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437. Why Your PMS is the Heartbeat of Your STR Business—A Conversation with Hostfully’s CEO

 [00:00:00]

Welcome and Listener Feature

Sarah Karakaian: Hello, welcome back to another [00:01:00] great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant, and together we are Thanks for visiting.

Sarah Karakaian: Let’s start this episode off like we do each and every week. And that is featuring one of you, our listeners who is heading on over to strshare. com, sharing everything about your property that you can so that we could share it here on the podcast on our Instagram.

I, I will always say Instagram channel and you will always laugh at me, Annette. Yeah, it’s not a channel. Our Instagram account. We have a YouTube channel. Okay. On our Instagram account, Annette, who are we sharing this week?

Annette Grant: This week we are sharing at MN Lake Stay. Again, MN Lake Stay and two really cool things I want to highlight in this property.

One is that they have, um, equipped, their basement is more of, um, For, like, I’ve seen a lot of game rooms. This one seems a little more focused towards adults. It’s like a card table, a bar area, foosball. It has a much more adult [00:02:00] vibe. I like it. It has cool, um, prohibition wallpaper.

Sarah Karakaian: It looks sophisticated gaming.

Annette Grant: Yes, that’s it. Like, sophisticated. Like, we’re gonna go down there. Play some, some games, but like a round table, a nice marble round table with nice chairs, nice leather, uh, bar stools, which is just, you don’t see that, that often, a lot of times it’s much more like Not that, right, not that this property isn’t kid friendly, but this basement is more adult focused where the kids could, I’m sure they could play big board games too.

The other thing that I love, haven’t seen this too much on properties. See this a lot around town at bars and restaurants, but they have one on their property. It’s the use of an igloo outside. Just again, like an experience and amenity.

Sarah Karakaian: That’s true. That’s kind of brilliant.

Annette Grant: Yeah, it’s so, so brilliant. They, so they have an, so go to their account, check it out.

They’ve got the like, um, metal and plastic igloo. It looks pretty big, but they’ve outfitted it too. Like there’s chairs in there, there’s blankets and just something fun to do. Like if you’re, it’s going to stop the scroll. Like, Oh, that would be fun to [00:03:00] do. And I know that’s why bars and restaurants do it too.

It’s like, Oh, it’s an amenity. It’s the winter. You’ve got to try to

like, it’s for me though. We’re like, I don’t want to go glamping in your globe. I would like to go out there for a moment and then go back inside of the home.

And what’s funny, you know what? I just actually enjoyed one of these igloos. It was on the roof of actually a hotel because we were, um, we went to the spa there and after the spa, we went outside on the roof and they had igloos there for post post, uh, Services.

And it was lovely. We had a cheese board, a glass of champagne. It was great. So, they have it here. I think it’s, um, an amenity they just added. And they’re like, hey, they’re going to keep it out in the summertime, too. I don’t know if you’re going to get hot in there, but why not try it? But I think that’s a way to get creative with something that, um, Um, overall is safe.

It doesn’t need to be cleaned. It doesn’t, you know, there’s not like a lot that needs to happen. I mean, he’s not overdone. It’s not overdone. No, I have not seen that. Like I said, that’s the first time that I’ve seen that on a property. So well done at MN Lake stays. Check [00:04:00] them out. Give them, give them some like, give them some love

Sarah Karakaian: with that let’s get into our episode.

Introducing Hostfully with CEO Margot

Sarah Karakaian: And I feel like I’m taking you all through this journey of our tried and true tech stack. options that we’ve chosen in our co hosting company. And today we have the CEO and co founder of Hostfully. It is the PMS that we have used since two thousand Uh, I mean, end of 18, 2019, right around that time.

So I actually get a compliment from my friend here, Annette, that I haven’t been PMS hopping because I haven’t needed to. It’s a waste of loyal. It’s a waste. Well, it’s also, I just can’t waste time. I know how to use it. It works for me and the customer service is excellent. We talked about that.

Annette Grant: And you could constantly get in the feature function comparison. Margo brings that up and you’re like, you’ll get caught in that cycle of if you’re just always comparing features and functions, like you just know what it is. You’ve stayed loyal. And yeah. Locked. You’re locked

Sarah Karakaian: I’m locked in. I’m not mad about it either.

The Importance of Choosing the Right PMS

Sarah Karakaian: So [00:05:00] if you are right now, if you’re shopping for a PMS, if you’re considering one, even if it’s not hostfully, I think this conversation is really interesting from the perspective of a PMS creator and someone who is the forefront of what they’re doing.

What hosts want in their PMS right now. So there’s features or functions that you don’t even know that you needed. This could be an interesting episode for you to make, put on your list and take that to the calls that you should be having with these companies and interviewing them so that you can make a decision that’s great for you.

Yeah. And there are some basic direct booking hot tips, pro tips in here also. A little bit more about Margot Smorak. She’s not only the CEO and co founder of a property management company and one of the leading software providers in the short term rental industry, but like a lot of us, she is multifaceted. So I think it’s a really interesting conversation coming from a woman who is a mom, a wife, Uh, she has, we talk about the interest that she has, how she balances her time of being a software, [00:06:00] uh, provider in such a big space, but how she makes time for herself and wears her oxygen mask and takes care of herself first so that she can serve her team.

And that’s not just her team at Hostfully. It’s her team as a mom and a, and a wife and a community, uh, member, she’s, she’s very involved in, in those aspects. So we’re all busy, we’re all doing all the things, but taking off that busy badge and really taking responsibility for how we spend our time and who we spend it with is also a topic we dig into in today’s episode.

So let’s get to it.

Margot, welcome back to the show. We are so excited to have you here.

Margot Schmorak: I’m so happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Sarah Karakaian: We were reminiscing, and the last time you were on the show, well, we had her on during VRMA. It We did after party, but the

Annette Grant: official yes, interview

Sarah Karakaian: the VRMA 2024. But we had you on years and years ago.

You were episode 70. And it was actually right after I decided that hostfully was going to be our PMS. [00:07:00] And I shared with you and I was very giddy to talk to you because you were You are CEO and, um, I had done, I mean, if, we actually were just talking about our personality types and if you can imagine I had spreadsheets and checklists and comparisons and I decided unhostfully and then I got to talk to you and it was, it was a really cool conversation so we’ll link to that in the show notes.

The Importance of Sticking with a PMS

Sarah Karakaian: I actually, before we dig in

Annette Grant: Margot, I want to compliment you Sarah. Oh, on sticking with a PMS, because let’s just, let’s just get it out there. Yeah. Everybody thinks there is this like one PMS fits all is going to solve all of the problems. So I want to commend you, Sarah, on choosing something. Doing your research ahead of time, but just you’ve kind of you’ve had blinders on of like no This is this is the PMS that I chose and I am going to learn about it If there’s a hiccup, I am going to reach out.

I mean I Margo I’ve been on so many different Uh, [00:08:00] trips with Sarah where she’s been on like an extra call with someone from hostfully or customer service. She’s like, no, I’m having, there’s something I need to figure out and we’re going to figure it out. So I want to compliment you, Sarah, on choosing it because I just, we talked to so many hosts and they are jumping ship all the time, choosing another PMS, thinking that it’s going to like be this one size fits all and solve all the problems.

