NAVIS Research recently analyzed the importance of guest loyalty. What was revealed is absolutely amazing. It shows that the more you can get your guests to return, the more likely they are to return again. While this may seem like a “duh” moment, the percentages are where the real news is. If you can just get your guest to return a second year, the percentage jumps from 15% to 42% that will come back. If this doesn’t show the importance of loyalty, I don’t know what does.
NAVIS recently held our bi-annual Leaders Conference in Orlando where we discussed the technologies and Best Practices that our vacation rental and resort clients can use to drive new revenue. Prior to the Conference, I conducted an interesting “secret shopper” study to see who of our attendees would respond to my email asking for more information about an upcoming vacation.
Drew, our network wizard at NAVIS, setup a covert email account for me so that the recipients wouldn’t know I was from NAVIS. My email simply inquired about dates and asked about pricing options. I recorded the exact time the emails went out and the time that responses were received. 34 companies, some of the biggest vacation rental and resorts in the country, were on our list.
This graph shows the time it took for the responses to come in. Amazingly, the first response came 18 minutes after sending.
As you can see from the graph, nearly 40% of the recipients didn’t respond at all. And if you didn’t notice, this adds up to just 28 companies. The other 6 either didn’t provide an email option on their website, or they required more information on their contact form than I was willing to provide.
The bottom line is that responding to emails in a timely manner can affect your bottom line. And if you don’t respond at all…well, you’re just leaving money on the table.
Attention NAVIS vacation rental management and resort hotel clients…
Numerous new features and enhancements have been added to our flagship product NAVIS Narrowcast, effective at 8:30AM Pacific time today. From a totally redesigned and more intuitive navigation menu, to automatic template-based emails, this newest release brings online more new features than we have released for quite some time.
You can now assign specific agents to follow up on leads – directly within the ELM lead screen. You can even select the time and date to remind the assigned agent.
Several new reports have also been added including the Scoreboard Report, which provides conversion metrics, lead revenue, and compliance information about your reservation agents. Posting this information on a daily basis will help to drive new revenue.
An email was sent to all NAVIS clients detailing the many new features. If you didn’t receive it, you can find the document HERE. Of course, your NAVIS Client Advocate is always available for questions.
December call volume in the U.S. for our vacation rental management and independent resort clients continues to climb – up 8% from the same month last year. In November, the increase was 7% over last year. So this is definitely a good sign and one that we all hope continues.
You can see a graph of the call volume trend for the past 6 months HERE.
Google Alerts has been pointing out to me all week the popularity of the movie Avatar and the alien beings called the Navi, referred to in the plural as Navis. This didn’t go unnoticed by those of us who work at NAVIS – including the fact that the Navi are blue and orange, the same colors as our logo. While I haven’t yet seen anyone at NAVIS who is 9 feet tall with pointy ears, we do have many who I look up to, both literally and figuratively.
This being such a good year for our company and a good year it seems for the movie Avatar, this is now officially the year of Navis.
Happy birthday to my daughter and Merry Christmas to all.
I polled 1290 vacation rental managers and independent resort managers on Dec 4 to ask them aout their marketing budget plans for 2010. 66 have responded so far (5.1%). Here are the results:
1) Will you be spending more or less on marketing in 2010?
2) For each category, please indicate the planned expenditure for 2010.
If you haven’t seen the Beta version of Google Insights for Search, check it out HERE. You can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.
I polled 1290 vacation rental managers and independent resort managers on Nov. 16 to ask them about their usage of social media. 86 responded (6.6%). Here are the results:
1) Do you use social media as part of your overall marketing?
2) Please check all that you are using.
The “Other” category included LinkedIn, TripAdvisor, FlipKey, Vimeo and Flickr.
3) Of those you checked, which are bringing in reservations?
The power of Facebook to bring in reservations was no real surprise. We’ve heard of it being used very successfully by many clients. Probably the biggest factor to note here is that 55% really don’t know what is working and what isn’t.
