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The CasaCast.
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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.
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
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