So I want to lead the conversation with. I don’t think there is a one size fits all, but there is a let’s make a decision and stick to it and dig in. So kudos to you, Sarah, for just sticking with it, keeping the blinders on because we get, I hear, we get so many questions about PMS and she’s like, do your research because it is so important.

It’s your business, your properties, and you need to choose that. But also kudos to you, Margo, because the team has been amazing and supporting and answering those questions. And, you know, there are going to be issues. There are going to be hiccups and it’s the way that all of us partners, um, [00:09:00] go and have solutions and, and, and figure it out.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah. And I have to say that. We’re in a still evolving industry. So the reality is like everything’s changing around us all the time. So in order to have a company that makes a good PMS, like you have to be responsive to like what changes Airbnb booking. com are making, what changes are happening in payment processing, what changes are happening with your competitors and with the market.

So like we’re all running. And it’s like, can we run in one direction together with our customers? That’s kind of what it feels like. And, you know, there’ll be times when like the race gets a little bit crazy and there’s like a little more distance and there’ll be times when it’s closer. And I think like the, that’s the understanding I have now, even like that’s a big change from when I first spoke on this podcast, which is that.

Like there’s so much moving. There’s so many moving parts all the time. Um, And the other thing I’ve realized is that the chatter in the industry So like a lot of the people you’re listening to your podcast [00:10:00] right now Um a lot of the people at conferences, you know anyone who you’re going to hear speak They’re talking a lot about and with those people who are kind of bouncing around a lot and it’s easy to get into like the feature function comparison and you know, like sort of Get into the details, but, um, there’s a lot of people who don’t switch too, but they just don’t talk very much.

Yeah. I think actually like 80 percent of the talk is like the 20 percent that are jumping around. We have a lot of customers with Hostfully who’ve been with us for like. three, five, seven years. I mean, and they’re just like, yeah, doing really well, really happy. Like see you guys continuing to progress. Like, and they’re quiet though.

Like, like every now and then we’ll come across one and we’re like, Oh great. Tell us how it is. And they’re like, yeah, everything’s fine. Like we understand, you know, things are changing and you guys are working hard and you’ve made so much progress. So it’s just that they’re not as loud about it.

Sarah Karakaian: Well, and I don’t.

And I mean this with all the love in the world, but those people, and I hope I’m in that camp. It’s like, I’m just, [00:11:00] I’m, I’m getting the work done. I have to focus on, on making it work for me and not try to find every little problem, not just in the PMS, but with everything else, I really try not to blame things that I can’t control.

Obviously you can control what software you’re using, but it works and it works well. And sometimes you just have to slow down. Figure out how to make it work and obviously we want this to be this whole episode is going to be about sharing what hostfully has done for us and what it can do for you. But also we want it to be there’s no one more candid and open and transparent than than Margo and honestly a lot of the hostfully team in terms of, uh, you know, if it’s not the right software for you, hostfully isn’t going to try to make it because that’s not fun either working with.

Host where it’s not a good fit, but what I wanted to say there is, uh, you just have to make it work for you.

Hostfully’s Exceptional Customer Support

Sarah Karakaian: And the thing I love about hostfully that I didn’t know was going to be a feature that ended up being a feature was how quick I get really good help when I need to figure something out. [00:12:00] Like I’m talking in a chat.

I don’t like picking up the phone. I’m a millennial. I’d rather just chat with you and having some. Text back to me via that chat within, like,

Annette Grant: But see, my age group, chatting is calling. So you’re saying instant chat.

Sarah Karakaian: I prefer instant chat. Okay, see, chatting is picking up the phone for me. No, no, no. Okay.

Chatting for me is like, And I can, now I can send them Loom videos. I can send them a screen video of what my problem is, which is even cooler. Ooh. And then even, Margot, 2 in the morning, because that’s when I do a lot of my, like, my administrative or hacking work where I try to figure out, like, whatever, they’ll get back to me and it’s really great.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah, I mean, our support team is amazing. They, um, they are, I actually just visited a bunch of them in Vietnam over the holiday. I went there with my family and then we sort of like added on a day so that I could see the team and they’re so fun and like creative and so smart and they know the product really well.

We do not have anyone on that team who does not really know what they’re doing.

Sarah Karakaian: You’re [00:13:00] not lying. I think,

Margot Schmorak: I think that is a complete differentiator with other software companies, honestly.

Sarah Karakaian: It’s not like push you off until tomorrow when someone who knows the software can get back to you. It’s not those annoying emails where they email you telling you they’ll get back to you with a solution.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah, or like, oh, we received your request, thank you.

Sarah Karakaian: Yes. No, it is not that. It is real help. And actually, I just recently had someone help me hack something. Like, well, they’re like, you know what, I haven’t thought about like this, but if you do this. This could get you done what you needed to get done. I’m like, this is fantastic.

Margot Schmorak: There’s a guy in our team. His name is Doug. He’s based in Vietnam. He was one of our first hires. Have you? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

Sarah Karakaian: We go way back.

Margot Schmorak: So yeah. So, so when we first hired him, this was a big risk for Hostfully because we were like, you know, it’s offshore and like, we don’t know these people and we’re having to kind of go by recommendations.

We did have some referrals in Vietnam, which was great. Um, and I remember, um, I was writing customer support responses at that point. And so Doug got on and he like helped someone kind of create like a creative solution, let’s just put it that way, like a [00:14:00] problem that they had. And I was like. Oh my gosh, this dude’s better than me.

Like he’s so good. And he was so good at just figuring out the solution quickly and thinking about the customer problem. And Doug is now still a leader on that team. And he’s really like him. And, um, there’s a little cohort of, uh, of people 10 and included who like have basically helped to build out that entire function.

And so all the people on that team are. Had that same mentality of like creative problem solvers. I mean, wow. Like if you want to hire people who know how to solve problems, Vietnam is a great place, like the culture there is all about resourcefulness and like make it work where our other team is in, in Argentina.

They are similarly like. They just know how to make it work because their life in those countries is very different from here. They, you know, they like be a lot more resourceful. So they, they’re really amazing, um, to support customers.

Sarah Karakaian: They are. They’re amazing. They actually know how to help you because when you need something done, whether it’s managing your own property or property management, you don’t have time to come back to it later.

I really need to figure it out now because I don’t know [00:15:00] what sort of You know, I don’t want to say what fire to put out because that could be a real thing. Um,

Margot Schmorak: Things like the next moment. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. We’re not getting bookings the next moment.

Annette Grant: Correct. That’s true too.

Direct Booking Strategies

Annette Grant: Well, let’s, let’s talk about bookings.

We get a lot of questions, Margo. There is a huge push for booking direct, but the people that are asking Sarah and I about this. In reality, they might have one or two properties, but they’re stellar properties and they’re amazing and they have repeat guests. They have this opportunity. How can hostfully, what do you say to those one to two?

Property owners that give their all, um, and hopefully, you know, they might want to grow. So they’re also thinking about growth. What’s your response? Your team’s response to do they need a PMS? And then would that help with their direct booking? If they’re in that spot, that’s where a lot. I, I hear people, they’re a little nervous [00:16:00] because there could be an increase in the fees with Airbnb.