If you haven’t already discovered Voice123.com and you’re looking for professional voice talent, this is the place to go. You send in any sort of script and you will receive a number of auditions – which happened very quickly for me. The voices are great, the turnaround is fast and the price is surprisingly affordable. Videos, IVR recordings, webinar voice overs – you name it. Adding a professional voice to your marketing project can mean the difference between a dud and a success.
If you’re a VRMA member and you haven’t done so already, you should sign up for the VRMA Geo-Analytics Program – a FREE benefit for all VRMA members. Per our exclusive agreement with VRMA, for the next three years NAVIS will provide VRMA members with a monthly aggregate report that shows various performance trends for the U.S., your region, your state, and your local area (where possible). The analysis is comprised of data collected directly from participating VRMA members.
Click HERE for more details about the program. Sign up today!
In case you’ve been exposed to the statements from the naysayers that NAVIS can’t be trusted with your data and will try to sell it, nothing could be further from the truth. Selling your data would not only be suicide on our part and violate the trust that we have so carefully built over two decades, it is expressly stated in our agreement that NAVIS cannot sell the data. Your data remains your data and you retain all rights.
We’re in the process of uploading some great short videos on the YouTube NAVIS Channel that explain many aspects of this program.
The 2009 Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) Annual Conference is October 24-28 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC. This year is the 25th Anniversary of the VRMA Conference and it is sure to be a gala event.
During this silver anniversary event, leaders of the vacation rental industry will join together to learn about the latest challenges and opportunities impacting the industry, including the largest Showcase of products and services available to vacation rental managers.
What’s more, the VRMA will unveil the latest news for members, including new and updated initiatives that support the vacation rental industry, provide added benefits and membership values in 2010 and beyond.
Approximately 40 distinct educational seminars, Certificated Sessions and keynote presentations will feature a wide range of topics judged by vacation rental managers to be the most important issues impacting their operation and success, including marketing, accounting, housekeeping, industry trends (NAVIS will be leading a session on this topic), tourism trends, social media, sales, guest reviews, revenue management, corporate strategy, property listings, measuring success, going green and leadership.
Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Check out Keyword Competitor. This is a keyword research and monitoring website that will tell you what paid keywords and ads your competitors are running right now. Unlike other similar tools, Keyword Competitor collects its data using realtime searches querying engines such as Google and Yahoo to get the freshest data available.
A very interesting study just published by TripAdvisor shows that 43% of travelers are staying in a vacation rental in the next 12 months, with 24% saying they stayed or are staying in a vacation rental this season. The study includes additional data about why they like vacation rentals and where they are traveling. It’s definitely worth the read.
Considering that previously published research by PhoCusWright put the number of travelers who have stayed in a vacation rental at around 10%, this is a significant upward trend.
Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Look no further than SpyFu.com. This is an information-rich site that will tell you who is spending more on internet advertising, daily ad budget, clicks per day – you name it. SpyFu, formerly GoogSpy, collects data from search engines, Alexa, Dmoz, Wikipedia, and other sources. Check it out.
I read a very interesting New York Times article about how Hyatt Hotels is implementing “random acts of generosity” with their guests. The idea is to surprise guests by picking up the tab for their bar drinks, spa or other item. The guest will then reward that act with increased loyalty and is more apt to return.
I think there’s a lesson here that can be used in the vacation rental and resort markets. Surprise your guests. Champagne and 2 glasses for the romatic couple, 2 free tickets to a water park for a family, a special food bowl for the family dog with his name on it, a delivery of gourmet popcorn for a family movie night – the possibilities are unlimited.
As the article points out, the “psychology of gratitude” has been researched extensively and proves that “we feel pleasure from reciprocating out of gratitude, and guilt when we don’t.”
Give it a try. It just might be the best marketing dollars you’ve ever spent.
It’s been nearly 3 years since NAVIS last analyzed after-hours calls, so we recently took another look. We analyzed 2.7 million inbound calls to 217 of our clients across the United States from January 2008 to June 1, 2009. The results show that, on average, 23.5% of ALL calls come in outside of the hours of 9AM to 5PM (local time at that location). This is very significant and can add up to serious lost revenue if not dealt with.
Of course, NAVIS RezForce is your best solution. But if you don’t go with us, do something to stop the bleeding from missed after-hours calls.
