I want you to imagine the following two scenarios and then ask yourself if you have ever faced the following challenges:
The Dilemmas
SCENARIO ONE: You are a vacation rental guest and have just checked into your fabulous vacation house. You enter a nicely lit, well-designed space, ushering you into your new digs. You smile, put down your luggage, maybe open up a bottle of wine (hopefully the owner provided you with one in the welcome basket) and then, perhaps after a look around, you look down at your phone and ask, “what’s the WiFi password?”
Sound familiar?
Because you are in a vacation rental, and not a hotel, where the WiFi is accessed immediately on your phone screen, you most likely will look for the password in the owner’s manual (“where is the owner’s manual? It should be around here somewhere…”). Where in the owner’s manual is anyone’s guess because owner’s manuals vary as widely as wine varietals.
Let’s say the owner has made it relatively easy for you and has the code plainly visible on the first page (“darn, it’s long; is that a capital letter or a number?”) so you get in. But then the inevitable happens – your traveling companion asks you what the code is and you have to stop what you’re doing and tell them how to connect (“what’s that a 5 or an S?”), and then someone else asks you, and so on and so. At best, it’s a slightly annoying process for guests, but worse is if the owner has not made it easy to connect. If the code isn’t idiot-proof available, guests will likely complain.
Ouch!
What is the solution to this problem if you are a short-term rental owner or manager? Before we talk about that, let’s imagine Scenario Two:
SCENARIO TWO:
You are a vacation rental owner or manager. You know that direct bookings are important when running a vacation rental business; however, beyond just launching a great website, it is hard to figure out where to invest limited time and resources.
You have spoken with vacation rental professionals who have spent decades in the industry and have heard from them that repeat high-quality guests are a central part of the direct booking strategy. They tell you that email marketing is the main way they are able to make sure their guests remember to come back and book again and again.
The issue you have is that building an email list is no longer as easy as it used to be. Airbnb, Vrbo, HomeAway, and other OTAs don’t want to share this data with you because they want guests to book through them for their next trip, not book direct.
It’s a problem.
So what if you could fix the dilemmas in both Scenario One and Scenario Two? If you could both solve the guest annoyance with connecting to WiFi and also get your guests’ email addresses, you’d be a very happy camper indeed.
The Solution
That is why when we came across StayFi, a new technology solution for collecting guest contact data like emails from every guest, and making it easier for guests to connect, we were intrigued and wanted to learn more. We sat down and talked with Arthur Colker, the Founder and CEO of StayFi.
MB: Arthur, thanks for agreeing to our interview. I’m excited about featuring you on 1 Chic Retreat. Our clients and subscribers always ask our opinion on this topic and we haven’t had a good answer until meeting you. Can you briefly explain what it is that StayFi does?
AC: StayFi helps property managers collect the names and emails of all their guests. We do this with custom-branded WiFi splash pages that guests need to use in order to access the WiFi, similar to what guests are used to doing at hotels and businesses like Starbucks.
MB: Interesting, how did you develop the idea for StayFi?
AC: I was running a small digital marketing and branding agency and happened to have several clients who were vacation rental managers. We kept running across this issue of how to collect guest data and then effectively remarket to their previous guests. We looked at all the different ways that were out there to collect this information systematically and without human intervention, and nothing seemed to fit what we were looking to do.
We then looked at all the different points in the guest experience where we might be able to collect this information. We realized that the one system that most guests interact with during their stay was the WiFi. When we reached out to the commercial systems that hotels use, the prices were just astronomical because they are made for 1,000s or 10,000s of simultaneous users. We found a hardware partner to help us deploy technology in the home environment in a cost-effective way and that is how StayFi was born.
MB: You founded the company about a year ago. How has the reception been in the industry so far?
AC: We spent most of the first year perfecting the technology and making sure we are delivering an excellent experience for both guests and property managers. Only recently have we started expanding from our pilot customers to working with property managers across the United States.
It has definitely been a learning experience for both us and property managers. For property managers time is money, and they don’t have the bandwidth to spend on new projects and implementing complex technology. We learned quickly that everything needs to be plug-and-play and that it does not burden the on-the-ground staff with more headaches and complexity.
In speaking with property managers, one of the most surprising things we have learned is how variable their perception of email marketing is. Some dismiss us offhand and consider email marketing worthless. On the other end, many managers treat their email list like gold and consider our technology invaluable and something they have been looking for. While we don’t manage email marketing campaigns, we like to get to know our property manager’s business and give a lot of free advice to maximize the value of the data we are sending them.
MB: You’ve talked about how StayFi benefits the property manager. How would you say it benefits the guests?
Another surprising outcome that we did not initially foresee is that property managers tell us they almost never get calls about internet issues anymore. Why? Because the number one issue guests have before StayFi is that they could not find the password for the WiFi network. With StayFi’s branded splash pages, guests no longer need to rummage through physical papers or their emails to easily log in to the WiFi network.
Imagine how easy it would be to see this when connecting to WiFi in your short-term rental digs?
In addition, guests who enjoy their stay now know how to book directly again to both get the best price and guarantee another high-quality rental experience. When we did initial research about whether Airbnb guests would want to know about the direct booking option, almost all said yes. We found that most Airbnb users still feel like there is always a chance that the short-term rental will not match the pictures or be poorly maintained – booking directly with a professional property feels like a “safer” choice for potential guests.
MB: What have you found to be the biggest area where property managers can improve their email marketing.
AC: Two words: Marketing Automation
Every major email provider like MailChimp or Campaign Monitor has marketing automation as part of their platform. Marketing automation is simply a series of pre-programmed emails that get sent out after an action takes place. The most common form is a welcome series of emails. We’ve helped some of our clients set up 6 months of emails that get sent out whenever a new contact is added to their email list from StayFi. This means all your guests get an email every week or so automatically without having to lift a finger or create new content.
MB: What’s next for StayFi? Email collection is great, but are you working on more ways to increase direct bookings?
AC: We actually just launched a new product in August 2019 that builds on the StayFi platform called StaySource.
StaySource is an alliance of vacation rental brands that are joining forces to increase direct bookings. These companies have agreed to pool their guest data into one email list that we manage. That is why you see the StaySource Member badge on our splash pages.
We use that guest data to promote our StaySource brands to the entire combined list of emails. This way, we can give all of our StayFi customers brand exposure to 100,000s and eventually 1,000,000s of vacation rental guests. We want to be an integral part of educating guests on the benefits of booking direct and help them find high-quality property managers with whom they can book directly.
MB: Thank you for all this information Arthur. What is the best way for managers to reach out to you?
AC: Interested property managers can set up a free demo and consultation with me. I’ll provide you a link that they can book time on my calendar. Thank you for your interest in learning more – I’ll make sure to keep you and your readers updated as we continue to develop new features and products.
Book a Demo Here
About the Author:
Arthur Colker is the CEO and Founder of StayFi. Learn how you can start collecting guest data and have your brand featured on StayList by booking a demo with Arthur.