16. The Guest Relationship is the New STR Booking Channel

The most important booking channel in short-term rentals isn't Airbnb, Vrbo, or even a first-time direct booking—it's the guest relationship.

In this episode, Steve and Petar explain how thoughtful brand touches, visible hospitality, guest preference data, and consistent follow-up turn a great stay into repeat bookings and long-term loyalty.

Key takeaways:
• Why guest relationships are a booking channel
• How small welcome touches create outsized brand value
• What guest details to capture and use later
• How branding and follow-up create repeat bookings

Learn more at https://yada.ai/demo

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the fully booked uh short-term rental podcast. I'm here with my co-host and co-founder Steve, and we have got a great topic for you today, folks. Let's rock. So today we're talking about what is, honestly, we believe, the most important uh booking channel. And plot twist, it's not Airbnb, it's not the RBO, it's not Facebook Marketplace or Instagram ads. It's not even first-time direct bookings on your website. It's actually the guest relationship. So the guest relationship is the new most important booking channel. Uh, and it's been pretty much the most important booking channel in the rest of hospitality for probably since the beginning of hospitality as a concept from taverns and prehistoric times and Roman times until now. And uh we're we're uh we're working on bringing that to short-term rentals uh as well and kind of making sure that we are, as an industry, up at the same place and uh at the same level as every other hospitality vertical out there in terms of really leveraging the guest relationship as the easiest, the most lucrative, and the most fun uh booking channel out there.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Yeah, it's funny how um, you know, in a tech-obsessed world where you're like, what's the next app? What's the next connector? You know, what's the next new high leverage point, what's the new hack? Uh, the answer is the people that are staying at your place. Like you just get back to ancient times and you say, What can I do to make this experience that they're having so noteworthy, so just exactly what it needs to be, that they want to come back the next time. Because all the fancy marketing tools that you know to uh companies like Yada or others have to offer are only going to be as powerful as the memories that they help you recreate in the minds of your guests.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

And just to bring it back a little bit, you know, I have a couple of uh I actually have a really good friend that was uh he was a strategic or strategy consultant at Ritz at the executive level. So he was working with a lot of folks on the um on the strategy and decision-making level at that particular brand. And like they had two assets that one for one, or that they essentially had three assets that were competing in terms of which one was the most important, but they were all equally important assets. Like the first was obviously the Ritz brand, because that means a lot, and there's a lot of associations with the Ritz brand. The second was uh the access to the real estate that they had because a lot of their locations are at places where you can't just spin up another hotel and spin up another location. And the third most important thing was the relationships that they had with their customers and with their guests, and uh uh like that whole ecosystem around building a relationship the moment somebody steps through their door, or even before somebody steps through their door for the first time, and then continuing that relationship in some cases over decades and decades and decades, and dozens and dozens and dozens of repeat visits. So it's actually insane. I mean, I have a couple of friends who are four seasons loyalists, and they will only stay there when they're doing family trips or luxury trips, and they've probably lifetime spent $150,000, $200,000, $300,000 with that brand. Same with other, um, you know, some folks really love, you know, writs or or intercontinental or things like that. But that equity that you have, like in that that that guest relationship is not just like an immediate one-time transactions. Uh, to the best of operators, that relationship is a significant chunk of equity that you can then leverage over decades to really like lock in revenue, be have a predictable operation, and more importantly, you know, build a hospitality brand that folks want to visit again and again. Let's talk about how we do that, Steve.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Yeah, and I was I think it starts by splitting those ideas apart. A lot of people are gonna have their existing homes in places that are enviable, are desirable. Like you know, you don't buy a vacation rental in uh a dumpy zone that no one wants to go. So you've kind of got point number two, which is the location. But what a lot of people miss is uh point number one, which is the how to build that brand, and point number three, which is how to build that guest relationship. They're they're connected, but they are separate. So let's start with brand, because even though the topic of this is the guest relationship, you're not going to be able to have an actual relationship with all of your guests, but you will be able to make an impression upon them so that they can have a relationship with your brand. Like, how many people have ever really known the folks they've interacted with at Apple or at you know Mercedes Beans or like whatever your favorite brand is, do you have a relationship with anybody there really? Maybe, but what you have a relationship with is the brand, how that brand makes you feel how the product or service from that brand has you see yourself and has you kind of living your life.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