I’ve heard some vacation rental managers say that callers will leave a message and call back the next day. Wrong! We have data that proves that 53% of after-hours callers do not call back, and 20% will call your competitor. Ouch!
We’ve noticed an interesting trend regarding call volume patterns during the week that should affect how you market. Using NAVIS Narrowcast, we’ve found that during the month of April, the peak call days were Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday call volume are always the lowest.
But during the month of May, the peak day has shifted to Friday, followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all tied), with Monday having the lowest weekday volume.
Just for laughs, we pulled data for last year and found a similar shift. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday were the peak days for April and Thursday and Friday were the peak days for May. This shows a definite trend of people waiting until later in the week to act.
This data is very interesting for a couple of reasons. For reservation managers, it can help you schedule your reservations staff. For marketers, it can dictate when you schedule your direct marketing. If you can syncronize your email campaigns, direct mail, and outbound calling so that you reach people mid week, it may improve your chances of catching them when they are interested in taking action.
Got the latest data in on several key vacation rental metrics.
Call volume for NAVIS clients in the Continental U.S. took a downward turn in April, going from -13% Year-Over-Year variance to -19% YOY – as indicated by the bottom portion of the graph below.
Interestingly enough, the Average Length of Stay (ALS) was just the opposite for April, actually 8% above the previous April, whereas March YOY was -5%. Looking ahead at bookings through the summer, ALS is pretty much in line with the previous year, going from a little over 4 days in April to nearly 7 days in August.
The good news is that bookings aren’t nearly as terrible as they have been. For April, bookings are -9% to last April. That YOY variance is considerably better than -25% and -27% for Feb and Mar respectively. Hopefully, this is a trend that will continue.
NAVIS research shows conclusively the impact of abandoned calls on revenue and market share.
From September 2008 to February 2009, NAVIS analyzed inbound calls to 10 clients across 4 different regions – Orlando, Carolinas, Florida Panhandle and Sunriver, Oregon. The results of the study were quite revealing.
On average, 20% of abandoned callers
will call other properties
53% of abandoned callers
do not call back
Abandoned calls come in many flavors – callers that are left on hold for an extended period, have to endure a long and confusing menu tree, or drop off after being sent to a voice mail system.
If you’re operating under the false assumption that a caller who doesn’t get through will call back…or, they will just leave a message, you might want to consider a new strategy.
Here’s what abandoned calls mean in terms of revenue:
If you get 3,000 calls a month,
and 10% are abandoned,
35% are bookable,
and you have a 30% close rate,
with a $1,500 average booking…
Just-announced news from the vacation rental category today is a breakthrough for our industry – one that’s remained a sleeping giant and ‘best kept secret’ in lodging for decades and is now stirring, able to begin showing the world what it’s truly made of.
Many NAVIS clients have provided us with an interface to their vacation rental reservation software, which gives us some interesting data points from which to analyze trends.
When looking at the aggregate call volume for the same client set from last year versus this year, we see that December shows the first increase in call volume since August.
Much of your marketing is focused on driving traffic to your website - with SEO leading the way. But don't forget that the real goal of all of these efforts for vacation rental managers and resorts is to convert visitors into guests.
Times are definitely making it more difficult to get your share of wallet. If you're in the vacation rental market, you are positioned better than other travel segments.
If you want to do some serious segmentation of your vacation rental guest and prospect data, you had better get serious about collecting the right data.
Back in June, I wrote about offering your guests a gas rebate or other promotion that helps defer the cost of fuel for the trip to your vacation rental or resort.
When a caller books, you collect a lot of information. When a caller doesn’t book, are you still trying to collect as much information as possible and following up? NAVIS clients who follow up with their not-booked prospects are closing as many as 30% to 40%.
The employees at NAVIS get a big thrill when we hear about the successes that our clients realize when they fully implement our technologies and best practices. We see their conversion rates increase and their revenues go up. It is very gratifying to know that your hard work is having such a positive impact on vacation rental and resort businesses as well as the personal lives of those involved.
