It is inevitable that eventually as you work in the holiday rental market you will meet the dreaded awkward customer. Jon explains how to handle such customers who are determined to make an easy transaction difficult. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Try to understand the situation from the customer’s point of view.
• Treat all problems as important to you as they are to him.
• Work with them to identify what outcome they want now.
• Avoid interruptions and deal with their problem personally.
• Confirm with them what action you are going to take. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Make a point of listening and letting them have the opportunity of offloading all the things they’re concerned about.’

‘The first thing you can do with an awkward customer is thank them for letting you know about the thing that they’re unhappy about.’ 

‘You can actually build loyalty from this particular customer by treating their issue as both important and something that you need to deal with urgently.’

‘The most important thing is to keep a level head. Try to keep emotion out of it.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Website: https://www.spaproperties.co.uk/

ABOUT THE HOST 

Jon Stanton

Jon left a successful career spanning thirty years in IT to pursue his passion for property management and has been leading the team at Spa Properties for almost fifteen years.

As well as leading the team at Spa Properties, Jon is an advocate of ongoing business development and professional networking, as well as a senior member of the Scarborough Hospitality Association.

CONTACT

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-stanton/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonspap

This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jon takes a look at the market and the opportunities available to get the most from your own holiday home and, regardless of the market, how you can take full advantage of the situation whatever it turns out to be by using modern analysis software that can keep you ahead of the curve.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A one-bedroom high quality property with a sofa bed can earn as much as two bedrooms as long as you are willing to wait for bookings and hold your nerve.
• Empty properties still cost money with standing charges and possible mortgage payments.
• Keep an eye on upcoming local events that may give your bookings a boost and allow you to set your pricing at the highest possible level.
• Data collation products are available to allow you to keep track of trends in the market as a whole or locally.
• Analysis tools can allow you to set your base price at a level that covers your variable costs and seasonal fluctuations.

BEST MOMENTS

‘One thing we spotted, for instance, very early on was that a one-bedroom flat in the middle of summer can make as much money as a two-bedroom flat if it’s really nice.’

‘Sometimes during the middle of winter, it’s worth taking some sort of revenue out of a week that you feel you’re not making money on because what it’s actually doing is protecting the money that you will be making in the summer.’

‘I think it’s really important that you recognise that these tools should be approached as a trusted advisor or a trusted friend. You need to look at the conclusions that they’re drawing and understand the tactics that they’re trying to employ.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Website: https://www.spaproperties.co.uk/

ABOUT THE HOST  

Jon Stanton

Jon left a successful career spanning thirty years in IT to pursue his passion for property management and has been leading the team at Spa Properties for almost fifteen years.

As well as leading the team at Spa Properties, Jon is an advocate of ongoing business development and professional networking, as well as a senior member of the Scarborough Hospitality Association.

CONTACT

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-stanton/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonspap

This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jon details how you can ensure good quality regular bookings into your rental property. He talks about changed habits post-pandemic and what you need to consider to keep your season fully booked and lucrative using online platforms and time-saving automation tools.   

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Self Catering is a type of holiday that the industry describes as ‘sticky’, in that once holidaymakers have found a property they like they return again and again. 
• People book more last minute due to the uncertainty the pandemic created, so don’t be frightened by empty bookings and drop your rates too low. 
• Online holiday rental marketers may seem a bad deal with commissions of up to 20%, but they have a massive reach and exposure. It is best to see this as the cost of the acquisition of a new client. 
• The use of a Channel Manager can automate your property submissions to all online platforms that you may use. Multiple platforms ensure maximum coverage of the market.  

BEST MOMENTS

‘There’s a lesson in there about the hospitality business and watching the market and not being too stayed with your product.’  

‘The reality is, and we found this last year, the summers are still very very busy, you’re still going to get that business in and, of course, if all you do is drop your price, you’ll just be getting the business in at a lower margin than you would have got if you’d just bided your time.’ 

‘You need to make sure that the process of booking is made easy and as quick as possible, that the payments can be taken easily, and confirming the arrangements with guests can be done as well.’ 

‘The other thing the Channel Manager enables you to do is to manage more than one property so you can have multiple properties all managed in the one place.’  

VALUABLE RESOURCES

• Website: https://www.spaproperties.co.uk/

ABOUT THE HOST 

Jon Stanton

Jon left a successful career spanning thirty years in IT to pursue his passion for property management and has been leading the team at Spa Properties for almost fifteen years.

As well as leading the team at Spa Properties, Jon is an advocate of ongoing business development and professional networking, as well as a senior member of the Scarborough Hospitality Association.

CONTACT METHOD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-stanton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonspap

This show was brought to you by Progressive Media

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.