Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast

Mickey Kropf is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vector Travel, Inc, a tech-enabled, full-service, rental housing hospitality company. Prior to Vector Travel, Mickey co-founded and led growth at Rented.com, a short-term rental marketplace connecting owners with short-term rental management companies. Mickey has a background in commercial real estate development and finance. Enjoy 15% off by using SlickTalk on the checkout page with Vector Travel. For those who are apartment owners, you get one month free, and if you mention the podcast, you’ll get a one-month management fee for free too! Risk is something we can’t avoid and you know this! But… you can sure minimize your risk when it comes to putting things in place like NoiseAware & Safely.com! Safely have you, your guests, and your homeowner covered if anything goes wrong or gets damaged and guess what!? By having a NoiseAware device in your home, you’ll have everything you need in order to have peace of mind! We also want to say thank you to Breezeway for sponsoring this episode! To learn more about Breezeway, go to www.breezeway.io/slick In this episode, we explore: 02:58 - Mickeys Background 05:55 - Revenue share model vs master lease model 09:27 - Why mess with the model that’s not broken 11:47 - Iceberg Analogy 14:57 - Dealing with multi-billion dollar corporation clients 16:42 - Control Access to the Building 20:43 - Tracking the Inventory for multifamily side 23:10 - Positive Challenges that help grow the business 26:51 - The best clients are the existing clients 28:55 - Handling the business operations 31:36 - Contracts with the clients Connecting with the Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vectortravel www.vectorstays.com Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Founder of Mews, Richard Valtr, is a hotelier with a serious passion for technology and service. His mission is to transform an entire industry with cloud solutions that make hospitality more rewarding for everyone. This episode is a deep dive into his thoughts and opinions on how the hotel industry (hospitality) built products (tech) the wrong way that does a disservice to our guests and industry, the Original Sin as Richard likes to call it, we’ve looked at it all wrong. Risk is something we can’t avoid and you know this! But… you can sure minimize your risk when it comes to putting things in place like NoiseAware & Safely.com! Safely have you, your guests, and your homeowner covered if anything goes wrong or gets damaged and guess what!? By having a NoiseAware device in your homes, you’ll have everything you need in order to have peace of mind! In this episode, we explore: 03:27 - Richard Valtr Background 10:20 - Giving Value Added Services to Your Guests 17:40 - Knowing the Right Guest That Will Match Your Property 20:27 - The Original Sin of Hospitality 22:43 - The Creation of Mews 31:34 - Add on Services We Can Offer to the Guests 39:59 - Revenue Per Guest 42:25 - Making Sure to Meet the Guests Satisfaction 46:41 - Challenges In the Hospitality Industry 54:41 - Mews In The Next Few Years Connecting with the Guest: www.mews.com Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Weitz is the founder and president of Avocet Hospitality Group. In 2006, Weitz and his wife Lisa founded Avocet Hospitality Group via the acquisition of Islands West Real Estate, a small vacation rental business of Folly Beach, South Carolina. Over dinner with friends, the ultimate vision of Avocet Hospitality was born - to identify boutique properties that needed renovations and repositioning and to create unique guest experiences that are more than just hotel stays. Fifteen years later, the Avocet Hospitality Group now includes award-winning The Vendue Arts Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, historic The Read House in Chattanooga, Tennessee, oceanfront Tides Folly Beach, South Carolina, and St. Barth Exclusives, Saint-Barthélemy, Antilles, French West Indies. Weitz began his hospitality career leading development and as general counsel for Kiawah Island Golf Resort helping to entitle and build the Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. During his tenure, he also worked with ownership to acquire and completely restore the historic Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, and oversaw the planning, design, and construction of both The Ocean Course Clubhouse and The Turtle Point Clubhouse. These experiences molded Weitz’ passion and drive for creating his own company. Weitz is an alumnus of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. A resident of Charleston, South Carolina, Weitz has served on the Board of Governors for the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and a member of the Board of Trustees at Porter-Gaud Schools. In addition, he is active with charities and the arts and enjoys traveling. He and his wife Lisa have two children, Jessica, and Jonathan. This episode is sponsored by Hostfully & Operto! Running a great property management company means you need a great property management platform and the ability to give automated access to your guests so you don’t waste your time doing things manually all the time! Upgrade your tech stack and get this dynamic duo to power your business! In this episode, we explore: 02:41 - Johns Background 05:28 - Owning and Operating Hotels 12:12 - Understanding what you could and could not control 18:50 - Managing the property 23:32 - Importance of Technology 28:25 - Implementing good culture to the guests 36:07 - CornerStone of Culture 38:51 - Magic Money Program 42:59 - Key factor when looking into a new destination Connecting with the Guest: https://www.avocethospitality.