If they. connect to a PMS, you know, and, and at listeners be advised, you may go from 3 percent to 15%. We like to advise, well, you get to, then you could do direct bookings though and own the traffic, which reduces that. So how, how would you answer that question? Being the CEO, one of the founders of a hustling, if a one or two property hosts came to you, I want to do direct bookings.

I’m nervous about the increase, but this is, this is my portfolio. This is where I’m investing.

Margot Schmorak: Well, so when you talk about growth, are you talking about adding more properties or are you talking about adding more revenue on top of the, in the properties that they

Annette Grant: have? Ooh, both. But let’s say revenue and the properties that they have.

Let’s keep them at the, cause I want to be honest, some of these people, one or two doors, that might be the extent of what, of the growth that they want, but they want to figure out how to maximize profits with those properties.

Maximizing Revenue with Repeat Guests

Margot Schmorak: Well, so you, you said something really briefly, but I want to make sure that we don’t forget about it, which is that direct bookings, um, with repeat visitors.

That’s the best. That’s the best. That’s the gold standard. So if you talk to [00:17:00] like companies that have been around for 20, 30 years, and they’ve got amazing profit margins and they’ve got huge portfolios, like somewhere, some, some are getting like up to 80 percent of repeat bookings. Um,

Annette Grant: yeah.

Margot Schmorak: So they’re not having to pay a dime for those leads, right?

They just put them on an email list and they say, Hey, it’s spring break is coming up again. We’ve upgraded our property. We’d love to have you back. We’ve upgraded our service level. Um, here you go. How much did it cost? Like zero marginal cost. And

Annette Grant: peace of mind, this is the one thing I want to share with everybody too, is like the peace of mind from having repeat guests, you know, they know where your property is.

They know how to maneuver it. You know how they leave the property. Like the, the peace of, I say it all the time, peace of mind is priceless. So starting with even each and every reservation, if they were an amazing guest, like. You need to be asking them back. Always. Yeah.

Margot Schmorak: And I mean, and like create the package for them.

So like, you know them, right? Like you said, they know, you know how they leave it. Like [00:18:00] if they borrow the surfboards last time they were there be like, Oh, Hey, we have a surf package. You know, we’re going to give you a discount on it, but we’re also going to like give you a surf instructor. Right? Like you can do things to.

Upgrade the service level of the listing if you know the guests better and so that’s just like a huge opportunity, especially on these like high dollar, like if I was a property manager and I had like two high value properties, that’s the kind of stuff that I would be doing to, to, to increase my price because.

If you’re just going to increase the price of the listing, you will naturally be compared. Even if your experience was amazing last time, right? They’re going to go and they’re going to be like, Oh, it’s like, should I pay like 3, 000 again? Or maybe I could pay like 2, 000. Cause then I can throw in this wine tour, right?

Like thinking about the overall trip, like. Pricing wise, but if you basically get them in with a rebooking and then you add on additional service layers that are that are unique to your property and also unique to what you can provide that guests and for their needs that’s like That’s where you win, seriously, [00:19:00] like, that’s, that’s it.

Um, you know, there will be, like, other things you can do. Of course, you need to have a direct bookings website. Hostfully has one. A lot of the other PMS companies have one. But actually, like, even just beyond the technology, it’s really about that mindset of, like, I already have the customer in hand.

There’s a, there was an old McKinsey study that said, like, um, you know, getting a new customer is seven times as expensive as keeping an existing customer. So, the more you can keep an existing customer, the better off you’re going to be in terms of your profitability and growth.

Sarah Karakaian: I think it’s To our detriment as hosts, though, Airbnb does a really good job of masking the fact that you are paying for these leads through Airbnb, but they make it feel like, oh, you just, you throw your listing up online.

I think they even tout you can do it in seven minutes or less. And I don’t think, especially newer hosts, don’t think about how You are paying for that via the host service fees and so when you talk about the cost of a lead Margo I don’t know I think that’s I think that’s some work that hosts need to do as Thinking of it as acquiring leads and [00:20:00] and and sometimes even using that word customer versus guest I think helps us put Our business had on and really understand that that is an important part of remaining profitable or increasing our profits if we start thinking like that and not just as thinking that Airbnb is this free platform for us to use because it’s not

Annette Grant: well and it’s not painful like it’s not like they pay you the full amount and then it comes out like so let’s say let’s say we’re doing ads Facebook Instagram ads like You That has to come out of our account, not like we sell something.

And once we sell something, then we pay them. So that’s where I think everyone, I love, we’ve never even framed it like this before with each and every reservation. I’m going to challenge you to start a spreadsheet and I want it to say cost per lead or cost per sale because that’s what you’ve got and start to mark that down every reservation.

And I’m telling you at the end of the month, at the end of the quarter. At the end of the year, you’re going to see that [00:21:00] is your marketing. I mean, that’s a marketing budget. That is the investment that you have paid to acquire these guests. And imagine shifting that over A, to your bottom line, or what could you do marketing wise with those dollars?

And Margo, you said Hostfully has a direct booking, but I think a lot, this is, we get this question a lot. How? What does that mean? Like, how does Hostly have direct booking? Because I don’t think a lot of hosts understand that program and what, how you could help them with the website and help them with direct bookings.

That is still a very, and because the payment processing it. So give us a little like just quick A to Z on how Hostly could support someone with their direct booking site.

Margot Schmorak: Right. Okay. So a direct booking is basically a booking that’s done outside of the bookings channel. So you’re not using Airbnb, you’re not using Vrbo, you’re not using booking.

com. And a direct booking is something that can come from a website, which Hostly does provide. And it’s basically like a beautiful way of [00:22:00] merchandising and showing your listing. So you have all the things that you would see on Airbnb, like a photo and multiple photos of your property, your property description.

There’s a calendar that shows availability.

Annette Grant: Do you pay extra for that though?

Margot Schmorak: That’s where it comes out of the box. Okay. Thank you so much. Yes. We’re reminding me.

Annette Grant: No, because people want to know what I say like a white label. They still don’t get it. So it’s out of the box. But is it something that me at my computer could set up?

Or is that something that hostly would help with? Because I know hosts are having this question right now.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah, it just comes out of the box. So as soon as you start creating properties and hostfully that have photos, you can create these websites for your listings. If you want to brand it, make it in your colors, use your fonts, you need to do, use a little bit of CSS, and there’s a little bit of, if you’re not a tech person, you probably need to hire somebody to do that.

It’s, it’s very minimal and it’s like a one time thing that you would need to do because you need to figure out your design and then you’d have, you’d have to implement it. Okay. But [00:23:00] in terms of the property pages, like, that is just comes like that. Like, it’s just ready to go. Um, but I also want to say that, like, a direct booking doesn’t have to go through that website.

I mean, that’s where the customer can see the photos and amenities and, and details. But you also can re merchandise your properties by sending an email or a text. And it can just go directly to the checkout flow, right? So instead of it being like They get an analysis paralysis by looking at all the different listings and getting overwhelmed you can say Hey, you stayed here last time and we’re giving it to you again And by the way, there’s these additional services and you can merchandise those additional services in the checkout flow, too so you can have a You could have a phone call, you could have a text, you could have a WhatsApp conversation with your, with your guests, and you can say, hey, come back and stay.

Um, I noticed that you guys, like, wanted to hire a private chef for a Friday night dinner. Do you want me to do that for you this time? I can actually arrange it for you, and you can add those services on in the checkout flow. So, um, there’s a direct booking is [00:24:00] just something that’s done, like, like we said, outside of those booking channels.

You would still use a payment processor. So we, we, most customers use Stripe. We also have vacation rent payment and, um, PayPal. Um, but you would basically hook up a payment processor and then you would set up your own account with them and then you would be collecting the money, um, from, from that service.

Annette Grant: And baby step this everyone. I know everyone listening right now has had a friend. A family member, a repeat guest that is just like, Hey, I want to come back and stay. I know they’ve texted you like, where should I stay? Can I stay again? So again, don’t count yourself out for direct bookings. Again, if it, even if it’s just friends, family, acquaintance, past guests, you could send them that link and get that going.

And we can share, um, Sarah and I like Stripe is so easy to set up. Um, they have. Never let us down. Again, they have great customer support too. Um, and they are gold standard also. Like if anybody sees a Stripe payment come through, they are, they are not questioning it at all. [00:25:00] And also PayPal. So many of your guests, again, friends, family, they probably have PayPal.

So I just want to bring this down to where, We do need to take ownership as business owners, and I think that’s what Sarah and I’s mission is right now. Margo, we haven’t really shared this with you, but there are so many hosts, I’m going to say it playing business. And it’s like you have potentially some of them half a million, quarter of a million, half a million, million dollar plus in real estate.

And they’re treating this like. a side hustle or a hobby. And it’s like, no, this is such a large part of your portfolio. You’re leaving so much money on the table. The numbers are important and they need to become that CEO of their, of their property. And that’s, this is what it’s allowing.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah. I want to go back though to the, make the list and track the cost per conversion, because that is exactly what you should be doing.

And then the next stage after that is look and see which of the conversion methods that you are using [00:26:00] are most efficient. Put a dollar, even if you can just estimate it, right, it’s really hard actually to figure out the exact amount of money that you’re spending on each one, but you can kind of give a ballpark, right?

And so, like, what being a good business leader is all about is, like, using data and looking at it and analyzing it and making a decision. And so if you can, like, shift, let’s say you could shift, let’s say this year you’re getting no direct bookings, right? And next year, and you’re like, okay, well, I want to be, you’re, you’re, like, kind of level one.

I want to be opportunistic. I want to accept direct bookings when I can. Can you shift 5 percent of your bookings next year to direct bookings? And then you can look at, Oh, I spent on my marketing budget. I spent, you know, I don’t know, 10, 000, whatever it is, 50, 000 to get. 90 percent of my bookings and you can do an ROI analysis and you can say in these ones, I actually didn’t have to spend anything on so what was like, what was the ROI on those bookings?

And then what you’re trying to do is like, figure out, like, can you scale that method? Can you figure out ways to repeat that method more? Maybe it’s like [00:27:00] word of mouth with your friends and family. You could implement referral methods. Um, maybe it’s talking to local businesses or getting referrals from like, kind of non traditional sources, right?

Like, about where to stay. Maybe there’s a spa nearby and you can hook up with them. Or maybe there’s a. ski resort that has like overflow, you know, um, reservations and they don’t know where to send people when they don’t have any open rooms available, right? Like, there’s creative ways to be like, hey, could I be the first there?

And, um, the reason why I’m saying this is because The, the most successful businesses have been very interesting, like there are, there are companies that are built all around traveling nurses, for example, and you know why they’ve been successful because they go to the hospital and they say, hey, we have all this inventory and we want to support you in this program.

Is there a way that we can set up a relationship where you’re going to be just. Like we’ll, we’ll help, um, you know, share with availability with you so that you can get last minute reservations, which you can’t get anywhere else. But, you know, we’ll also give it to you at a discounted rate so that we can maximize our occupancy.

[00:28:00] There’s business like that. There’s businesses like, um, book Nola, New Orleans that are just like layering on services in a really, really creative way. Like, they basically have figured out how to make that personalized experience service level for their customers. So, so many. creative ways for people to, like you said, not play business, but really do business, like really practice business, which is to make really good decisions.

Sarah Karakaian: I think

Margot Schmorak: I love that.

Sarah Karakaian: Yeah,

Margot Schmorak: I love it.

Sarah Karakaian: We forget that on the other side of small businesses or in hospitals that they’re just humans like us also trying to do business, you know, and so we discount the getting your feet on the ground and actually making building relationships with. Our community, but it does work.

And that’s the what can happen out of that, whether it’s bookings or any other partnership or connection to a vendor or another human being that could change your business. That’s where the magic happens to have, like, actually getting out there and

Annette Grant: And asking for the sale, it’s like, yeah, you’re probably, you’re trying to get, you know, again, sales here, like you might go like cold call 10 folks and maybe only one books, but that that’s [00:29:00] okay.

That’s, that’s the ratio. That sounds about right.

Leveraging Midterm Rentals

Annette Grant: You mentioned something I am, I know is also, so right after booking direct Margo, the next hottest thing in the industry right now is, well, well, we’ll talk AI, but let’s pause midterm rentals. Cause you, you mentioned it with nurses. How does host lily? Yeah.

If, if someone’s interested in midterm renting, if that’s part of their portfolio, can hostfully help with midterm rental reservations? How, how are you adjusting to kind of the rise of midterm rentals?

Margot Schmorak: Yeah, so, so there’s a couple, like, really important things that need to happen in software to be able to accommodate midterm rentals.

Um, first is just extending the rental period and, like, allowing for, like, multiple cleanings and, you know what I mean? Things where, like, the, like, if you have a guest stay for longer than a week, you probably want to have more than one cleaning, right?

Managing Devices and Billing for Midterm Rentals

Margot Schmorak: So, like, being able to manage that. Um, also things like, um, some of the stuff around devices is important, too.

Like, you know, [00:30:00] having, like, the Tracking like your electricity usage and your lockbox codes and all that kind of stuff. So there’s that stuff. The final thing though is around billing. So you do need to like, if you’re going to move to a midterm rental situation where you’re going for more than 1 month, you probably want to build them like maybe every 2 weeks or whatever every month.

It depends on how you want to run your business. So those are changes that we are working on it. Host fully. We have some of them done and some of them not. I, I don’t like to like on these podcasts, I don’t like to like market in time. So like, I would invite people to talk to us because we are thinking about ways that we can accommodate that.

Hostfully’s Multi-Unit Feature

Margot Schmorak: Um, one thing that hostfully has been working on recently though, it’s just kind of adjacent to midterm rentals is a multi unit. So this is the ability, if you have some sort of inventory and you want to be able to swap Guests in and out of rooms like if you had a small boutique hotel or if you even have kind of a homogenous set of vacation rentals and you want to be able to like, you know move Two families next to each other and then [00:31:00] you know that wanted to be located near each other Um host fleas, uh working we’ve we’ve launched several features on that this year.

