• 24:17
  Index again, so I referenced that a lot, but there's so much
• 24:20
  great information in there. One of the really interesting.
• 24:24
  Facts that I found in there is that one in 10 people.
• 24:26
  Will, you know, return and rebook a particular property or
• 24:30
  a particular location purely because they.
• 24:33
  Want to go back? To their favorite restaurant
• 24:35
  like food is is everything. To a lot of people.
• 24:38
  So I think the me. It's even thinking about.
• 24:40
  Experiences with that? So I know I've done oratory, you
• 24:44
  know, in the past as well, local classes.
• 24:47
  I know we've got and spoken to a couple of owners recently who do
• 24:50
  sausage making classes, which I thought was really different and
• 24:53
  really individual. But also the likes of getting
• 24:55
  private chef in and that could be one or.
• 24:58
  Even a sort of spa, you know that you.
• 25:00
  Can get therapists to come set up, bring all equipment, take
• 25:04
  everything away with them. You're then making that almost
• 25:07
  your your stay in a in a. Self catering.
• 25:11
  Property is now actually a resort with your own private
• 25:13
  chef, your own masseuse, and that you've got all of these
• 25:17
  experiences involved as well so. I think for me.
• 25:20
  It is speaking with local suppliers, you know that we
• 25:22
  really. You know we.
• 25:23
  Choose locations because we we want to completely.
• 25:27
  Embed ourselves in. That that region's culture.
• 25:30
  History and local delicacies. So make sure you.
• 25:34
  Speak into those and that could be the best fish and chip shop.
• 25:37
  You know, it could be a discount or even just their menu, you
• 25:40
  know, sort of in your in your welcome pack that you're leaving
• 25:43
  for, for guests. Could be fantastic restaurants
• 25:46
  but traditional pubs as well. British pubs.
• 25:48
  That is what people are looking for, you know, when they go on
• 25:51
  so. If there is any nights.
• 25:53
  Where there's steak, steak and wine nights.
• 25:55
  All those just make sure that they know.
• 25:57
  Where they are because all of these experience lead to
• 26:00
  fantastic reviews and then they will come.
• 26:02
  Back again. To you, to the region.
• 26:05
  Tell their friends about it. It sort of gets.
• 26:07
  You more book. Employee by word of mouth.
• 26:09
  It's. Not you having to do those
• 26:11
  experiences, you've just. Got to get the, get the, get the
• 26:14
  contacts and another one that's really nice.
• 26:17
  That we did recently was. Local produce from the farm
• 26:21
  shop. So it had that instead of, you
• 26:23
  know that. They delivered to us.
• 26:25
  That was beautiful, I thought. That was a real.
• 26:27
  Nice touch and they. Thrown in some extra, we were in
• 26:30
  Devon at the times they thrown in some extra sort of like, you
• 26:33
  know, fudge from, you know, that was a free gift to us and but it
• 26:36
  was beautiful and, you know, we went back time and time again.
• 26:39
  They had their own restaurant as well.
• 26:40
  So we at the the full round of experience that was made sure
• 26:44
  that everyone in that local area was also benefiting from it, you
• 26:48
  know, benefiting from the additional.
• 26:49
  Tourism and so. Experience is a big one for me.
• 26:53
  Yeah. Guests just really, like, they
• 26:55
  really like to know, like you said.
• 26:56
  So if you can communicate things to them, you know, when they're
• 27:00
  checking in or before their stay, just saying, look, you
• 27:02
  know this restaurant, you know, if you go here, you can get a
• 27:05
  10% discount. Sometimes you can do things like
• 27:08
  you say, the private chef and spa services.
• 27:10
  And with those you might earn a little bit of upselling revenue.
• 27:13
  But even if you don't earn upselling revenue just by
• 27:17
  informing your guests about the different activities and
• 27:19
  experiences they're around, that's more likely to lead to
• 27:22
  the five star review. So it can be a revenue earner,
• 27:25
  but it can just be a great, a great way of delivering a
• 27:27
  fantastic guest experience as well.
• 27:31
  OK then, Rachel, So what operational tweaks most reliably
• 27:36
  increase bookings? So, OK, let's have a think
• 27:41
  operational tweaks. So I would definitely say the
• 27:45
  likes of a calendar, you know, sort of hygiene on that, that
• 27:49
  you've got to make sure that your availability is up to date.
• 27:51
  Instant booking is something that people are just expecting.
• 27:55
  You know, it's an expectance that I'm going to be able to
• 27:57
  book this straight away. I'm not going to have to wait
• 28:00
  hours or days, you know, for that response to to sort of come
• 28:02
  back to me guest communications. So all of those things haven't
• 28:07
  timed communications that can go out that can tell them about.
• 28:10
  Those experiences? Any add on extras?
• 28:12
  That's also going to lead to it and then fantastic welcome
• 28:15
  packs, welcome packs for me, and they don't need to be.
• 28:19
  You know, sort of. Crazy expensive, you know, in
• 28:22
  there, but. It's a.
• 28:24
  Bit of a saving grace, I. Think with welcome packs because
• 28:28
  it could be a rogue. Spider that just comes around
• 28:30
  and just puts that. Spider web in the corner that
• 28:32
  the customer gets fixated about. That if there's something that's
• 28:36
  just not quite right when they arrive, if they've got that
• 28:39
  welcome pack, they can be much more forgiving to you, Which.
• 28:43
  Is is something that I think. Can then lead to again rescuing
• 28:47
  your your reviews, rescuing your feedback which we all read.
• 28:50
  The reviews before we book. And buy things, right.
