Speaker: It's the Casa Cast.
We got Orange Credo Casa Cast, our Capto Casa Cast, created by Casa.
Its for the show.
Let's go.
Steve V2: Hey, welcome to Casa Cast.
I'm Steve Shaw, your host, and today we're with Alfredo Arcos, the director
of Partner Success for the Americas.
Alfredo, thanks for coming on today.
Thank you for having me, Steve.
So, Alfredo, you live in Austin, you've got a wife and three kids, and
you come from a family of musicians.
Speaker 3: That is correct, Steve.
Steve V2: How far back does that go?
Speaker 3: Well, as far as I remember, I think before I was born,
my father was already a musician, and he was touring around the
world in a band called Los Joao.
And they were pretty popular in the 70s and the 80s, so Yeah,
I have a musician background.
That's really cool.
And now what did he play?
He played the guitar and it was, um, a second voice.
And my uncle, his brother was the lead voice and the bass player.
Really?
Steve V2: Yeah.
That's pretty cool.
And so now that's been passed down to you as a musician.
And what do you play?
I actually play
Speaker 3: multiple instruments and you know, every industry evolves.
I started as a young kid playing drums.
Then I grew up and I grew up with the guitar.
It's not I'm just like the companion guitar But then my brother my older
brother he put together a band He needed a bass player in this
so I took the bass and I became a bassist Wow Quite the talented guy.
That's a lot of different instruments to learn to play I mean one once
you know how to play a string instrument is pretty easy to get
. Steve V2: Yeah, I play instrument I play the stereo I play it quite well, actually.
So Alfredo, you come from the hotel background.
. Speaker 3: I joined Expedia in 2015 on the hotel side of the, of the industry.
And back then we were totally focused on acquisitions and I needed to move
and open several offices around Mexico.
I was managing Mexico at the time.
Then when COVID hit We needed to shrink a lot of those decisions that we made.
And I was promoted to director for all the, like the head of Mexico.
And I needed to move from Guadalajara to Cancun where I
took my family to live there.
That's when I got very much intrigued on the vacation rental industry.
Like how can you grow a business that's already big and huge and how can you
give more experience to Or more available experiences for the travelers to have
around the country, around the world.
Steve V2: And so with all that experience and amazing background,
you've been really thinking about how do vacation rentals transition more
towards the hotel professionalization of the industry in some positive ways.
. Speaker 3: So yes.
And one of the things that I've experienced the most is it is very
different than I didn't expect that when I joined the industry
is it is very, very different.
But what I do can say is both industries are focused on people, on giving people
experiences, and they're going to be relying more and more on technology.
So one of the things that I'm expecting to transition, at least with verbal, if to
give more context, a couple of years ago, maybe five years ago, we were home away.
And we were selling subscriptions for our property managers and everyone
wanted to do this with Casago.
Now, we have the model of paper hooking and we're actually
optimizing in a different way.
We're just not selling, we're account managing.
So we're trying to get the most And give the best advices to our
hosts and property managers so that they can have the best optimized
product on the shelf for people to
Steve V2: select them on.
And what are some of those ways that you're helping them optimize?
Like what would be some practical application to that?
Speaker 3: I think.
There's the basic stuff like photos.
You need professional photos.
You need to be able to tell them and share what are the main
difference about your property?
Why they should be booking your property against another property.
I mean you're competing with another properties.
People want to compare and have the ability to make a choice.
Yeah.
So I think Right now by being optimized, you have, you have
to have the right price point.
You have to be compelling to attract the demand and, uh, it has to be
easy to book and you as a host should be able to give experience, a great
experience to whomever goes there that they are willing to come back.
So I got two
Steve V2: questions out of that.
What makes a property more compelling?
Right.
I
Speaker 3: think love.
Starts when you see things, right?
Yeah.
In Spanish, we say,
So once you see a beautiful property, you start getting interest, but
then reviews take a very, uh, it is very important for people.
There's comparing reviews.
How was the experience?
Is it true?
What you're seeing is what you're expecting.
Sometimes it's not, which is unfortunate.
And then the price point.
Okay.
It is a beautiful property.
It's in a beautiful location.
There's a lot of things that you can do around it, but it's, is it too expensive?
Or then just a comparison between value and value offered
and what you're willing to pay.
And that's, I think, what makes it compelling, what you actually
pay for the value that you can.
Steve V2: Sure.
Is there ever a time when a property is too cheap?
Yeah.
A hundred percent.
That happens
Speaker 3: a lot.
It gives you uncertainty on what you're booking.
Right.