So, um, yeah midterm rentals is important and the reason why is is because I mean accommodations and real estate. It’s like all sort of like melding together, right? So before it was like there’s hotel inventory and then there’s vacation rental inventory and before it was like there’s corporate rentals And there’s midterm rentals and there’s short term rentals now.

It’s like well if you hold an asset you just want to make money Right.

The Flexibility of Midterm Rentals

Margot Schmorak: I mean the highest Revenue you’re going to get is short term rentals because you can probably get people in and out the door more quickly and actually make more per night. But if you want to have less risk a little less maintenance You want to do like a little less legwork like managing all of those turnovers You might go to a more midterm, um, cycle and what we’re realizing is that people want that flexibility to kind of change also depending on seasonality, the, the profile of their renters and, and we need to be able to accommodate that.

So that is going as an industry. It’s pretty interesting. [00:32:00]

Sarah Karakaian: I can tell listeners that I manage midterm rentals and I use hostfully. So there are ways I’ve created my own little system. So there are ways to do it and I’m, I’ll get excited.

Margot Schmorak: We’ll have to have a special webinar for you and just like your hacks.

Yeah,

Sarah Karakaian: yeah, again, you just make it work. I’m not going to let that stop me from introducing a new way to not only make money for myself, but I manage for other people. So I need to make sure that I am optimizing their properties to make them the most money too. So it can be done. I just want to let everyone know that.

And anytime Hostbit comes out with a new feature that makes my, my system easier, it’s a win at that point. But there are definitely ways to make it work.

Margot Schmorak: Well, also, it is a priority this year for hostfully, just to be clear, like it’s on our roadmap as a strong priority midterm rentals. Like I said, I just don’t like to like, no, for sure.

And people be like, wait a second. But I think, actually, I would love to do like a special midterm rental session. So we should follow up on that. Yeah.

Annette Grant: And does yeah, [00:33:00] it’s Furnished Finder actually integrate with anything right now? Are they just out there on their own? That’s a Margot question. I don’t know the answer to that.

Margot Schmorak: You know, um, I don’t think so. I hear about them over and over again because people use them in San Francisco.

Annette Grant: Right. They use them here too. So I’m just wondering. I don’t think they’re integrated.

Integrating Leads from Furnished Finder

Sarah Karakaian: Once I get a lead on Furnished Finder, I then just integrate them into my host fleece, um, That’ll be

Annette Grant: part of the workshop webinar where you can explain that because that is a little that’s where that’s where when we’re for for all the listeners out there interested in midterm and you know furnished finders a great way for those leads there is some I don’t want to call it clunky but there’s you have to have your own checklist of what you do with those leads.

Honestly,

Sarah Karakaian: honestly, as you get direct bookings, direct booking inquiries come in through your email or text anyway. So that’s where furnished finder leads come from. So you’re naming just like Google the same thing like it’s Yeah. It doesn’t have to feel or be clunky if you just create. It’s part of the, part of the process for sure.

Margot Schmorak: And you can use like Zapier or [00:34:00] whatever, even if you wanted to create like a little workflow that like makes a, you know, holds a reservation on the calendar. You could actually do that.

Sarah Karakaian: Right.

Margot Schmorak: You know, like you could automate it if you wanted to.

Margot Schmorak: Also I think with midterm rentals, you’re not getting as many leads because it’s midterm rentals.

Correct. So it’s.

Challenges of Midterm Rentals

Sarah Karakaian: Also, I’m going to get my soapbox just for three seconds. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone touting the midterm rentals is this like easy. button way out of operations, out of time. Everyone, they’re lying to you because releasing A property takes time because there are many states. I think all states, they become tenants.

Margot Schmorak: And so there’s, yeah, we forgot to talk about the lease. Yeah, yeah, no, I, I’m sorry. I, that’s totally, that’s actually one of the features we’re building, which is to build it and have like a leasing agreement. And then it’s a pain in the butt because you have to renew it too. Yeah. You can’t, you can’t, it’s not like a long term rental where it’s like month to month until they stop, like you actually need to re up the agreement.

Sarah Karakaian: Well, many of these nurses are these contractors. They don’t give you an end date, but then [00:35:00] their company tells them, Oh, we need you for three more weeks.

Annette Grant: Yeah, it’s very fluid.

Sarah Karakaian: So then you have to do extension addendum . It’s like a listen and then knowing when they’re actually going to move out.

So when you can get someone new in there, it is a game of chess. So I do want to say that I do love the strategy, but I. I love doing, like you said, Mark. I like doing both. And it takes the algorithm, let’s say,

Annette Grant: with the OTAs, to get back. Yes. Get back in the game because your calendar’s been blocked for so long.

So also, hosts, don’t think that you’re just going to flip the script or the switch from mid term to short term and you’re going to be blazing up with the reservations because it’s going to take some time again because you’ve been out of the game when your calendar’s open.

Margot Schmorak: And a lot of places like here there’s regulatory stuff that’s really different between the two.

So like If like let’s say you have a guest like that’s a perfect example Oh, I want to extend for three weeks. You’re like, okay great. I need to like redraft the lease I need to change the date on it We have to all resign it Then I need to like go back to the city and make sure that my permit is okay to like allow for this change to go to

Sarah Karakaian: [00:36:00] Yeah.

That’s true.

Margot Schmorak: It’s like a whole other thing. So it just, it’s, yeah. Sorry to scare people, but. No, and it’s not scary. It’s just.

Sarah Karakaian: It is what it is. There are people out there that think like midterm is like this, Oh, short terms are hard. Midterms are easy. And it’s like, we all have our challenges. It’s all work.

It’s choose your hard and it’s fine.

Hostfully’s Flexibility for Single Property Hosts

Sarah Karakaian: But Margot, I do want to point something out and correct me if I’m wrong, but a host who has one property, they can use hostfully, right? Or does hostfully have property minimums?

Margot Schmorak: No, no, no. One property is good. We have a good amount of customers using one property. Um, I think that where, the one thing I would say is if like you have a property and it’s like a low dollar, um, low reservation dollar, it’s going to be, sometimes it’s hard with the PMSs to like make the ROI work, you know, because like you, you will have to pay for software and you will have to pay to configure it.

Yeah. And not pay, but time, right? Invest, yeah. Yeah, you have to invest. And so like I, just to be like completely upfront, um, if your property is like a higher dollar single, single value, no question, you’ll be like, yes, [00:37:00] this is totally worth it. But if you’re like, if it’s like 50, 60 a night, like it’s going to be hard to justify the cost of a PMS.

Um, you can, and I think you will still maximize your reservations. I think at the end of the day, ROI is there, but you, you might be like, Oh my gosh, I’m investing a lot of time for like this one property, you know?

Sarah Karakaian: No, that’s fair. That’s transparent.

The Importance of Investing Time in Software

Sarah Karakaian: And And that’s real, you know, adding software to anything, uh, and you, you don’t want to get the software and then not use it, which we see also host doing, and it’s kind of like, you have to give yourself, they think that they sign up, they pay for it, and then it’s going to be implemented, and it’s, it’s very much like a team member, you know, you have to take time to, you’re not training the software, but you have to understand how to use it and how to really optimize it, and that does take more time than hosts give themselves.

Margot Schmorak: Yes, yeah, you have to invest time in the setup. It’s. I think I’ve said this before, maybe even on your show, but like, that’s why we have a fee. I mean, we have a fee, so there’s a little bit of Money that we make, but it’s really not, it actually doesn’t translate to that at all. The fee that we charge is more [00:38:00] about the gesture.

Like we want people to be like, Oh, I have to spend time doing this. Right. Um, and you’re, you’re talking to like one of the worst offenders of this dynamic. Cause like when I sign up for SAS tools, I’m like, come on, like I, I gave you all my data, it should just work. And then like the poor onboarding rep, it’s like.

Margo, Margo, we haven’t finished this, we haven’t finished this, and then I have to go back and do it. So like, I completely understand the frustration and like, desire to have it go really quickly, but um, you do have to invest the time. And you have to get into the details, and that’s really, really important.

And I

Sarah Karakaian: say the transformation is in the transaction. When you give something that you earned hard, You worked hard for it, like old hard cash in exchange for that onboarding. I agree with you. You then make a priority to show up, to pay attention, maybe give yourself some time afterwards to implement. If that’s, that’s like human psychology there.

If you get it for free, you don’t value it and you tend to just either not show up, not pay attention, [00:39:00] multitask.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah. Can I share something really funny with you about this dynamic? Especially if people are thinking about buying a PMS or whatever. Um, so during COVID we had like a ton of signups and a lot of those customers were extremely successful because they had time to set it up.

And so like, think about your seasonality, think about like your high, high times and low times and, or. Just resource it, right? Like, bring on an assistant so that you don’t have the assistant set it up, but bring on an assistant to do things so that you can set it up. Um, like, do things to help create that space and time because it is all about that investment.

And if you can invest in it, you’re going to be in such better shape. It’s just It’s like short term pain long term gain. I mean,

Annette Grant: oh, I like that Margo. Can you shed some light though?

Balancing Life and Work as a CEO

Annette Grant: You are Whoo, give our listeners and I this is a selfish ask also you are [00:40:00] CEO you are have a family mom of three You know growing company.

I know that you You’ve done a lot of VC funding, like what, how do you make time? What’s your, like, kind of, if we would like your wisdom on how do you prioritize? And I’m not even going to say get it all done because I’m sure you don’t get it all done every day. But how do you prioritize? Because I know there’s so many hosts out there that they’re just trying to figure that out.

There’s not enough time in the day and I’m sure it’s the same for you. What’s what works for you to make sure you’re, you have that balance and making sure priorities are getting taken care of.

The Importance of Team and Self-Care

Margot Schmorak: Well, I have these kind of like mental frameworks that I use, um, to run my life. And, um, the first is that I was just talking to my nanny about this this morning.

The first one is that like, there’s not a lot of new ideas in the world. Like a lot of the ideas have been had. Okay. So it’s all about how we can do them right. Make them happen. And in order to make things happen, you have to have a [00:41:00] team. And so like your team, you, you need to treat your team like they are.

Just as important as you and so your team is The two of you are on a team. You’re on my team, by the way.

The Power of Teamwork

Margot Schmorak: Thank you Um, but um, but like, you know everybody on your team you should be like really thinking about and putting a lot of energy into um, so For me the team is like our nanny my husband the kids teachers like My team had Hostfully, of course, my co-founders, my CFO, our head of employee experience.

I work with her a lot and we work on team. Um, so it’s just like really investing in your team and making sure that you understand them, you understand what their goals are, why they’re doing it with you, what their, what their purpose is. Like, how can you help them make that happen? So. Um, I think, like, team, team, team, team, team, that’s, uh, one really important framework.

The second one is a little bit, like, controversial with that one, which is that you have to put yourself first. So it’s like, you know, if you’re on the airplane, they always say put your oxygen mask on first before others. I actually, like, repeat [00:42:00] that to myself all the time. If I’m not in a good space and I’m not able to be present, make decisions, be calm, you know, like, really, like, even just be self aware.

Like, I’m having an off day. Um, if I’m feeling emotional, or I’m feeling angry, or frustrated, like, I need to be aware of that before I can actually operate in a good way. So, these are like, kind of deep, this, you can go real deep on all these things, you gotta figure out who you are, what makes you tick, um, and, and how to take care of yourself.

Um, and I, like, I was just talking to my sister about this the other day, like, you gotta feel like, you’re either on your center, or like, you know where you’re, how you’re off of it. You know, it’s sometimes like, that’s just as powerful. I’ll just be honest. Like, um, I think sometimes there’s this misconception about me that like, I’m always like on, which is totally not true.

Like I’ve definitely felt off my center many, many times all the time. But even just saying like, Oh, I feel a little bit off. Like. Either I feel physically not very well or I’m like kind of irritated about something or I’m frustrated or I’m sad, [00:43:00] right? Like those are all things that it’s important to be able to acknowledge So I think just being open with yourself about that.

It actually like helps the team work with you, too because then you can say Hey, i’m just having an emotional day or like i’m feeling kind of off or like i’m really struggling with this and people are Happy to help right that they’re always happy to help. So there’s those two really important things um, and then I think, like, with the, uh, the, the, like, how do you kind of get a lot done, I think it’s just, like, lean into what makes you really great, and, like, for me, it’s being creative, and it’s kind of facilitating things, like, that’s what my superpower is, and so I do a lot of things, actually, outside of work, that help me feel really creative, like, I Design things and I, I’m in a singing group and, um, I, I, uh, I’m in a bunch of nonprofit boards where I get to work really creatively without those teams work.

Um, and so, like, filling up my life with, like, things that make me really happy and feel really activated, it [00:44:00] helps, like, it helps when, like, if work’s going great. And then, like, stuff outside of that is not something that’s so great, it will help carry you forward. If work’s not going so great, but other things are going great, like, that helps you move forward.

So I, I just feel, for me personally, it’s like, It’s like rounding out this, like, circle of, like, things that, that can bring me a lot of joy. So, so that’s it. It’s just, like, team, put yourself first, and find things that make you happy.

Sarah Karakaian: Because I just don’t see you doing this, Margo, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like I don’t, I don’t see you saying to someone, Oh, I can’t, I’m busy. I feel like you’re just well organized with your time, but people wear busy with a badge of honor. So what do you have to say on that topic? I always do it

Margot Schmorak: I do say no all the time, actually.

You say no, not I’m

Sarah Karakaian: busy, you say no. And so what, what is, like, is there a difference? Oh yeah,

Margot Schmorak: busy, whatever. That’s my, I, Busy’s, I feel like busy is just, I mean, sometimes I’ll just say no, I’m not, [00:45:00] I’m not available. Sure. I have a conflict. I actually don’t, I try never to apologize. That’s the thing. I mean, unless I really mess up, and then I will definitely apologize.

But I also run my life by my calendar. Like if it’s not on the calendar, it’s probably not happening. And that even goes for creative stuff. So if I like want to take a voice lesson, it’s on my calendar. If I want to like go to dinner with a friend, it’s on the calendar. If I like everything is on the calendar.