And I think that's important also to note this is you know, when you have a really good relationship with the brand itself, it um it sort of like deprioritizes like a lot of other things, like nitpicky things that somebody might have with a specific product. Like I really love um like I don't own one right now, but I've always enjoyed Porsche as a brand because they they're very um like performance is in their DNA, they make pretty reliable cars if you take care of them right. Um, I don't know a single person that works there, but you know, I I I have like a very high degree of like aspirational desire to own one of those cars in the future. Um, and I feel like I have a relationship with the brand, like I keep on top of you know what they release, like what their model lineup looks like, uh, what reviewers say about them. Um and uh like in in um you know, we have this old McCann, which is uh, you know, probably not worth that much, probably like a $10,000 car at this point. Uh, and it has a lot of problems. Like there's always something going wrong with it. It's like a 15-year-old car. So there's always like nitpicky little problems, but those become very like unimportant compared to the the value that I attribute to the brand and to sort of like the aspirational goal of like driving one of those vehicles. So with short-term rentals and with hospitality, you it's it's very it's actually not that difficult to achieve the same thing. Um, you know, you can start like well before check-in. Like if somebody comes through an OTA, that's still going to be a good like awareness channel for folks to stay at one of your units for the first time. But from the first touch point that you have with them, the first message that you exchange, uh, there has to be this very strong um objective of like layer layering brand into each one of those touch points so that as they have an awesome time at your place or an awesome vacation or an awesome first trip to the mountains or to the beach or wherever, they're building that relationship with not just like a physical piece of property that they happen to be staying with, but with your values, your mission, your brand, like what you're bringing to the table as an operator.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

And it's important to note that we're not saying you need to compete with the writs. Like they've been at it a lot longer than you have, most likely. They've got deeper pockets than you, most likely. You're not gonna beat them at their game, but where you can beat them is at your game. There is something you bring to the hospitality experience that a big brand cannot. And so by leaning into that and saying, This is what we represent, this is what you're gonna experience when you stay with us. You will stand out.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Like, don't try to beat the writs, be yourself. Interesting point to that. So, the reason why I looked off for a second is you were saying that, and it doesn't have to be the Ritz. There's been this hotel that my family has been going out. It's even a motel like on Cape Cod. It's like $130 a night. The place is like honestly not that nice. Um, but like the name like immediately clicked in my head when I was, you know, thinking about what you were saying, and as I was saying what I was saying, um, about like you don't have to be at like Ritz or Four Seasons level of pricing or exclusivity or whatever to have that brand equity. Like when I think of motel or like Cape Cod, uh, you know, it's been a place that I've been going to since I was a kid. The first thing I thought of was Cape View Motel, which is this like tiny, like 15-room motel, like literally right off the highway. And they have like a cool view onto the like bay. So the sunset is kind of nice, but it's like nothing, you know, it's not like a super luxury location or like an insane view or like anything that, like, you know, at face value, you would say, like, oh, this is um, you know, a place like worth going back to like twice a year for you know, 20 years at this point since we started going there. But they did such a good job of like building a relationship between that brand and us as like a nice, fun, relatively inexpensive, easy to get to place to travel for the summer. That whenever we like go to the Cape, unless that place is completely fully booked, which like kudos to them. Like, it's starting to get, you know, most summer weekends are very hard to get a room there. Um, but it's like it's always the first thing that I think about when I think about traveling to the Cape. It's like, all right, let me check if there's some room opens at the Cape View Motel. If not, I'll find like maybe some midday weeks where there is. So I'll literally like shift around my travel plans to be able to stay there. And again, this place is like not that nice. It's like old beds, like kind of dilapidated. You know, again, like you just wouldn't like go out of your way to go there unless you had a relationship with that brand. But because they have that relationship with us, you know, let's say we've spent like 70 or 80 nights there at an average of 200 or like 180 bucks a night. Uh that's some cheddar. Like that's that's some that's that's money, right? That they can reasonably confidently say that they're gonna get you know five nights from us every single summer, like year in, you're out, like every single summer they're gonna get five or six nights from us. That's two that's a thousand to twelve hundred dollars a year.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