I read an interesting article in the local Bend paper today, by Claudia Deutsch of the New York Times News Service. She writes about the efforts of some large direct mail houses to “go green” by encouraging more use of recycled papers and water based inks. One of the key points made was how better management of your list can not only improve your results, it also helps to conserve resources. Amen to that.
Okay, in my last two blogs I’ve covered the importance of the List and the Message in a successful vacation rental and resort direct marketing effort. Now, let’s go over the timing of your direct marketing. Not just timing in the sense of when you distribute your email or direct mail piece, but also how often you send it. In fact, frequency is more important than when you send it out.
In my last Blog, I discussed the importance of your list in a successful direct marketing effort – with segmentation being the key. Not far behind is the message that you communicate. If the list is the “who” of your marketing, the message is the “what.” It is the main factor that will grab the attention of the reader and motivate action.
When it comes to planning and executing a successful direct marketing program, there are some basic elements that you have to consider – your list, your message and your timing. Today, let’s discuss the list.
When vacation rental and resort bookings decline, many companies will naturally look for ways to cut costs. If you are one of those who thinks that marketing is the first place to cut, think again. It’s exactly during these down times when you should be looking to increase your marketing.
NAVIS just held a very successful two-day Leaders Conference here in Bend where I spoke about the power of direct marketing to the group of 40 vacation rental and independent resort managers from around the country. The group was receptive to the idea of leveraging their inbound caller data for more targeted marketing.
I’m a firm believer in Public Relations. I witnessed the power of PR when I was EVP at Crescent Communications – one of the largest high tech firms in Atlanta and later acquired by Ketchum. I owned my own PR and advertising firm for 10 years and would often leverage PR for my clients. When correctly implemented, PR can be your most powerful marketing tool because the audience sees it as more objective than other types of marketing.
I’m a firm believer in Public Relations. I witnessed the power of PR when I was EVP at Crescent Communications – one of the largest high tech firms in Atlanta and later acquired by Ketchum. I owned my own PR and advertising firm for 10 years and would often leverage PR for my clients. When correctly implemented, PR can be your most powerful marketing tool because the audience sees it as more objective than other types of marketing.
While it's true people get annoyed if their name is misspelled in an email, these days it's usually their fault because they are the ones who signed up to receive the email and they misspelled their name when they did it! Maybe we need to tap into th
The website is your baby? I thought "I" was your baby? :( <br>I miss you daddy!! Keep up the great work on your Blog's!! I'm learning a LOT and applying these to my own website. <br><br>Love you and send Mom my love. :)<
I’m just back from a vacation to the beautiful South to visit my daughter (thus the blog break). While sitting on the airplane for endless hours, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the branding problem that airlines have and how vacation rental companies and resorts face similar challenges. I call it…
The Tray Table Effect
I’m just back from a vacation to the beautiful South to visit my daughter (thus the blog break). While sitting on the airplane for endless hours, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the branding problem that airlines have and how vacation rental companies and resorts face similar challenges. I call it…
The Tray Table Effect
The secret to effective marketing is segmenting. The key to effective segmenting is data mining. Slicing and dicing your guest and prospect data is where you will find incremental revenue – even in a down economy.
The secret to effective marketing is segmenting. The key to effective segmenting is data mining. Slicing and dicing your guest and prospect data is where you will find incremental revenue – even in a down economy.
Just like Princess Leah bet the farm on Obe-Wan Kenobi, too many vacation rental management companies and resorts put too much emphasis on search engines.
Just like Princess Leah bet the farm on Obe-Wan Kenobi, too many vacation rental management companies and resorts put too much emphasis on search engines.
Hi Bill-<br><br>I think that knowing what type of wine a guest prefers is useful even if you do not plan on sharing a bottle with them.<br><br>What is your favorite wine?<br>Can't stand the stuff, tastes like vinegar to
Frequency: The Bulletin's music blog
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15:19 
The “Other” category included LinkedIn, TripAdvisor, FlipKey, Vimeo and Flickr.
The power of Facebook to bring in reservations was no real surprise. We’ve heard of it being used very successfully by many clients. Probably the biggest factor to note here is that 55% really don’t know what is working and what isn’t.