So for me, then it makes it easier for me to be like, Oh, sorry. Booked. Oh, I said, I apologize.

I’ll say, I actually do say sorry, but I’ll say, yeah, I have a conflict or something like that. I do. I say no to things. I don’t say no to a lot of things, but I, I also tend to sort of duck when things are coming that I’m like, not for me, or I’ll get ahead of it and I’ll say, Hey, like, I, I think this is not the right fit.

For me right now.

Annette Grant: Right.

Margot Schmorak: Or whatever. Yeah, this is not my priority and I’ll say that.

Annette Grant: I love, um, [00:46:00] because Sarah and I, I mean, we’re, we have a membership. We’re with hosts all the time. And like, I think that, um, the calendaring and like the time study, like they, there are hosts that like, literally like They don’t they’ve put so much on their plate.

It’s it is impossible to do it. And when you ask them when I just asked somebody last week, I’m like, Okay, you just gave me this list of things. Now I want you to actually calendar it. You are not going to get that done in the next three days. Like it’s not so I’m glad you have this list, but now we need to go to the calendar.

And if it can’t fit on the calendar, like, yeah, for me too, like if it’s on the calendar, it’s not getting done. So that’s, that’s the other thing I heed caution for everybody is like, I think that’s why everyone feels so busy or a mess or never getting ahead because they put way too much in there.

Literally it will not fit on your calendar. And that is a red flag that either you need to hire someone, like increase your team member count and, or. Say no. [00:47:00] So, um, that team, I think I like that team, um, exercise because hosts, your cleaner is on your team, your maintenance, anybody, anybody that does maintenance for you is on your team.

So if you’re counting yourself out thinking you don’t have a team, you absolutely do. You even heard Margaret say her husband’s on her team. The teachers are on her team. So I also encourage you to make a list of like, Who is on your team? Are they pulling their weight, or is there something else you could maybe have them help you with?

They say they’re on their team, but are there a few things that you could give them? And if you have to give them to them, maybe compensate them. Maybe your cleaner does want a little bit more work, or your maintenance team wants to do some more things. You just haven’t offered or asked them to help you.

Margot Schmorak: And also, so yeah, team, to totally agree. Cleaner, my cleaner, house cleaner, is on my team. We have a contractor who I would consider to be on my team, who’s like, does random projects. I mean, do I use him all the time? No, but he, I treat him like a team member. So actually this month he came to me and he’s like, Hey, I have a surgery coming up and I have this like weird like two to three week gap.

Do you have any projects? And I was like, we kind of [00:48:00] have this project. He’s like, I’ll give you a great deal on it because I want to fill the time. So it’s like a win win for everybody, right? Because I’m great. I’m getting a really good price on this thing. He’s like thrilled because he’s going to fill the time with like a little project that he couldn’t have otherwise done.

I mean, he brought us a cake in January. He was like, I looked back at the year and you guys gave me business when I needed it. And I’m just so grateful to have you as a customer. Like that’s the kind of relationship you should be having with your team where it is really win win, right? I mean, and, and if you keep those communication channels open and you’re, you’re looking out for each other, of course, you’re going to have to say no, or I’m gonna have to say that’s too expensive.

And he’s going to have to say, no, I can’t do it. Cause I have another project sometimes, but if there’s an opportunity, then. It will happen. And I think that’s what that’s kind of our going in at hostfully as well like with our customers It’s like if there’s an opportunity to work together, we’ll do it.

And if it doesn’t make sense, we won’t it’s just good business practice Honestly, I mean, that’s what we’re looking for here. So it’s it makes life so much better

Sarah Karakaian: Yeah, well, I think this is a good I want to make sure we get to this [00:49:00] part to Margo is You’re hostfully customers are part of your team. I know that because I’m a part of a roundtable where I get to share.

Hey, I think things, these things should be focused on. I know that hostfully asks us all the time for what things would we like to have every time I wrap up a customer service conversation with your team, they ask, Hey, you should suggest this in the suggestion portal, right? Um, so with that being said, and so, and since your customers are part of your team, what is on the horizon?

Hostfully’s Upcoming Features and Enhancements

Sarah Karakaian: The, the, the near horizon for host Philly in terms of, uh, other than that midterm rental stuff in terms of making the, the software better for hosts today.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah. Um, so this year it’s all about like usability and performance for us. And we’re really focused on upgrading a lot of the main pages that our hosts use.

I, I’m sure you’ve seen this in the past year, right?

Sarah Karakaian: Yeah. I love the dashboard page. It’s like my favorite.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah, the dashboard, the calendar, we’re updating, we’re going to be updating like property [00:50:00] settings. And so it’s a really big year for us actually of just like updating those really like kind of workhorse pages that hosts are on all the time.

So we want to make sure that we’re doing a really good job with that. Um, we also of course like continue to invest in our channel Airbnb and Booking and Verbo. That’s a lot of work. But it’s really important because you’re not getting bookings and you’re not opening your listing up to getting those bookings.

Like, you don’t have a business. And so that’s a really big priority for us. Um, a 3rd area, of course, is AI and some of those new, like, fancy features. Um, for those of you who haven’t seen this in hostly or other products, you can basically set up like auto responders now in your inbox so that you can, um, the, the.

The PMS will basically suggest replies for inquiries or, um, you know, messages that should be sent to the guests. And I had a, um, a, a property manager at VRMA actually demo this to me, which was like a first as a CEO is like the best moment, one of the best moments. Um, where he was like, this has saved me like [00:51:00] three to four hours a day of responding to inquiries because he was showing me like what the AI was, was suggesting and it was so right on.

It was getting his tone and it was getting the content from past conversations and it worked really well. So there’s like some really cool stuff around that. Um, we also are launching, um, hostfully devices, which lets, um, property managers hook up devices in a more integrated way for their, for their business.

So that’s like lock boxes and, um, you know, what, uh, any other device that you have in your home noise aware, you know, the listening devices that you can. Um, uh, any HVAC kind of stuff, like nest thermostats. Oh, yeah, that’s coming. Um, so yeah, there’s a lot of stuff coming this year, but I think like the, we, we really want to stay close to what our hosts want.

And so continuing to get the feedback is really important. And. You know, it’s in this industry. It’s the big stuff and it’s also the little stuff, so making sure that [00:52:00] we, you know, do a good job of making the products really easy to use. Of course, oh, we’re investing a lot in our mobile app. Cool. I think I’m in 13 languages now on that.

So if you have a guest that’s from another country and you think that, you know, using a different language will be more helpful for them, you can, you can actually, um, You can, you can make that happen with our messaging too. So anyway, there’s a lot going on. Yeah.

Annette Grant: So much. Um, before we wrap up though, Margo, I think you wanted to turn.

The questions to us. Did you have a few questions for us? I want to make sure we get those in.

Margot Schmorak: Okay.

Reflections and Future Plans

Margot Schmorak: So thanks for coming to my podcast. So, um, so no, I was just wanting to do some reflection. I mean, it’s been, you, you said you’re on an episode 430 something, right? That’s been, no, we talked last time in episode 70.

So I was in the. Double digits count, and now you’re in the triple. Um, well into the triple. So, um, what has changed for you in terms of how you think about this industry and where you think it’s going? Like some [00:53:00] big takeaways, hot takes.

