[Matt Landau]

Have you ever discovered a food or artist or product or service or website that changed your life?

Something you tried and then pretty much can't ever go back?

For me, here are some recent ones:

• Breville espresso machine (I may not ever again pay $5 for an espresso)
• Inflatable exercise ball instead of office chair (completely reversed my bad posture)
• Weighted blanket (weighted blanket)

The funny thing about these kinds of gamechangers is that, thinking back, I never had any idea how much better I could have it.

Now one of my favorite questions to ask is: What's one lifestyle purchase that changed your life?

If you apply this kind of reverse engineering to your vacation rental business, the question would be: what tool changed your business?

Here are some kinds of tools featured in our Keystone Awards (as well as some that were not) that, once implemented, is likely to change your business for the better.

• Pricing tools: It's not uncommon to earn tens of thousands of dollars MORE simply by curating your nightly rate with a dynamic pricing tool. If you are a DIY type, market data tools can have the same effect.
• Wifi Tools: A landing page for guests to access your internet means your email newsletter list will increase exponentially.
• Smart lock tools: Normal locks and keys are one of those activities that end up costing a ton in manual labor. Can be installed on pretty much any door. And these days, contactless check-in is key to 5-star reviews.
• Rental Property Management Softwares: Have you ever heard the phrase 'death by a thousand paper cuts?" One paper cut won't kill you the same way manually sending the same arrival email to each guest won't burn you out. But over time, the time of these cumbersome mini-actions will sink you. Embracing a solid RPMS will change your life.
• Distribution tools: If you're currently updating multiple property listings across multiple listing sites, I beg you to try a channel manager. It will change your life.

QUESTION: What kinds of tools have changed your vacation rental business/life?

If you'd like a full break-down of 10 main categories of vacation rental software, you can access the "Cheat Sheet" in the Inner Circle Vault here: https://community.vrmb.com/resources/the-vacation-rental-software-cheat-sheet.74/

If you are more advanced, consider downloading The Agile Approach: How to Assemble The Ultimate VR Tech Stack: https://community.vrmb.com/resource...e-ultimate-vacation-rental-tech-stack-pdf.75/

 

[jlynnmoscrip]

We're currently onboarding with Barefoot PMS and while it's still tough to say exactly how much time this is going to save us, I am giddy with anticipation. The communications templates and auto responders for recurring tasks where in person contact does not add value is going to be a life changer. I'm a huge fan of creating efficiencies.

 

[Matt Landau]

I'm a huge fan of creating efficiencies.

This is such a perfect way of putting it!