And the the interesting thing that brings up for me is uh there's the idea in cognitive science and economics that humans don't optimize. We actually the word is satisfice, like we we go with the thing that is satisfactory for uh for our needs, and I think the Cape View Motel is a perfect example of satisficing, where you could probably optimize your Cape Cod experiments, but because you know it, it's just easy enough. Like it clears the bar, you know it, it does the job, and so you just do it. And so if you're thinking as an operator, oh, my stuff isn't as good as the place next door, you know, why would they come back to mine rather than like look around? Like, I shouldn't even bother, I'm just gonna focus on the OTAs. You're missing the fact that humans satisfy. And so if we know you, if if your guests have had that experience, the likelihood that they're gonna have it again is much higher than someone finding you for the first time. So uh that's an important nugget to pack away there.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Well, I wanna I wanna like double-click on that for a second because there's two things there that I want to that I want to um talk about. First is how I think it's actually really interesting because you see so many businesses fall into the same trap of like really trying to build the best product. Like in software, you have so many companies that just fail because they focus far more on building the best possible product in the world with ever like without ever testing it against like actual customers and users in the market. Um, and I think if you're an operator and you're focused so much on like, you know, re-renovating your house every year and rebuilding the pool deck or putting in a new hot tub or you know, adding new amenities every year and all of this type of stuff, and like really making the physical location optimal, uh, but not really doing much on the branding side and the relationship building side, you're doing that to your own detriment. So you're falling into the same trap that a lot of um um you know software builders might have, and and like even restaurant owners, like they might have the best menu, but if they suck at getting the word out and getting people to come back, then you know you've got the best kitchen in the world with an empty seating area in front. Um and then the second thing is uh it was it was also kind of related to the Cape View Motel. I was trying to think about like what it was that that made them so memorable, um, aside from like what used to be some really good pricing. Uh but they had this, like in every room, they had like a plaque, like Cape View Motel, you know, call us to to get a better rate next time. Like there was just so much like positive reinforcement throughout the entire like visit of you're at this motel, Cape View Motel, Cape View Motel, you can see the big sign on the on the road as you're driving. Um it just was not nondescript. So, like while the room itself may have been nothing special, the way that the brand was presented was very, very memorable. So if you're an operator and somebody comes in through Airbnb, like instead of saying, like, oh hey, I'm Steve, say like, hey, I'm um tiny lowercase Steve from Steve Vacation Rentals, you know, and and and and kind of like rethink how you're positioning like any sort of branding that you're doing, even in text-based communications before they arrive. And then second, like this sounds so dumb, but like put a big plaque next to your front door that says like Steve Vacation Rentals or Top Shelf Vacation Rentals, or just like so they can't go in and out of the house without seeing like that big sign on the door or the plaque next to the wall that says this is this is my brand. Like in the house, you can have it in the living room, in the dining room, just like a lot of visible displays uh that indicate like where you're staying. I mean, like, let me see if I can um we're doing these podcasts a little bit more like uh like the way that other ones are done, but like let's let's take this for an example. I'm gonna share my screen, um, Moxie Hotel. Uh, so we can see what I'm talking about. Here we go, entire screen. This one. So this is a hotel brand that does branding like better than anyone. Like on every building that they operate, they have the logo like just visible from like a mile away and like pink neon lettering, same as above the door. They use like every time I've been in a Moxie, like it has this like very purple look inside and like very distinctive, like furnishing and things like it. It just does not look like an IKEA um, you know, plug and play uh property. Like it is unique in a good way, and it's also like very, very, very, very clearly branded. Like this building and these rooms are probably the most like nondescript standard like shoebox, cookie cutter, private equity designed um hotel rooms, but the brand itself is like impeccably strong with the coloring, with the logos, everything like that. So there's no like question at all about where you're staying, like there is zero question whatsoever around where you are, and they all look the same. So if you go to a Moxie in Belgrade, Serbia, or a Moxie in New York, you know, in New York, or this one like Halifax, Nova Scotia, like you know you're there.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Um, and they basically made two decisions in order to uh bring that to life. One was what's the logo, the other is what's the color scheme, and then they put it everywhere. So you don't need a multi-million dollar branding budget to make this happen. I was actually on a call with an operator earlier today who you could see his color palette from the logo, from the room shots, and it gave this experience of thoughtfulness. And if your guests experience thoughtfulness from your brand, they can project what the experience is going to be like, and they can also see themselves in that, right? It was called uh Zen Zen apartment, something like that. And it felt very zen. And so, if that's the experience you want to give your guests, you know, Moxie has that chartreuse color. It's like if you want to have your guests feeling smart and energetic for staying with you or relaxed and uh tuned for staying with you, let your brand do that work, and that is how they can build that value and pay a premium, build that loyalty uh because you made just a couple of little decisions that align with who you are and the values of your business.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah, and speaking of Zen, I just want to take a look at that as well. Again, like very memorable logo, like the Z is very obvious. Um, the colors are consistent across the site, obviously, with the furniture inside. It has this very like soothing, warm, neutral European, uh like dark cream color. Like this is really stuff that goes in the right direction. So, you know, I would I would recommend um like being thoughtful about your logos and about your your uh your your colors and your things like that. Um this guy, Alex, is is one of our co-founders. So uh, you know, we can we can dig in here, but like, you know, very obviously like very obvious brand, top shelf, top shelf. Like, like uh it's it's um like there's a lot there that really like it reinforces like who you're staying with. Uh so I think this is something that everyone can take home with them after listening to this call is like, you know, I don't know if we're gonna have time, maybe we can continue with this on our next episode, but like just going down the list of like very easy, like super straightforward tactical things that you can do to just increase your brand value and start building that relationship between the brand at the guests. And the first is like have a logo that is fun and a name that is fun and that makes sense. Like it has to be memorable, it has to be fun, it has to make sense. Feel free free to play around with colors, like be consistent about your design choices and your design palette. Like, you know, we're not saying that you have to redesign your houses, but at least on your website, like, you know, have similar colors and branding and logos throughout. Um, and then even if you have a name that doesn't like immediately roll off the tongue, a lot of those things can be made to look good with the right logo, with the right color scheme. Um, and and just be put front and center so that every time a guest is interacting with your property, uh, especially after they check in, um, you just have that reinforcement mechanism like happening hundreds of times a day while they're staying there.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Yeah. So that was a lot on brand.