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jon-weitz-718242139/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/avocet-hospitality-group/ Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Friedman: Director of Sales and Expansion SkyRun Vacation Rentals Michael has over 30 years of hospitality, vacation rental, real estate, and travel and tourism experience. He has created, led, and implemented successful sales, sales training and development programs that increase revenue, market growth, and expansion. His programs have grown businesses by 40% to 1000%. He is a growth-oriented sales professional with leadership skills at both the franchise and sales level. As a thought leader, Michael provides industry expertise in vacation rental outbound sales, network growth, sales funnels, and marketing plan development and execution. He is also the Co-Founder of Vacation Rental University (VRU), an online academy that educates, trains and supports the VR industry. VRU was founded to fill the massive void in education and training in a fragmented industry. Michael has a passion for developing others and has consulted with individuals as an executive coach and mentor. Michael resides in Charleston, SC, where he enjoys playing golf, walking on the beach, and dining at many world class restaurants. He’s an avid college and professional football fan, and devoted father of two grown sons who reside in Madison, Wisconsin (his home state). This episode is sponsored by Hostfully & Operto! Running a great property management company means you need a great property management platform and the ability to give automated access to your guests so you don’t waste your time doing things manually all the time! Upgrade your techstack and get this dynamic duo to power your business! In this episode, we explore: 02:39 - Michaels Background  06:46 - Running the backend operations 10:54 - Understanding the market and its needs 13:54 - Skyrun common theme 19:34 - Learning management platform - VRU 22:47 - Capturing Guest Information 26:53 - Remarketing your past guest 29:20 - Tools used in communicating guest 32:37 - Leveraging your business 36:51 - Dynamic Pricing and Revenue Management Connecting with the Guest: Email: michaelf@skyrun.com Website: https://www.skyrun.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skyrun/ Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calvin is the Chief Experience Officer and Iconicity Enthusiast for ICONIC Presentations, LLC. Calvin specializes in delivering high-energy, customized keynote presentations for organizations that desire to reach or maintain ICONIC status. Calvin focuses on delivering the perfect blend of business concepts, story-telling and music themes to bring home an impactful message that touches both the heads and hearts of his audiences. Calvin designed a practical and systematic technique called The ICONIC Framework™ to help organizations achieve and maintain iconic status in the eyes of their customers. Calvin is also host of The ICONIC Mindset podcast where he and his co-host John Avola share the secrets behind what it takes to make your business, idea or movement iconic. This episode is sponsored by our friends at NoiseAware & Operto! NoiseAware is the only 100% privacy safe noise monitoring solution so get with NoiseAware so you don’t waste any time while you grow your professional and amazing business! Use SLICKTALK20 to get 20% off your noise devices with NoiseAware! Our show partners at Operto are the leading solution for operators to enhance their operations by integrating with your property management software and making sure all smart devices create a contactless guest experience while streamlining operations. Check them out on their website, send me a message or just let them know Wil sent you and you’ll be in great hands! In this episode, we explore: 03:22 - Background of the guest 05:29 - Homewood Suites Creation 09:03 - Lodging Options 13:32 - Becoming an entrepreneur and creating iconic presentations 18:51 - Importance of being authentic 25:04 - Knowledge vs Passion 28:23 - Pragmatic Optimism 34:25 - Being consistent 46:37 - What is inimitability? Connecting with the Guest: www.iconicpresentations.net https://www.linkedin.com/in/calvinstovall/ https://twitter.com/ICONICSPEAKER Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With 15 years of experience in fast growing tech-startups, Marcus has successfully built up a leading PMS and Channel Manager for vacation rentals from scratch. During this journey, he has gained substantial knowledge about two-sided marketplaces, VC funding, growing companies and more importantly getting more bookings! Join us and know how to successfully build a leading PMS and Channel Manager for vacation rentals from scratch. Risk is something we can’t avoid and you know this! But… you can sure minimize your risk when it comes to putting things in place like NoiseAware & Safely.com! Safely have you, your guests, and your homeowner covered if anything goes wrong or gets damaged and guess what!? By having a NoiseAware device in your homes, you’ll have everything you need in order to have peace of mind! In this episode, we explore: 03:46 - Background of the guest 06:23 - Creation of Hostaway 08:47 - Creating Game 53 11:47 - What is Game 53 look like 14:32 - Is creating a PMS beneficial? 17:54 - Big changes prior to Covid-19 24:18 - Consolidation of Tech 32:09 - Gap between hotels and vacation rentals 35:35 - Importance of guest’s experience 40:07 - Development side of Hostaway 44:17 - Travel Destinations Connecting with the Guest: Website: www.hostaway.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketingmarcus Email: marcus@hostaway.com Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Chief Executive Officer, Emir is in charge of Rabbu’s growth and visionary efforts. Being a natural entrepreneur and follower of Real Estate, Emir turned a spare bedroom above his detached garage into the genesis for a new asset class within Real Estate and into an opportunity for investors to create more value while de-risking their portfolio through Rabbu. Prior to founding Rabbu, Emir was a Senior Product Manager at NBC Sports which he joined as part of the acquisition of KYCK. Emir joined KYCK as a free intern, after failing to find satisfaction as a Civil Engineer, and eventually worked his way up to be the Vice President of Operations when it was acquired by NBC Sports.  