Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / The Gap Between Average and Exceptional Property Managers
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the House Planet Playbook, your go to guide for
- 0:03mastering short term rentals. In this special series, we're
- 0:06sitting down with 30 of the world's top property managers to
- 0:09uncover what really drives success in the vacation rental
- 0:13industry. You'll hear their stories, learn
- 0:15the key lessons they've picked up along the way, and discover
- 0:18the game changing tech they use to deliver 5 star guest
- 0:21experiences. If you're serious about growing
- 0:24your STR business, you're in the right place.
- 0:27We've also developed an e-book featuring the stories of every
- 0:30manager in this series. And you can download it for
- 0:32free. Head to Houseplanet dot Club to
- 0:35find out more. In today's episode, we're
- 0:37chatting to SAB Mulligan from Zing in Malta.
- 0:40Stand by for a deep dive into island hosting, the importance
- 0:44of brand development, and how to always deliver an exceptional
- 0:48guest experience. This special series is brought
- 0:56to you by Host Planet and Hospitable, the smart AI powered
- 0:59property management software trusted by hosts worldwide.
- 1:03With Hospitable, you can automate guest messaging, sync
- 1:06calendars across platforms and manage your rentals with ease,
- 1:10all from one powerful, easy to use platform.
- 1:13If you're keen to run your short term rental on autopilot, try
- 1:16Hospitable today. Visit hospitable.com/host Planet
- 1:20to see how the platform can save you time, reduce stress, and
- 1:24maximize to your earnings. SAP.
- 1:26Thank you for being part of the House Planet Playbook.
- 1:28Let's start with you. What's the name of your company?
- 1:31Where are you located and how many rentals do you manage?
- 1:35So Zinc and we are in the island of Malta, we managed 350 units,
- 1:41a combination of vacation renters, holiday homes, villas,
- 1:45apartments, as well as boutique guest houses and also now hotels
- 1:49as well. So we'll be hitting the 500 mark
- 1:51by the end of 2025. S scaling fast.
- 1:54Scaling fast, yeah. Amazing, amazing.
- 1:57So tell us, how did you get started in the world of short
- 2:00term rentals? OK, bit of background about me.
- 2:02So I spent almost a decade working in TV.
- 2:05Then I moved on to a tech Academy.
- 2:07That was really fun because we kind of reframed learning and I
- 2:12learnt a lot, especially working with some of the world's biggest
- 2:15tech brands like Adobe, Cisco, Autodesk Hospitality.
- 2:20I've always had a soft spot for hospitality, mainly because I
- 2:23always thought as very happy industry, right?
- 2:25You get to be a part of making memories for guests, right and
- 2:29leaving a mark there. So hospitality has always been
- 2:33on my radar and 2 1/2 years ago, I had the golden opportunity of
- 2:38joining the Zinc team as head of team.
- 2:41And brand will always be my playground, though I love brands
- 2:44and humanizing brands as well. So I think now it's getting even
- 2:48more interesting for us now that our foundations are quite solid,
- 2:53I would say. Yeah, fantastic.
- 2:55So tell us about the growth of Zynga and how have you got to
- 2:59this stage where you're now managing hundreds of properties?
- 3:03So we, I think when I joined we had about 40 or 50 properties.
- 3:08And so over the last 24 months there was like increase like
- 3:15very fast growth basically when mold is an island.
- 3:18So referrals of course are very important.
- 3:21So we work with a very particular type of property
- 3:24partner who always recommends or continues to invest in new
- 3:28properties as well. So then we become, of course,
- 3:31their natural choice. I think, I think word of mouth
- 3:35would be like one of the main reasons why we grew so fast.
- 3:39Also from the very start, we've always been very tech centric.
- 3:43And the fact that through our tech property partners had
- 3:47complete visibility on their earnings, right, full
- 3:51transparency that for the island of Malta 2 1/2 years ago was a
- 3:56bit of a game changer. So that made us even more
- 3:59attractive tech. Yeah.