unknown 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

With the purpose being pointing out how your brand is not just a business asset, it is the I was gonna use a software term, it's the API for that custom for that guest relationship. It's the it's the place that a guest can plug in and start building that relationship with you, find themselves in it, feel that sense of um self-actualization, right? If you're staying at the Zen apartments, you see yourself as a very kind of Zen mindful person. Yeah, it's going to be part of your own story and your own journey for that trip. It's gonna have an impact and make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

So kind of bring it back to what we started off this conversation with about the relationship being the third pillar and the third, you know, the third of the triarchy of equally valuable assets that that hospitality brands um put emphasis on uh that relationship, like branding and relationship, like really do fall into the into the same into the same bucket in a way. Like your brand value is something that directly uh impacts like how quickly that relationship can be built. Um, because like to put it very simply, like a message coming from a person is going to be far less memorable for hospitality than a message coming from a person within the context of a brand. So if I say, hey, I'm Peter and I have an apartment, Steve, come back and stay with me. That's far less impactful than me saying, like, hey, I'm Peter and I run Petrovia luxury apartments in Watertown, Massachusetts. Uh, we'd love to have you back again. Like that, like layering in brand and layering in those, those little like events and touch points that let that relationship happen organically is what allows you to send messaging and send reminders and send notes and offers and promotions and things like that after they leave and have them actually reach somebody's inbox and reach their their their decision making and their travel decision making in a way that might actually convert into a new reservation, into a new EBP. Booking. So like it, it we we talk about this all the time about how it's a life cycle and essentially a flywheel. Like you attract the customer through the the OTAs, you give them a great stay through a guest experience. That builds brand loyalty and brand uh awareness and brand relationships. And then that drives repeat bookings, which then drives another visit, which then drives more positive reinforcement, just keeps on feeding on itself. Um so it's yeah, you can't really separate the relationship from the brand uh because the the quality of the relationship is is in very large part dictated by how good your brand is, and of course, by you know millions of other factors like how good your service was, like were you able to provide them with good service? Uh, did they get what they were expecting while they were staying there? Um, you know, did you go above and beyond? Again, it's hospitality. So you have this sort of implied uh contract with the guest to go above and beyond to provide a great experience. And if there's one, you know, if there's another piece of advice that I'd give, it's that uh, you know, if you're in a hospitality business, like unless you're really doing low-cost uh accommodations, uh a la Sfera Airlines, um, going above and beyond is a very, very cheap price to pay for an incredibly high degree of brand equity and relationship building with the guest. Yeah. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

So let's talk about the ways to build that relationship. Um, we recently got back from a family vacation to Scotland, and uh a couple experiences really stood out in my mind from that uh from that hospitality experience as a guest. Um one was uh the gift basket at the Highland Club. Like this was this was our big splurge. We were like, we want to stay at a castle. We couldn't find any castles that we didn't have, but we found this old uh converted abbey, which kind of castle right on the banks of Loch Ness. It was this really cool place. Oh, that's super cool! It was amazing. One of the things they did, when you check in, there was a monster gift basket. It was like just a big old, you know, welcome gift. We were paying a premium price, and they baked that basket into the price, but we were not expecting like dinners to be covered, like within that basket, included just add hot water to this, just open up this packet, like it had a fully functional kitchen and everything. And usually you're like, okay, I guess I'll have to go to the grocery store, maybe I'll have some leftover.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Right. And so there's like that touch that made me say, This is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Like they really thought about who is their guest, what does that person need to do, and what could we solve for them? And that was spectacular. Um, the next thing they did was they had some branded swag that was really good. So they gave a uh a little tote bag, a little canvas tote with You should bring it to the next uh episode so we can see what that looks like. I'll I'll bring the swag to the next episode. Yeah. Um so that was there. But on the on the tote was if you enjoyed your stay, uh tag us in some pictures on Instagram and it gave their Instagram handle. And that was what was so brilliant because, like, even if you're like, I'm not gonna use your food, I'll just you know leave it for the next person or just take it home or let the cleaners have it, whatever. Um, I'll take this tote. And the tote says what to do to spread that brand out to your network.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

It yeah, it was just brilliant. Yeah, I think that is brilliant, man. And it's it's so it's it's really not that expensive, and it's really not that much of a lift to do. I mean, I've seen operators that have like two dozen units just spend one day a week assembling, like you know, 48 or 50 or 60 baskets, and it takes them, I don't know, let's say like a minute per basket or two minutes per basket. So it's like two hours for two weeks of work. Um and just have the cleaning and turnover crew, like drop it off. But like, I mean, even at the cheapest of motels that I stayed with, they always provide like six coffee packs and like maybe some instant oatmeal. So even if I'm paying like a hundred bucks a night, I know that like the next day I can just wake up, make like a cup of crappy coffee, like, yeah, it'll be crappy coffee, but at least it's coffee. Um and uh and and that's just like a really, really positive way to start a day. And I think if you're a short-term rental operator, like leaving, you know, a six Tiri cups or like just a box of K cups, or if you have an espresso machine, like you know, five or six pods, and just making sure that like that is on like the tier one and priority one of um of your turnover items could make a big difference. And the second thing is to your point, Steve, like all of those touches that you do for the guests need to be visible. So if you're leaving somebody like coffee pods and things like that, I don't give a crap if I opened like 10 um, I've said a lot of Airbnb, like short-term rentals, I should say, you know, because we don't want to be exclusive around Airbnb. Uh, but I've said a lot of short-term rentals where, like, yeah, somebody might leave coffee or instant oatmeal or something like that. But I have to open up like 10 cabinets to find it. If it's like literally like a box with like six K cups on it, with like a thoughtful note from the host or or or the operator or whatever, like on the countertop, like, hey, so glad to have you staying with us. Like, you know, we we we know that it's been a long trip. This is for tomorrow morning when you need your coffee, so you don't have to go to the coffee shop. And there's just like six K cups and a curing machine right behind me, and like immediately, like that pro that costs them like $2, I think, or like $3 if you get them in bulk. It's like super cheap, probably like 20 seconds to write that letter. That immediately, like, if we, you know, if the maximum number of like brand equity points is 100 and the minimum is zero, that adds like 15 to 20. And I'm not even exaggerating. Like, they were looking at uh again, like most of the studies, like industry-wide or for hotels, they're just not enough like uh like studies of this nature for short-term rentals, but I think they're pretty applicable. Like, visibly leaving coffee does more to increase brand value than like pretty much anything else. It's like the most insane ROI thing that you could do is just to like visibly leave a box of K cups with a note that says, Hey, you know, we're so glad you're staying with us. This is for tomorrow morning when you wake up and you need your first cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