Emir was originally born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (formerly Yugoslavia) and was forced to flee there when a civil war broke out. After spending 6 years in Germany, Emir moved to the United States at the age of 12. Having survived civil war and beaten cancer, Emir is conditioned to beat adversity and not to take any situation and opportunity for granted.  Join us today to know the role of technology in the short-term rental industry.  Risk is something we can’t avoid and you know this! But… you can sure minimize your risk when it comes to putting things in place like NoiseAware & Safely.com! Safely has you, your guests, and your homeowner covered if anything goes wrong or gets damaged and guess what!? By having a NoiseAware device in your homes, you’ll have everything you need in order to have peace of mind!  In this episode, we explore:  04:09 - Background of the guest  12:23 - Creation of Rabbu  13:36 - Controlling the access to the property  17:04 - Building a Technology Platform  22:14 - Why specialization is important  26:17 - Most challenging things when building a platform  31:06 - Keeping up with all the changes  35:56 - Managing Crossovers  Connecting with the Guest:  Website: https://rabbu.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emirdukic/  Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy McNeill is a travel and hospitality entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in his profession. He is the CEO and founder of American Meetings, Inc., an industry-leading meetings and events agency that produces thousands of live and virtual meetings annually for Fortune 500 clients. He is also the co-host of the Destination Everywhere Podcast, a top travel, and hospitality podcast that highlights bucket-list destinations, luxury hotels, local cuisine, and must-do activities. Andy is a significant voice in the hospitality, meeting, and travel industries. Join us today and learn more about American Meetings services and The Destination Everywhere Podcast. This episode is sponsored by Hostfully! Hostfully is an industry-leading software company that provides property managers and hoteliers with a property management platform and amazing digital custom guidebooks that will make your guests' experience with you 10X better! Use SLICKTALK20 to get $100 off of their property management platform and two months free of their premium digital guidebooks! In this episode, we explore: 02:50 - Background of the guest 04:10 - How American Meetings Inc. started? 07:20 - Virtual Events 09:48 - What are Hybrid Events? 12:52 - Destination Everywhere Podcast 16:55 - Biggest Key Takeaways in the Podcast 19:51 - What are “4 Seasons” Experience 23:49 - Futuristic Hotel Concept 25:15 - Flexible Lodging 27:57 - Finding Ways to Innovate the Business Operation Quotes from the episode “Business is important but experience is first.” Connecting with the Guest: Instagram - @atmcneill @americanmeetingsinc @destinationeverywherepodcast Facebook - @americanmeetings @destinationeverywherepodcast https://www.facebook.com/andy.mcneill LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-mcneill https://www.linkedin.com/company/ami-global-meetings-solutions-inc. Twitter - @amermeetings Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noble Crawford III shares his best practices for actively prospecting and generating direct bookings, both B2C and B2B. He dives deep into understanding buyer personas and how critical they are to increasing bookings and growing revenue. Join us today as he shares different strategies and knowledge to grow your business. This episode is sponsored by Hostfully! Hostfully is an industry leading software company that provides property managers and hoteliers with a property management platform and amazing digital custom guidebooks that will make your guests experience with you 10X better! Use SLICKTALK20 to get $100 off of their property management platform and two months free of their premium digital guidebooks! In this episode, we explore: 03:02 - Background of Noble Crawford 07:22 - Business Structure 12:09 - Dealing cancelled bookings 16:18 - Managing the system’s backend 19:22 - Relationship with insurance company 21:48 - Negotiating market rate 26:10 - Getting the unit to be booked Connecting with the Guest: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noble.crawford.3/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noblecrawford/ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/noblecrawford?_rdc=1&_rdr Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Theron Lewis shares his story of how he has liberated nearly 1 million people from Airbnb and STR bans. He went from almost losing his business in Detroit due to an STR ban to getting the ban pulled, being at the table with the City Council, and growing his business to the 7 figure level due to advocacy. Theron will be sharing some ideas on how to stop/prevent a ban and how to grow your business massively from Advocacy. This episode is sponsored by our friends at NoiseAware & Safely! Risk is something we can’t avoid and you know this! But… you can sure minimize your risk when it comes to putting things in place like NoiseAware & Safely.com! Safely has you, your guests, and your homeowner covered if anything goes wrong or gets damaged, and guess what!? By having a NoiseAware device in your home, you’ll have everything you need in order to have peace of mind that it all goes right! In this episode, we explore: 04:16 - Background of Theron Lewis 09:32 - First action to take when fighting for your business 16:25 - The “Suck” Phase 20:36 - Getting people to come together 27:58 - The Middle Phase 30:02 - Importance of starting a Facebook Ads 37:10 - 3 Things to avoid losing your business 47:02 - Mission in helping people protect their short term rentals 52:16 - Where can people give back in different ways Connecting with the Guest: Email: theron@sharingdetriot.org Clubhouse: @theronl Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices