Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Casago’s private podcast helping our patners with educational information that can help everyone find success.
It's the CasaCast.
We've got Orange Credo.
The CasaCast.
Our company's neat o.
The CasaCast.
Created by CasaGo.
It's time for the show.
Let's go!
I'm Steve Schwab here today with
Jason and Manuel from Orlando.
We're in Austin at the IMN conference
just finishing up for 2023.
And we're going to talk about
the four takeaways that we got
from the I'm in conference guys.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you very much for having us.
So Orlando came on about a year ago.
Now we met for the first time.
In July, and then we started conversations
and we were all signed up in November.
Okay, so we met about a year ago.
Yeah, we met about a year ago.
And then signed up probably about
seven, eight months ago now.
Alright.
So, it's been such a pleasure.
And then, Jason, you
actually live in Phoenix.
Yes, actually, I work with
Manuel and Costco Orlando.
Actually, I started back in
February when they launched a
Costco brand on the website.
So, yeah, it's been great so far.
And you've got a little bit
of back history with that.
You used to work with
Carlos and Sagri, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Actually, I had some
Rocky Point background.
I did some online bookings many years
ago for some condos down in Rocky Point.
Yeah, pretty cool.
We're gonna start off with just going
right down the list here at IMN.
And Manuel, for number one,
you said homeowner centric.
is making the difference,
comparing us to others.
What do you mean by that?
I don't know, it was really interesting to
me along these couple of days that we were
here in Austin, meeting a lot of different
people, a lot of different operators,
people in tech and everything, and within
the situation that the industry is going
through, that this is not a booming year.
Most of the conversations were all around
just experience, guests, how to run
Airbnb, how to run Verbal, how to run
Everything, but except the homeowner.
And, uh, to me that was my key takeaway.
Because if we are owner centric,
we have the full foundation of
our business in our pockets.
Yeah.
Because we are the only one thinking
about the person that is giving us
all this business, letting us stay
here, letting us come to Austin,
and nobody talks about them.
No?
To me, that was my main takeaway.
Because we need to keep doing
what we are doing in this sense.
Yeah, I was really proud when you
talked about a homeowner acquisition
up on stage, and you said that the
difference was being a homeowner centric.
I saw a lot of people kind of scratch
their head, and I thought, you know what?
Good.
Let them scratch their head.
Let us be the ones to focus on homeowners.
It was really a proud moment.
You did a great job up
there on stage, by the way.
So I'm gonna go to Jason now
and Jason for number two.
You said the customer experience
was one of your big takeaways.
Yeah, I'll elaborate on
that a little bit coming in.
This is my first STR conference.
So being in the industry since about
February come from a hotel background.
So customer experience is pretty big.
pretty much settled in my heart.
So I guess my initial expectations
was to Manuel's point, more owner
centric, more owner acquisition style.
And they really focused a lot on the
customer experience, ways to grow that
in relation to getting five star reviews.
So things like that really helped
me because that's what I'm My role
with Costco Orlando is, is to really
bring that and drive that customer
experience home to our guests, so.
What were some of the things
about customer experience that was
discussed here that maybe some of
our teammates could benefit from?
A lot of it focused around how
to use technology AI to build
out that guest experience.
A lot of this was panel
discussion, so it was a lot of
really good takeaway information.
But I would say.
The one that stood to me was the guest
experience can be about five senses.
That's what I heard today.
It was kind of interesting to me.
So touch, smell, feel, things like that.
In the first five minutes of your
journey or your check in to the home,
this particular individual, I can't
recall the company that he represented.
But he says, you know, we have chocolates
or sweets available to the scents,
the aromatherapies, things like that.
So if, if we can hit on different senses
as we check in the guests, that's going to
elevate that customer or guest experience.
I like that.
That's a, that's a great idea.
I was told once that 80 percent
of a guest's opinion of their stay
happens in the first 15 minutes.
Yes.
And that's always something
to be thinking about.
It's that first 5 minutes, 5,
10 minutes, 15 is, is crucial.
Yeah.
How you're going to elevate
that guest experience.
And in the back turn is what
we all want is a 5 star review.
Yeah.
I was reading a book on the
psychology of tourism recently.
And it talks about how guests
can have a heightened awareness
of threats around them.
And anything you can do to calm their
nervous system being in a new place.
Like maybe chocolates or something
that makes them feel welcome will
actually soothe their nervous system
to say, okay I'm in a friendly place
and suddenly you're getting those five
star reviews and a friendly Yes Instead
of somebody who feels a little shaken
or paranoid or worried that things
are gonna go like they should right?
Exactly.
We don't know how that customer or
that guest has been received at the
house or Vacation rental what their
journey was before they got there.
Yeah, it's it's a It's,
uh, it's a key factor.
Yeah.
A bad flight, kids crying,
whatever that might be.
Yeah, things that we just
don't think of from day to day.
So, Manuel, I'm going to go back to you.
And for number three, you
said the holistic view is what
creates a sustainable future.
? Correct.
All the conference went over through
the difficult times that we are having,
especially this year, because we
are coming from a boom, not because
we are in a recession, nothing
like that, but with the supply.
And the demand issue
that we are experiencing.
I see that the ones that we are, that we
have a bright future are the ones that
have a holistic view to the business.
That we are taking care of every piece of
the business and making sure we create an
organization that is ready for the future.
Not only to pick up a
couple of good years, no?
At the end, the ones that we figure
out how to do that holistic view,
Are the ones that we will be here for
many, many years and I'm concentrating
at the centralized industry that
needs better experiences, that needs
better transparency, better quality.
I think the ones that we have
a real organization, good
people in our organizations.
are the ones that will
succeed for the future.
Yeah, that depth of leadership, depth of
system service and culture really is what
makes a company sustainable, isn't it?
And I think what you just
said is super important.
Culture.
And see what I have in front of me.
I have my Orange Standard, my credit.
And since the day we started to do
our Orange meetings inside Orlando,
you can see a full change on the,
on the environment of the people.
We were not meeting.
Every week, you know, before, with all
this work from home, everyone was going
to the house that they needed to go.
There were frictions in the business.
And now, after six, seven months of
implementing the Orange Meetings, you
can see a change in the organization.
You see how they get together,
all the team happy, everybody
looking for the same values.
So culture is really, really important.
And you just build this,
Thinking that it's only going
to receive a guest to a house.
No, you need to be culture
and that's not easy.
That takes a lot of time,
effort and dedication.
Yeah, to Manuel's point, starting in
February into not knowing the backstory on
a lot of his operational dealings, going
back to the orange meetings, we have two.
per week.
So what Manuel didn't allude to, we
have a virtual team that's located
in Mexico as well as Bolivia.
So we're kind of spread
out including myself.
So we have our virtual Orange
meeting that we have weekly.
And I also had the privilege of
when I go on site to Orlando that
they have their in person meeting.
So I've had a chance to have
both sides kind of looking in.
And it's been just a great addition to see
that that is becoming in elevating really
the operations for the for the company.
I love that right now.
There is a lot of people with
the challenge that they know the
vision and the mission by memory.
Now we have met like half of the
team that they know vision and
mission by memory and everyone.
You are next.
You are next.
You are next.
So you see how this changes
completely the conversation.
I'd love that.
And for those who are listening,
they can't see me smiling really
big right now, but, uh, such joy to
hear how, like how this is working.
And yeah, , that consistency of
explaining what the expectations are
and the principles and what we're
trying to achieve is what creates the
culture to put on a piece of paper.
If nobody ever sees it has no value.
The fact that you guys are out there
on a consistent base, practicing
it, talking about it, explaining it.
It builds a culture, it builds
a common language, it builds a
common discussion points on problem
solving, and builds trust over time.
Builds trust.
Really cool.
So for number four,
Jason, coming back to you.
You said the breakout
rooms had the most value.
Yes, again, this being my first
STR conference, you know, I
didn't know what to really expect.
It was going to be more owner
centric, more panel based, which it
seemed to have a really good flow.
So today there was breakout sessions.
And I attended the channel manager
session, which I thought was really good.
I wasn't really sure what to expect when I
went in, but it was interesting to see the
different perspectives from the different
systems that, uh, operators weren't
using streamline being one of them.
So it was great to see also.
The fact that certain issues with
amenities different API connections.
I saw a lot of head scratching in the
room like it's a little frustrating.
But what I did.
feel comfort in is the use of streamline
in that instance has been very seamless
for us in regards to onboarding new
properties and things like that.
So it was nice to see everyone's take on
the different systems, but also to know
that it was, it's something that's a
very solid product that we stand behind.
Yeah.
I mean, it's always great to
have that affirmation, isn't it?
Yes.