For something like that, it's like relationship building, like going above and beyond in ways that actually matter, like putting in a new pool. I don't care if somebody's put in a new pool. Like, uh, you know, I'm not comparing before and after photos, to be very honest. Like you put in a new pool if the old one is failing, and and an expert comes in, and a structural engineer comes in and says, like, hey, your concrete is at risk of cracking and you're losing a thousand dollars a day due to cracks in the pool lining. And it's like, okay, that's a thousand dollars, not dollars gallons of water a day. Um, so definitely not a thousand dollars. If you're losing a thousand dollars a day, you've got bigger problems. But those types of little things that like build relationships and like give you the warm fuzzies um are so critical.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

And just to just to kind of wrap it up here on the the relationship side of things, um once you know something about someone, you should have a file on them. So if somebody has a stay with you, yes, you need a record for that guest, where when they say, you know, where's the best vegetarian place in town, cool, we know they're interested in vegetarian food. You know, uh, is there a kids' museum nearby? Cool, they've got kids, or you probably even have that from the booking. So, like adding that to their uh file, to their guest record, will allow you to actually be hospitable in a high-leverage, low uh low-lift way. And that's what you're looking for when you're building relationships. What are the K cups that I can put with a little note that the cleaners can leave? What are the uh acknowledgements of who this person is and what I know about them that's easy to do and doesn't require 20 minutes of research to just add that little touch? Yeah, all of those things build the relationship, which allow that person to be primed for their next stay with you, which is why we say the relationship is the I'm so glad you touched on it, Steve.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

That is that is critical stuff. Like use Yada, use Excel, use Notion, it doesn't matter. Like capture the guest data, augment it and then bridge it with stuff that they tell you, like either on like because you asked or because it just comes up as a matter of conversation, or they ask a question or anything like that. Save that information, put it somewhere. That's what you let you turn those warm and fuzzies while they're there into the type of messaging and outreach and contact six months from now, eight months from now, three months from now, that turns into a repeat booking. So you give them a really beautiful magical experience when they arrive and when they're there. You learn what you can about them, kind of like when you're talking again to like a normal human being, like having uh some information about them, like what do they like, what do they prefer, what are their uh preferences, and how do they like to travel and things like that, let's you reach back out to them intelligently in a couple of months' time uh to give them an offer to come back.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Very good. Well, we went a little longer than usual, but because there's so much to go into here. So uh next time I'll bring my Highland Club tote bag to you know, one example of the swag you can give, especially if you charge at a slightly higher rate. And uh yeah, if you want to see how Yada can help you with your CRM, your guest relationship, uh that kind of outreach and magical experience, uh head over to yada.ai and uh we'll be happy to show you around.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Yes, indeed. This is a great episode. I'm really excited because we're we're starting to get into some topics that I think we're both really passionate about. And and as kind of people that live in that intersection of technology and hospitality, we get really, you know, we're really passionate. We have some good insights, and we're gonna be bringing on some cool people to maybe augment some of these conversations in the future and and help provide some perspective, like real world uh case studies and stories and things like that of how these things really helped uh businesses grow and relationships happen and things like that. Um, so stay tuned because there's gonna be a lot of really cool stuff in the pipe for future episodes. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Talk to you next time.