- 4:01So I mean, you've probably answered the question here, but
- 4:02the next thing was going to be what makes your brand stand out?
- 4:06Is tech the main thing or or what else kind of makes you
- 4:09stand out from the crowd? Well, in my opinion, the fact
- 4:12that yes, across all divisions, we are powered by tech.
- 4:15So we're very hungry and eager to be tech first across.
- 4:20And this has definitely been very important part in our
- 4:23scaling journey. I think another differentiator
- 4:25would be our agility. We can go live now relatively
- 4:30quickly. Unfortunately, we don't always
- 4:32celebrate it, but our teams are really In Sync.
- 4:35When you take a step back, it's really nice to watch how our
- 4:39hospitality team and our operations team kind of merry,
- 4:42you know, and move forward quite fast.
- 4:45And what I'm most proud of our obsession with guest experience.
- 4:49I think we love guest experience only because we have realized
- 4:53that in every booking there is intention and purpose right from
- 4:59a guest point of view. And we are those guests so many
- 5:02times because our team is made-up of travellers.
- 5:05So as soon as you put yourself in their position, you
- 5:08understand why they are sometimes angry, frustrated, or
- 5:12you know they're feeling the feelings that you would feel if
- 5:15the same thing happens to you. So as soon as you get that, I
- 5:21think, I think it's so important and I think that's a bit of a
- 5:23differentiator because we remind ourselves and each other daily
- 5:28that we are here, our purpose is for the guest.
- 5:31That leads us nicely into the guest experience then.
- 5:34So what are your top tips for delivering an outstanding guest
- 5:38experience? We are more than a room night,
- 5:43it is about experience. I think that is very important
- 5:47keeping it personal. Guests leave so they, they
- 5:53sprinkle so many clues when they actually choose to communicate
- 5:56with us, right? And if we pick on those clues,
- 5:59that is an opportunity to delight guests and surprise them
- 6:02and also exceed their expectations.
- 6:06So I think making it personal looking for the, the, the, the
- 6:10clues that kind of really help us stand out.
- 6:13And I would say my tech third one would be employing the right
- 6:17talent and guest experience. And this is part of our personal
- 6:21journey as well because you are not looking for individuals who
- 6:25simply want to keep answering the same questions over and over
- 6:30again. A guest experienced team in
- 6:32hospitality, they should be fuelled by creativity and
- 6:35curiosity. They exist to delight guests and
- 6:39they are not the people who want to do the mundane and mediocre.
- 6:44That is just a ticket to losing that sort of talent.
- 6:47So to be able to come up with a beautiful system where you have
- 6:51AI agents who handle the day-to-day, always the same
- 6:55questions for every property on and on, and then let your guest
- 6:59experiencing team thrive in a space where they get to make an
- 7:03impact on guest experience. I think that is the winning
- 7:07combination and I think that is what brands should focus
- 7:11towards, to work towards that sort of combination.
- 7:16I think it's easy for us. It took us a while, but then
- 7:19when we understood what can be AI and what should be guest
- 7:24experience, as soon as that line is not blurred anymore like then
- 7:29as they say, the rest is history.
- 7:30You can really move fast. So tell us a little bit more
- 7:34about Malta then what are the main challenges and
- 7:38opportunities in the island? OK, we are blessed, lucky,
- 7:44grateful that tourists come to us, right, like bees to honey.
- 7:48So it kind of is easy to get in your comfort zone where OK
- 7:54portfolio is growing, always booked.
- 7:57There's no real seasonality, right.
- 7:59So it's like it's always high season in Malta.
- 8:02We have like almost 11 months of summer a year.
- 8:06And so for us, again, having a team who is motivated to be
- 8:12better, move forward, get inspired by brands, global
- 8:15brands, which are so much bigger than us and they're leaving
- 8:19their mark and seeing what they're doing and understanding
- 8:21if we want to kind of follow in their footsteps, I think that
- 8:26doesn't happen automatically. And so you need to wire the
- 8:29teams mindset to want to be better.
- 8:34So I think that's one, of course, part of the scaling
- 8:38journey challenge has been housekeeping talent, finding the
- 8:41right talent, retention. And what you did this year,
- 8:45which I'm really proud of is thanks to Tech, we are now
- 8:48rewarding based on review scores because money is a motivator,
- 8:53right? And so that we have, we could
- 8:56have only introduced it because of tech, but now that works so
- 9:00beautifully, retaining the right talent.
- 9:02And also because of growth. That's really important because
- 9:06you don't just want to attract, you want to keep your solid
- 9:10leads happy and watch them also kind of grow and move to
- 9:16different positions in the company, whether it is vertical
- 9:20or horizontal. So I would say that's the second
- 9:22one. I think another challenge for
- 9:25Malta is we need to constantly remind ourselves that travellers
- 9:30are booking an island and sometimes we might not always
- 9:34feel like we're an island anymore.
- 9:37And that kind of starts the downhill of the experience quite
- 9:43fast, you know what I mean? So I think reminding ourselves
- 9:47that guests are looking for the live like a local, the
- 9:50authenticity, don't kind of try and impress them with the the
- 9:55flashiness of beings they want like Malta.
- 9:59And again, it's easy when you are local to forget that you
- 10:06need to look at our islands. That's what we tell our team
- 10:10with like a traveller's eyes, with a foreigner's eyes.
- 10:13They see magic more than sometimes we see our magic.
- 10:16I guess this is like common for everyone, right?
- 10:19So it's not just us, but knowing and kind of, again, setting that
- 10:25intention of reminding yourself and everyone around you that
- 10:30this can happen is part of the win.
- 10:35So those are, I would say, challenges.
- 10:37Yeah, they're great. And I think the the housekeeping
- 10:40challenge, it doesn't matter whether you've got hundreds of
- 10:42property or just a couple of properties like me, it's a
- 10:44challenge. It's a challenge wherever you
- 10:46are and whatever the stage of of your journey and incentivizing
- 10:49there like you are sounds like a a good place to start.
- 10:53So what's been, so you've been with the the brand for a few
- 10:55years. So what's been the biggest
- 10:57lesson learned for you since you joined Singh?
- 11:00Biggest lesson is that we are not property managers, We are
- 11:06players in the hospitality space and we form part of the short
- 11:11term rented playground basically, but we are
- 11:13hospitality people. Yeah, I think this reframing is
- 11:17really important across because as soon as talent start to
- 11:22understand that this is hospitality, yes, we're property
- 11:25managers, but there's also the hospitality and it's the guest
- 11:27side. We mimic hotels when it comes to
- 11:31cleaning protocols, when it comes to maintenance.
- 11:34Yes, there is that expectation, but we exist because of the
- 11:38experiences that we can deliver that make us different and that
- 11:42is all it gets, strength centric.
- 11:44So property managers, fine, call us that, but we are in the
- 11:47hospitality space and I think that needs a really big
- 11:50spotlight. Absolutely, Yeah.
- 11:53And you were saying that you're focused on the branding elements
- 11:56of things and and marketing the property management company.
- 12:00So talk to us about branding and marketing.
- 12:03How do you get that right from the point of view of growing a
- 12:07property management company? And what tips can you share with
- 12:10other management companies out there who perhaps want to follow
- 12:13in your footsteps and and grow to hundreds of properties like
- 12:16you've got? Yeah, Authenticity, enthusiasm,
- 12:21I think are really important. I think understanding and
- 12:25carving out who you want your target audience to be.
- 12:29You can't be everything for everyone.
- 12:32I think that's a lesson basically that we have learnt as
- 12:36well. So understanding that there are
- 12:3952 weeks a year, you know, 365 days a year, you're not
- 12:43necessarily for each property looking for hundreds of bookers.
- 12:47When you really start drilling it down, it's that particular
- 12:51family, that particular couple, that particular business
- 12:54traveller. And so each property or each
- 12:58collection within your property can really create kind of that
- 13:02ownership over your audience. I think then when you figure
- 13:07that out, it's speaking to those people.
- 13:10I am 100% forever against cookie cutter approach.
- 13:14A lot of people think that just because you're scaling, it has
- 13:17to become cookie cutter. And I think a lot of people are
- 13:20so very much focused as we were, as we are on the operational
- 13:25side of thing. You kind of forget that there is
- 13:28so much magic in the building of memories in the hospitality
- 13:32space. Art can really kind of trigger a
- 13:35lot of emotions as well for the team.
- 13:38I think as well from a brand point of view, it's all about
- 13:42making people feel the right feelings, the good feelings,
- 13:47because most travellers would have so much expectation and
- 13:51excitement and delight and then their surprise, you know, and if
- 13:56you manage to build on that and yes, operationally you're
- 13:59ticking all the boxes, then one, they're going to have an
- 14:02appetite to spend more and 2, they will give you a, a really
- 14:06great review and more importantly also refer.
- 14:10So I am very much interested in studying, studying at the moment
- 14:14about how we can take the next step and build our tribe of
- 14:18travellers. I think that is really important
- 14:21for us as zinc, but also for the space, you know.
- 14:24So what is the expectation of people who are staying in a
- 14:28vacation rented? I think there should be so many
- 14:31must their minds and conversations about that.
- 14:33I think that would be fun and. What have been the most useful
- 14:37tactics and useful platforms for growing the business from a
- 14:41marketing point of view? Social media or SEO or you know,
- 14:46working with influencers, you know, are there certain things
- 14:49that have worked really well for you?
- 14:51So honestly, we are in the very initial stages of our direct
- 14:58booking initiatives and campaigns, OK.
- 15:01We have relied so much on OTA channels and that is fantastic
- 15:06and they're always going to be part of our mix.
- 15:09I think at this stage though, where we have collected so much
- 15:14valuable data and we have a better understanding of who the
- 15:17people coming to Malta are and more importantly for us, why
- 15:21they are choosing to stay with us now.
- 15:24This is where we are at the moment, speaking to these people
- 15:27directly. Obviously we know very much that
- 15:31Malta is very strong when it comes to low cost airlines.
- 15:35We understand exactly where they are coming from, direct flights.
- 15:39So we can really laser focus our campaigns to speak to the people
- 15:45in very particular areas who are thinking of coming to Malta.
- 15:50So it's a mix of for me referrals attracting through
- 15:53social media as well for sure as Co improving our website, but
- 15:58also again, the brand messaging, what our brand's promise is.
- 16:03I think that's really important. And of course, AIA, So what is
- 16:08happening with AI and searches and how people are finding their
- 16:12property on any AI platform that you prefer, that's kind of if
- 16:19you're not going to, if we're not all going to take one step
- 16:22ahead of that, there's a lot of missed opportunity.
- 16:25Yeah, very much so. I mean, this is the next thing,
- 16:27isn't it? How to make sure that ChatGPT
- 16:29and other similar platforms are recommending you?
- 16:32When people say I want to go on holiday to Malta, who should I
- 16:35stay with? It's, I think it's a challenge
- 16:37that everybody is is dealing with now.
- 16:42Yeah, it's a challenge and an opportunity, 100%.
- 16:46So what do you love most about hosting?
- 16:49Oh, the word host hosting, I think it's there's something so
- 16:55special about the word hosting. And again, also, we have learned
- 17:01that we sometimes think that because you're growing so fast,
- 17:05like one of our aims is to scale but to remain boutique.
- 17:11And people used to think that just because you scale, then
- 17:14it's just going to become very cold.
- 17:16And what they tend to forget is that that this is what
- 17:19technology busts. Basically, this is a myth that
- 17:21technology is busting because you can remain boutique and
- 17:26scale very fast as well with tech on your side.
- 17:31So I think that would be my answer there, yeah.
- 17:38Fantastic. OK then SAB, we've got a few
- 17:40more quick fire questions to throw at you now.
- 17:43So which PMS does Zing use? Guesting.
- 17:49OK. Which dynamic pricing tool do
- 17:52you use? Price sets.
- 17:54OK. Which piece of tech couldn't you
- 17:57live without? Boom.
- 18:02Oh boom. OK, in an ideal world, pets yes
- 18:08or no at your properties. OK, here this is fire questions,
- 18:11but here I just need a second. OK, So get the operational part
- 18:15right, create the processes, protocols to be able to
- 18:19accommodate whatever the guest wants.
- 18:21Don't limit, don't limit. It's hard.
- 18:24And in the beginning we used to say straight no, no, no pets.
- 18:29But if there is an audience, make it happen.
- 18:33I like that. Good answer.
- 18:35Hot tubs yes or no? Same guest wants it.
- 18:38We'll create an operational structure whereby we can support
- 18:41that with the right people, of course.
- 18:45Do you prefer to offer self check in or a personal welcome?
- 18:50So protect first. So we're all about self
- 18:52checking, however the journey we are on because of course there
- 18:56are a ton of benefits of giving freedom and flexibility.
- 18:59And for us at Zing, if a guest manages to book, stay and leave
- 19:04without speaking to us, obviously there is success
- 19:07there. However, in a particular part of
- 19:11our collection, especially when it comes to the villas and the
- 19:13more luxury properties, if a guest requests a welcome, then
- 19:18we should be able to tick that box.
- 19:21So just like with the pets question and hot tub, I would
- 19:24say if a guest wants that, we are here to make that guest
- 19:29happy. Telephone call or AI response?
- 19:32Combination of both. This is what I am most proud of
- 19:36for 2025 at Zing, our Zoe, our AI agent, I think we've built
- 19:43her with a lot of empathy, a lot of friendliness.
- 19:45So there has to be a combination of both and also now coming up
- 19:49calls with AI as well. What's your most memorable
- 19:54hosting moment? Memorable hosting you know what
- 19:59I would say in the beginning of my journey at Zing when I was
- 20:04very I would I wouldn't say against I was challenging the
- 20:08concept of a welcome basket and so I.
- 20:12I was speaking to this guest who asked us because for us it's
- 20:16really important. No matter your role, always
- 20:18speak to guests to understand to they are the heart and soul of
- 20:23why we are here. So you need to keep that
- 20:25connection anyway. And this guest asked us for
- 20:31restaurants who have non alcoholic options.
- 20:34All right, so a good guest experience executive would just
- 20:37give that list. Thank you very much.
- 20:39See you soon and more so a great guest experience executive would
- 20:43make sure that there is no wine in her hair welcome baskets
- 20:48because how frustrating or careless or nothing about kind
- 20:55of we exist because of you. Is that right?
- 20:58And so the cookie cutter approach would say same by wine
- 21:01basket across all properties because this is so easy.
- 21:05Spent a whole day packing welcome baskets and you're set
- 21:08for the week. But I think again, putting
- 21:12intention and purpose behind every stay and This is why I
- 21:16mentioned the sprinkling of clues, right?
- 21:18She was telling us that she does not drink alcohol.
- 21:22So this is what and, and that remains a lesson.
- 21:28That was a lesson for me and that I still share with the
- 21:31team. I think that's a really good
- 21:33point. I remember actually when I
- 21:34started hosting and we used to leave a bottle of wine for
- 21:38guests when they arrived and often it wouldn't get drunk.
- 21:41And sometimes it's because the guests, they don't drink alcohol
- 21:45for whatever reason, whether it's cultural, whether it's
- 21:48health reasons or whatever. And sometimes it would just get
- 21:50left. We stopped doing it in the end.
- 21:51But but yeah, your point is absolutely valid.
- 21:54And I stayed at a place last week and there was a welcome
- 21:56basket and it had my favorite sweets in it.
- 21:59So I thought it was great. I thought it was wonderful.
- 22:01Like when you walk in and you see it, you're like, oh, that's,
- 22:04it's, it's great. It kind of, you know, makes you,
- 22:06makes you more likely to give that five star review, I think.
- 22:08But I can see, you know what the point is.
- 22:12You've just got to know what your guest wants.
- 22:13And if you've got those clues, then then act on them.
- 22:16And of course, that's that. I guess you need the systems,
- 22:19but you need the people in place to do that, right?
- 22:20You need, you need the people in the place to think.
- 22:22All right, I've clocked that. So now I need to go and amend
- 22:25the the gift passport. And you need to give the people
- 22:28the free freedom to have this time.
- 22:30So This is why AI plays such an important role as well, because
- 22:33you want guest experience executives to really kind of get
- 22:38a whole buzz. And I that for them, it's fun to
- 22:41be able to act like they're detectives and kind of figure
- 22:44out who is this guest? What, what can I ask the guest
- 22:48to find out? What would make the stay
- 22:51different? I think also, just how do you
- 22:55want to be treated, right, Again, how would you want to be
- 22:58treated? And anyone who could kind of
- 23:01make my stay a tiny bit better than I had planned it.
- 23:05Wow. They'd get a review very quick.
- 23:08Yeah, a good review, very quick. Very much so.
- 23:14OK then shout out time. Is there an individual in the
- 23:16short term rentals industry who's helped you that you'd like
- 23:19to give a shout out to? At the moment, I think we work
- 23:22very closely with, as I mentioned before, the Boom
- 23:25Brothers, all of them and their team.
- 23:29I think we can scale so confidently and we're setting
- 23:32the speed to how we want to scale only because of
- 23:36technology. I think they've also given us a
- 23:40certain piece within the team that tech is being handled so we
- 23:45can really focus on what we know how to do best, which is the
- 23:49management of the properties and then the delighting of guests, I
- 23:53think. So my shout out would be to them
- 23:56because every time they roll out a new feature, we are very
- 24:00hungry to jump on that. Fantastic shout out for boom
- 24:07questions. Finished then.
- 24:08Ultimate goal for the business. Ultimate goal is to continue to
- 24:14scale. I think we are really now a bit
- 24:17more comfortable in the pace that we have set, but to remain
- 24:21boutique. I think this is one of my
- 24:24personal purposes. So if I can leave my mark at
- 24:27Zinc, this would be it to make people feel that they are one
- 24:30and not one of, I think the constant reminders that this is
- 24:37holiday time and people chose you and it's special.
- 24:41And, you know, there could be like a wedding proposal coming
- 24:44up or they're just running away because they need some time to
- 24:47escape. There is a story that is being
- 24:50said and it is our privilege to be a part of it.
- 24:54Great way to finish, SAB. It's been a real pleasure.
- 24:57Thank you for joining us on the podcast and thanks for being
- 25:00part of the House Planet Playbook.
- 25:01James, thank you. I really appreciate and it's so
- 25:04fantastic that there's this community of individuals who
- 25:07want to share their knowledge and experience.
- 25:10Really happy to be part of this project.
- 25:12Thank you. All right, that's it for today's
- 25:14episode. My thanks to SAB for sharing her
- 25:16journey and for being part of the house Planet Playbook.
- 25:19Remember, this series is brought to you in partnership with
- 25:22Hospitable, the all in one property management software
- 25:25designed to save you time and help your business thrive.
- 25:28Hospitable automates your guest messaging, syncs your calendars
- 25:32across platforms, handles team tasks and so much more.
- 25:36So you can focus on delivering a top notch guest experience or
- 25:39just get some of your time back. And here's the good news.
- 25:42Host Planet Playbook listeners get an exclusive 14 day free
- 25:46trial plus 25% off for the first three months.
- 25:50Head to hospitable.com/houseplanet to
- 25:53claim your offer and start running your rentals on
- 25:56autopilot. For more free education for
- 25:58vacation rental hosts, head to Houseplanet dot Club where you
- 26:02can sign. Up for our newsletter.
- 26:04Listen to our podcasts and download our suite of ebooks.
- 26:07Until next time, happy hosting.