• 28:53
  So they're so, so important. And also a first night text
• 28:57
  message or or e-mail that goes out just to check in how are
• 29:01
  things actually going? Because we're talking about this
• 29:04
  the. All of the features that can
• 29:07
  upsell and how you can increase. Your revenue.
• 29:10
  But you also need to. Look at the other.
• 29:12
  Side of that you're not given compensation when things go
• 29:14
  wrong so how can I make sure that on that first night that.
• 29:18
  Everything was exactly as that customer thought so.
• 29:20
  And that if it wasn't, they're going to tell me about it on
• 29:23
  that first day. I've got time to rectify that.
• 29:26
  That still leads to fantastic feedback.
• 29:28
  That still leads to no compensation at the end of it,
• 29:30
  rather than becoming a much. Bigger issue for the whole
• 29:33
  holiday leads to a bad. And then I'm potentially.
• 29:35
  Looking at giving compensation because.
• 29:38
  The bullet wasn't working, but the customer didn't inform me
• 29:40
  about that. So communication is huge in this
• 29:43
  front. So definitely calendar hygiene,
• 29:46
  instant booking, but also making.
• 29:49
  Sure that your communication. Is on point so that you're
• 29:52
  informing them and you're upselling.
• 29:54
  You're you're. You're you're.
• 29:55
  Giving information and to help them elevate their stay, but
• 30:00
  then you're also checking in that nothing's going wrong.
• 30:02
  I think there's a really good point, yeah, you know, being
• 30:05
  really professional, providing what the guest expects and also
• 30:08
  the excellent communication. You might not see them as
• 30:11
  revenue drivers because they might not have an ROI on them,
• 30:15
  but better reviews lead to more people seeing you and eventually
• 30:19
  more bookings basically. So it will lead to extra revenue
• 30:22
  in the long run. Finally, then Rachel, then if an
• 30:25
  owner works with Sykes, what are the three levers that you would
• 30:30
  pull straight away to start growing revenue?
• 30:34
  So as a new lead coming into, you know, my team, that's
• 30:37
  essentially what my team does is all of their portfolio.
• 30:40
  Growth. On board and of new.
• 30:41
  Stocks. So even with an.
• 30:43
  Experienced donor, you know the. First thing that we would be
• 30:45
  doing is having a look. At that listing, so remember, is
• 30:49
  your shop front selling your property to the best?
• 30:52
  Is it putting it in the spotlight?
• 30:53
  Is it selling all the features so making sure that your
• 30:56
  photograph your. Photography is on point.
• 31:00
  We'd arrange for professional. Photo shoot if that was
• 31:02
  required, making sure that your descriptions are.
• 31:05
  Optimized and not just optimized.
• 31:07
  From it reading beautifully, but also optimized.
• 31:10
  From a Google SEO point. Of view that you are.
• 31:12
  You're hitting all the right keywords that we know.
• 31:15
  Customers searching so that you. Can come up in those searches
• 31:18
  and then also just just checking everything you know in the.
• 31:23
  Property ensuring that you are. Optimized from a short break
• 31:26
  point of view and then I'd move on to pricing.
• 31:29
  So then we. Would have a little look at the
• 31:30
  pricing. To ensure that we've got those
• 31:33
  base rates. Set to to what you're
• 31:35
  comfortable with the guardrails. Get you into.
• 31:37
  That super income maximization. Sort of revenue program to make
• 31:41
  sure that your prices are changing in line with demand and
• 31:45
  then also the the last. One is then.
• 31:48
  We can have the best property. The best?
• 31:50
  Photography. But if?
• 31:52
  You haven't got the right. Marketing.
• 31:53
  No one's going to see it. So we need to get you listed.
• 31:56
  We need to get you listed on our website.
• 31:58
  Any partner? Websites.
• 31:59
  Any. Of our sister brand websites to
• 32:02
  make sure that we can then actually get you see.
• 32:04
  Fantastic. And if people are interested in
• 32:06
  working with Sykes, where do they go?
• 32:07
  So they just need to give us a call. 01244345. 700 or they just
• 32:13
  need to go? To the website so
• 32:14
  www.sykescottages.co dot. UK and then go on and let your
• 32:18
  property page and you know it doesn't stop there as well.
• 32:21
  It's another another key point I'd like to make is that you get
• 32:24
  a dedicated account manager who then gets to know you gets to
• 32:27
  know your property has got regular checks on that property
• 32:31
  to make sure that you're actually.
• 32:32
  Hitting all the right booking performance so it's not just.
• 32:35
  The setup of where you need to be.
• 32:36
  Thinking about these improvements, it's.
• 32:38
  Got to be in the long run. So having a safe pair.
• 32:41
  Of hands to do that and I think is something that's key.
• 32:44
  Very important indeed. And we'll put all those details
• 32:47
  in the show notes so people can easily get in touch with you.
• 32:50
  Rachel, it's been a pleasure as ever.
• 32:52
  Thanks for joining us on Holiday Let INSIDER.
• 32:55
  Thank you so much for having me. Bye now.
• 32:56
  Great chat to Rachel Brennan there from Sykes Holiday
• 32:59
  Cottages. Make sure you implement those
• 33:01
  tips to start increasing your revenue.
• 33:04
  All right, that's it for today's show.
• 33:05
  If you're keen to work with Sykes, head to
• 33:07
  sykescottages.co.uk/letyour Cottage.
• 33:12
  And for more free education tips and trends from the STR
• 33:15
  industry, visit Houseplanet dot Club, where you can sign up for
• 33:19
  our newsletter, listen to our podcasts, and download a suite
• 33:22
  of ebooks for hosts and property managers.
• 33:25
  That's it for today's edition of Holiday Let's Insider.
• 33:28
  Until next time, happy hosting.