Sarah Karakaian: This is not a suck up, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my PMS. Um, which leaves me room to I’ve just gotten deeper into it, Margot.

So I’ve decided, I am When I Met Annette, and when you were one of our first, you know, first 70 guests on this podcast, I was definitely in a place of exploration in terms of what was next in life for me. I left New York, I was a performer there, and I knew I wanted to do something with houses. I’ve always loved homes, so, I mean, I tried interior design, staging, home organizing, and that all played into welcoming guests into our New York City property, and so, I’ve just gone all in, in terms of it’s all I do, it’s all I talk about, not all, but.

Professionally, Annette and I bought a lot of land, uh, an hour south of us, and we’re gonna explore the world of glamping, which is very different than our metro setting. That’s me.

Annette Grant: And I think we’re just still, um, the mission has been, [00:54:00]

Sarah Karakaian: um,

Annette Grant: amplified, um, because People, they’re still like, Airbnb, I’ll say it still gets like, I’m just gonna like a bad name, like it’s parties or, you know, or is there’s no consistency.

So that is like made our mission even more heightened of like, no, this is like vacation rentals, whether you call it a vacation rental, an Airbnb, a short term rental, we’ve been so laser focused on up leveling This industry and especially independent hosts still but so we want we want independent hosts to be able to play With the larger vacation rental management companies because they they can do it better They know it.

They could they their their hands are on their property. Their eyes are on their property and they can They are better and we want them to be earning there. There are so many hosts Margo under earning And that’s our mission, too, of like using tools like a [00:55:00] PMS, like a dynamic pricing software so they understand that you are undervaluing the experience that you’re giving to guests.

And so we want to make sure that they’re getting their fair share of the market, um, with each and every guest. So I think that’s where, like, we’re trying to get these homeowners to, again, like, stop playing business. Like, how can we get them to understand the cost per lead? How can we get them the cost per reservation?

And, like, really Demand that, that the, um, the revenue that they should be, they should be earning.

Margot Schmorak: So in your, in your own journey, though, of like expanding your business and getting really focused, by the way, I completely agree with what you’re saying. Um, what has been the thing that has surprised, surprisingly brought you the most joy?

And surprisingly brought you the most challenge in this process?

Sarah Karakaian: I’ve, Margot, since, since episode 70, our membership has grown. And so that’s working with hosts and their business. I didn’t know how much I would love like, I love, I love training cleaners. I love [00:56:00] reorganizing a supply closet so it’s efficient and organized.

And so I get to do that on like, like when we get to dig into the businesses of these hosts. I am living my best life. Like right now I’m working like in a real estate office with a team and I’m able to have a bird’s eye view on their P& L, on their team, on their handbook, on like their efficiencies. I forget what that show was called.

It was on Netflix during COVID where, um, it was McDonald’s and the, um, and how Ray McCord, what is it?

Annette Grant: Founder. It was called Founders.

Sarah Karakaian: Remember he was on the ladder looking at the efficiency of the team to see like how McDonald’s kitchen ran. Yes. That’s what I love doing. And I’m doing, I’m getting to do more of that. And it’s. It’s amazing.

Margot Schmorak: So you’re like an operational efficiency nut.

Sarah Karakaian: I guess so. I love it. So much.

Margot Schmorak: That’s amazing.

Annette Grant: And I think the thing that’s been the hardest, oh, so I’m like, is Finding out that [00:57:00] boring is cool

Margot Schmorak: and

Annette Grant: like just doing the basic stuff day after day is where you’re really going to see the biggest rewards because I can say probably for the last 45 years I’ve been jumping, jumping, jumping, Oh, like shiny object, shiny object, shiny object.

And it’s like, Boring is so cool. Like saying that we’re on episode 435, like that blows my mind. And that’s also where the joy comes in of like being consistent, like to be able to say I consistency is cool. Like I never thought I’d be able to like like saying these number I find joy in that of being able to say we’ve got this many episodes in like if you would have I would have never thought that the consistency part would have brought the joy that it is bringing.

Now, so just being being consistent, not only for ourselves, but our listeners, because it takes that long for people to even like, recognize what you’re doing. So that that is brought, I would never thought I would say consistency has been bringing me probably the most joy [00:58:00] because I like to, I like to jump around.

Margot Schmorak: We are so lucky to have you two sharing the good word with the industry because seriously, consistency and finding joy in operational efficiency is really what hospitality is all about because hospitality is this really interesting Thing about setting an expectation and then delivering on that expectation for a customer who has a lot of anxiety I mean even people who love to travel

Annette Grant: we’re

Margot Schmorak: anxious, right?

Even if you love to try I love adventure. I’m like the first person I will go do anything Okay, but like it is an anxiety producing activity to travel somewhere new stay in a new bed sleep somewhere sleep in a room You’ve never slept in before those are all really hard things to do and consistency and operational excellence is what’s going to make that really a great experience.

So like totally amazing. And I also just wanted to say thank you to you too, because I feel like whenever I talk to you, I really, you want, you inspire me to like bring my A game [00:59:00] and I really appreciate that. I think it’s important to have people in the industry that are doing that. And I, I think also you’re right that like, there are many hosts that sort of like, don’t see themselves as being.

So great. And I’m like, wait a second, you are, you’re doing so much, you know, like amazing service. So that’s what keeps me going, honestly, like for hostfully is like, we get to help enable people to do that. And, you know, if I really think about what I’m doing with my life, like that’s really the mission. Um, but anyway, okay.

So I don’t have any other great questions, but that was

Sarah Karakaian: great. And I will say like the PMS, the property management software is the heartbeat. Of your business. And so it has to work for you. And but you also have to know how to work for it. And I love that hostfully is just on that mission with us to be able to figure it out, even if it’s not a feature that is.

I mean, I can’t tell you how many times your team has said it doesn’t do exactly that that way. [01:00:00] But here’s how we can get that done. And that, I think, is something really special, and that’s what I would like to do for my guests, that’s what I would like to do for my cleaning team, that is what I would like to do for my business partner, that’s what I’d like to do for the hosts out there who ask us questions, it’s like, how can we, it’s like, you know, uh, yes is the answer, what is the question, um, and just figure it out.

Closing Remarks and Gratitude

Sarah Karakaian: Um, Margot, thank you so much. Is there anything else you want to share about what you’re working on, or hostfully, before we sign off?

Margot Schmorak: No, thank you so much for having me. I hope we can chat again, hopefully in less than like,

Sarah Karakaian: yes,

Margot Schmorak: 400 episodes, but, but maybe in like 100 or you’re going at a pretty good clip, so I’m not sure if I can do like, you know, 20 or something like that,

Sarah Karakaian: ​but we’ll have to do like a midterm rental check in.

Yeah. Let us know when you’re ready for that. For sure.

Margot Schmorak: Yeah. I think that would be good. Yeah. But it’s so wonderful. Have, uh, talking to you again and seeing you. It’s been great. Likewise.

Sarah Karakaian: All right. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant, and [01:01:00] together we are Thanks for Visiting.

Sarah Karakaian: Talk to you next time.