And you mentioned that you thought that
The breakout rooms or the mastermind
roundtable style interaction brought
something a lot more practical and
tactical as opposed to strategic.
And you thought that was a lot of value.
Absolutely.
That was going to be my second part there.
Not only was the property management
systems and channel management piece
good, it was a lot 10 minutes over from
the session time because there was a lot
of interaction best practices being told.
It was just a lot of back and forth
with operators that were in the room.
So, I felt that that was very beneficial
because education and training is
an ongoing mission for all of us.
So, it was comforting to see the
questions from a lot of folks out there.
Yeah, people come from many
different backgrounds, big,
small, medium sized companies.
And it was a perfect time, these small
breakouts, to to come with the questions
that we had since the beginning.
Because sometimes when you're only in the
big meeting room, in the big ballroom,
just here, but you never get answers, no?
I think this type of conferences
need more small meeting rooms where
you can actually solve your small
issue that you have at home, no?
Sometimes you have more
experienced people that can help
you in the small meeting room.
Yeah.
I feel like when you go to those panels,
often it's all very high level strategy
style, very broad sweeping statements,
. And I'm a believer that solving a bunch
of small issues, the 1 percent changes,
it builds up the operational change.
That really makes a difference in our
companies, in our own personal lives,
, as we're operating and the experience
for our homeowners and for our guests,
, it all creates a better environment
as we can fix those small problems.
One of the other discussions in the
room was about markups for OTHL.
And it was interesting to
see there was what probably.
20 people in the room, maybe?
And there was a vast majority of different
ways people would leverage different,
strategies between their standard rates,
rate parities, and things like that.
So, just another example of how those
were leveraged, because it really
just opens your eyes and say, hey,
everyone's got these types of scenarios.
They have questions about them.
Are they doing the right thing?
And if so, they're there
giving their best practices.
So, yeah, down.
a high amount of value with that.
. So guys, I'm going to ask
you one last question.
I'm going to start with you, Manuel.
What is your favorite
letter in the Orange Credo?
My favorite letter in the Orange Credo?
I will need to go with the O because
I'm a lover of the, of the owner, but
I'm going to put it aside this time
because Something that was completely
new to me, it was N, nurture.
This didn't come to my mind
before coming to Casago.
And I'm a person who comes from
administration, finance, all the
business side, never in front of a
customer, never in front of a homeowner.
But to me, it was like a clear
change in my mindset that We
need to nurture our people.
We need to be in touch with them.
We need to really take care of our
people, but I mean, uh, owners,
renters, and employees, no?
So, and to me, it's a game
changer, personally, since
I came to the organization.
I love that.
I think that's wonderful.
So, what about you?
I'm gonna go with A.
Okay.
The letter A for anticipate.
Not, uh, following Manuel's path,
I've been in the hospitality
industry for quite a few years.
20 plus years.
So the anticipation of needs for both the
guest and the ownership in this instance,
which is a newer model for myself.
But anticipation of needs,
I think, really rings true.
And that brings up in my mind,
the true nature of hospitality.
It's really just getting in front
of customers needs and wants.
Yeah.
So Yeah, I, I love that.
I would say that the property
manager is measured by the
events that didn't happen, right?
When you're anticipating the needs of a
clean property, a safe property, these
sort of things, all these non events are
the measure of your success often, right?
That we don't get to see.
I'm going to give my takeaway,
if that's okay with you guys.
Absolutely.
My takeaway was actually sitting
at a table with Brian Bird.
He is the founder of Adaptive And we were
having this really good conversation about
Adaptive and what it can do for Costco.
com and, you know, the
cool things it's doing.
And he said something that has had me
thinking about it ever since he said it.
He said, A level work with C level
communication is C level work.
And man, I just love that because, like,
often we do a whole bunch of really
great work and we don't communicate it
well to the guests or the homeowner.
And they're like, well, I didn't even
know, or the value goes away and you
didn't communicate well with them, even
though you're working hard or on revenue
management or reservations or operations,
whatever it might be, and they don't know.
And so you ended up with C
level work, Marks, because you
had C level communication, even
though you did the A level work.
And I just thought that was a fantastic
saying and a mantra to think about.
For sure as I go forward.
So something I should be thinking about.
Gentlemen, I really
appreciate you guys coming on.
It was such a great time here with
you and we'll be doing it again.
Thanks so much.
Thanks.
Thank you everyone.
It was great.
Thanks guys.
Just don't call it in there.
BB
cast.
We got orange credo.