Sometimes paying a little bit more, wanting to pay a little bit more because
you want to feel safe, because you want to be in a better location because
there are multiple factors that affect.
So pricing, it could go wrong if you go too cheap, right?
So you need to find a way to find a price point and that's what
we are here to help you with.
Steve V2: Well, I will say this, that your team.
Helps us tremendously.
We love Alex and Jenny.
Thank you so much.
We think at Casago that they're the difference makers between
you and the quote unquote, other OTAs that are out there.
We're huge fans of them and they're very loved at the Casago
company all the way around.
So we're really grateful for the things you do and digging into that.
So you spoke a little bit about being able to be account managers and bring them in.
market knowledge to our franchise partners.
And I think there's some new initiatives
. , can you give us maybe an outline of what's to come and how market knowledge
can help us become better property
Speaker 3: managers?
Of course, Steve.
Thank you so much first for speaking about Alex and Jenny.
They're amazing account managers and we need to replicate that.
for every client or any customer that we have working with VRBO.
No, no, no, no.
Steve V2: Just, just for Casago.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Exactly right.
That's true.
The best for the best.
So, yes, that's where account management comes in.
So, one of the differences between the hotels and the vacation rentals, there are
lots of differences, but this one's key.
Okay.
The hotel is located in one place and there will always be a hotel and houses.
They sometimes are part of the, of a vacation rental property owner.
And then the other day could not be right.
So we need people that could be alert on that happening.
People that knows what's happening in the market, people that knows what
is the seasonality of the market.
So we can provide the best data available to those property managers or, okay.
or whoever works with us to make the best decision available to make
the best out of their businesses.
Yeah.
Steve V2: Is there some KPIs that you guys are able to share with us or
measurements of quality or expertise that we're going to be able to look
at when we're thinking about market knowledge and trying to figure out
how to best serve our customers?
homeowners and our guests.
What I
Speaker 3: do can share is we can talk about revenue.
We can talk about calendar and bookings.
And I think if we focus on that, increasing our bookings,
increasing our revenue, that will allow us to make decisions.
Okay.
So what is the trade off in the future?
Are my willing to open more dates to make more business?
Or you know what?
I'm actually saving those dates because I want to book.
I mean, There's a lot of channels, there's a lot of ways to make revenue,
and that's on each one of the business participants to make a call on.
But what we at Spargo can promise is we will deliver the demand and we'll
help you make the best choices to optimize your properties to get the more
bookings and the best revenue available.
Steve V2: Yeah, that's great.
We really appreciate that.
So, final questions as we're starting to wind down.
First of all, appreciate you coming on.
This is your first CosaCon.
Yes.
What's your initial thoughts as you see this first day sort of transpiring?
Speaker 3: I can say at least two things, Steve.
One, I've been amazed of the quality of the people, like you
and your team, how they built the relationship with everyone here.
So it's, you feel like you're at home.
So that's, that's an amazing feeling.
And the second thing that I could say is like, it is super
professionalized, organized, You have the ability to speak with everyone.
You have the ability to provide valuable information for them to get some trends,
to get what's happening in their world and actually implement it very fast.
So congratulations on this.
Thank you.
And congratulations on choosing Mexico city, by the way.
Steve V2: Isn't this great.
It is a great destination.
what's your favorite thing about Casago?
I will definitely say
Speaker 3: the people.
Steve V2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It makes total difference when you connect with people.
Businesses are done within people.
So
Steve V2: congratulations
Speaker 3: on that.
Steve V2: Have you ever heard the words owner centric before?
Yes, sir.
So, you know, that's a big part of what we talk about every day with Casago.
Now with you coming in from the outside, your perspective really matters.
What does owner centric mean to you?
Speaker 3: That is a very broad question that I will, I will try to
narrow it down at least in two things.
So on recentric it's you're not just any owner, each owner matters and they,
each one of them have different needs and you're actually have the time to get
to know those needs and tend to them.
Yeah, I love
Steve V2: that.
Thank you very much for coming on.
Thank you for having me, Steve.
And then lastly, You and I have a date with destiny.
Yes.
With some hot chicken wings coming up.
So that's going to be a lot of fun.
That's going to be
Speaker 3: fun.
I'm Mexican but I'm not that, I don't eat that much.
I'm new Mexican so I feel like
Steve V2: I've got the advantage on you.
. Speaker 3: Let's do
Steve V2: it.
Challenge
Speaker 3: accepted.
Steve V2: All right.
See you in Austin for that.
Thanks pal.
Thank you my friend.
Speaker: It's the casa cast.
We're ca they
don't call.
We got orange
Herto.