Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast

In today’s episode, let us welcome Wendy Jae and David Tucker from Travelers Book Direct and learn the different strategies that will empower you to create direct relationships with your guests, upgrade how you operate, and master the strategies and tactics you need to tap into your full potential. Learn the foundations and fundamentals of attracting visitors as a Destination Influencer (Destinationaire!) and convert them into guests that book directly on your platform. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Safely & NoiseAware! If you’re a professional property manager then you need to get both Safely & NoiseAware in your tool belt so you can focus on operating and growing your business. Go to Safely.com and let them know Wil sent you and use SLICKTALK20 to get 20% off your noise devices with NoiseAware! In this episode, we explore: 04:16 - Background of David & Wendy 09:58 - Creating systems and Direct Relationships 11:45 - Destination Influencing Concept 16:32 - Beginning and Results of Destination Influencing Concept 23:00 - Personalize Marketing Strategies 24:13 - 3 Things an Influencer Needs 28:10 - Creating Partnerships and Relationships 34:28 - Creating personal Video messages for the guests 39:16 - Success stories as a destination influencer 44:47 - Creating content for YouTube Quotes: “I learned two important things that day. One was no matter what you’re up against, you have to create a system. If you don’t have a system, you’re lost. And the second thing was direct relationships are always the most valuable.” - David Connecting with the Guest: Website: https://www.ilukamedia.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqzPgsckRjkqcXkRDM_LVgA Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/ilukamediamarketing/?_rdc=1&_rdr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilukamedia/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iluka-media/ Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://linktr.ee/Slicktalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we are joined by Nitesh Gandhi, founder of Locale, a company that’s dedicated to bridging the gap between home and hotels, offering thoughtfully furnished, upscale apartments for short and extended stays. Nitesh previously worked as an asset manager of large-scale, branded hotel projects across the US. He was also a management consultant at a top-tier boutique firm with experience leading multiple engagements throughout the US and Europe. He has since launched operations for two hospitality startups. This episode is sponsored by my friends at Hostfully! Use my code SLICKTALK20 to get $100 off their property management platform or two months free of their digital guidebooks! In this episode, we explore: 02:37 - Background of Locale 05:14 - Transitioning from hotel to short term rentals 11:22 - Transitioning from asset manager to Airbnb host 14:24 - Creating brand consistency 18:15 - Managing hotels during Covid 23:38 - Investing in the right technology 29:18 - Key takeaways from the episode Connecting with the Guest: Website: https://locale.com/ Email: hello@locale.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngandhi/ Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://bit.ly/3uCsm6H Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Washbnb CEO Daniel Cruz talks about the incredible story of how the company started, and what it took for them to get to where they are today. Being a host himself, Washbnb was founded after he saw the great need for laundry service in the rental industry. Daniel Cruz and the Washbnb team are dedicated to providing the best level of hospitality to their clients. Washbnb prides itself on being a company that is created by hosts, for hosts. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Safely & NoiseAware! If you’re a professional property manager then you need to get both Safely & NoiseAware in your tool belt so you can focus on operating and growing your business. Go to Safely.com and let them know Wil sent you and use SLICKTALK20 to get 20% off your noise devices with NoiseAware! In this episode, we explore: 03:37 - Getting into Airbnb 10:20 - When the side hustle turns into a full-time job 17:41 - The beginning of Washbnb 20:52 - Pushing through setbacks 24:55 - The high demand for laundry services in rentals 27:46 - The company’s values 31:27 - What hospitality really means 33:36 - The white linen analogy 39:23 - Washbnb after a year 45:36 - Marketing through Clubhouse Be a part of their journey! Invest in Washbnb: https://wefunder.com/washbnb Connecting with the Guest: Website: https://www.washbnb.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/washbnb LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/washbnb/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/washbnb/  Email: info@washbnb.com Daniel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatdjc/  Daniel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielJCruz Clubhouse: danieljcruz Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://linktr.ee/Slicktalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Gantt is the founder and CEO of At Ease Rentals, a corporation dedicated to connecting vacation rental hosts to federal and military members and military families during official travel, liberty, and leave. In this episode, he talks about how At Ease came to be, the company’s vision, and how they’re making it happen. Joining Anthony is Mateo Bradford who has been a trusted advisor with At Ease since the beginning of it all and brings a wealth of experience and industry knowledge. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Safely! If you’re a professional property manager then you need to get Safely in your tool belt so you can focus on operating and growing your business. Go to Safely.com and let them know Wil sent you! In this episode, we explore: 03:50 - Background of Anthony Gantt, founder of At Ease 10:16 - At Ease company was the solution 15:41 - Returning Receipts and Vouchers 21:25 - What is At Ease 24:30 - Pricing structure for At Ease 24:57 - Getting an Inventory from PMS 33:37 - Privacy Aspect 37:27 - Tasks at hand for At Ease Connecting with the Guest: Twitter https://twitter.com/At_Ease_Rentals Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ATEASERentals/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/40730274 Instagram https://instagram.com/stories/at_ease_rentals/ Website https://pcsatease.com Email info@pcsatease.com Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://linktr.ee/Slicktalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, we are joined by Tim From Buoy, Co-Founder/Head of Product at Buoy, a dynamic pricing platform for vacation rentals. Prior to founding the company he was an independent revenue manager, and spent 2016-2018 with Oasis Collections. This episode is sponsored by my friends at Hostfully! Use my code SLICKTALK20 and get $100 off their property management platform or two months free of their premium digital guidebooks! In this episode, we explore: 02:37 - Background of Tim Speicher + How he started Airbnb hosting 05:39 - What is Buoy? 08:26 - How to determine your booking rate? 10:41 - Implementing better revenue strategies 14:21 - Why was Buoy created? 18:22 - How Buoy can help with dynamic pricing suggestions 19:22 - Construal Distance - bridging the gap between abstract and concrete idea 22:28 - Complete aggregated data vs Non-aggregated data 29:12 - Buoy’s company goal Connecting with the Guest: Website: https://buoy.us/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyspeicher/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buoy.us/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tim_speicher?lang=en Slick Talk Website & Socials: https://linktr.ee/Slicktalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we are joined by Nancy McAleer, Co-Founder of FLARBO. After several years of frustration with the major OTAs, Nancy co-founded Florida Rental By Owners, a no booking fee website "Built By Owners For Vacation Rental Owners". Giving full control back to the short-term rental host, homeowner, and property manager. Dedicated to the Book Direct movement, FLARBO is a sustainable, viable, trusted partner for the niche Florida rental market in the United States. In this episode, we explore: 2:51 - Background of Nancy McAleer + How It All Started 7:12 - The biggest lessons learned in co-founding a business 9:31 - Transitioning from OTAs(Online Travel Agency) to Direct Booking 10:13 - The value of software integration and automation in a business 13:33 - The difference between mainstream OTA and Flarbo 19:56 - What does it take to build a listing site like Flarbo? 23:15 - How to identify and avoid booking scams 25:40 - Thriving amidst the pandemic 32:37 - How the Flarbo business model could be effective for other markets 38:36 - Best Practices for hosting rentals Check out Flarbo’s Annual Report for 2020 to see how they withstood the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and how their data can help maximize dollar per transaction (DPT), rental ratios, and ROI for hosts. This episode is sponsored by my friends at Hostfully! Use my code SLICKTALK20 to get $100 off their property management platform or two months free of their digital guidebooks! Mentioned in this episode Website: https://www.floridarentalbyowners.com/ Email: nancy@floridarentalbyowners.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcaleer-6672a41a/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floridarentalbyowners/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floridarentalbyowners/ Slick Talk Website & Socials Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In March, the Breezeway Elevate Operations Summit virtual panel welcomed leading management companies and invited them to speak about how to succeed through strong business relationships. The panel covered best practices for delivering (and maintaining) hospitality-like owner services and how they’ll foster more trustworthy owner relationships, increase client retention and boost referrals. It featured Jon Eskin of BHHS Colorado Properties and Brittany Blackman of Breathe Easy Rentals. Mentioned in this episode: Breezeway Slick Talk Website & Links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Meltzer is the Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and formerly served as CEO of the renowned Leigh (“Lee”) Steinberg Sports & Entertainment agency, which was the inspiration for the movie Jerry Maguire.   His life’s mission is to empower OVER 1 BILLION people to be happy! This simple yet powerful mission has led him on an incredible journey to provide one thing…VALUE. In all his content, and communication that’s exactly what you’ll receive. As part of that mission, for the past 20 years, he’s been providing free weekly training to empower others to be happy. David and I have been connected the last few weeks and it's been an honor to receive some one-on-one mentorship and be involved with another like-minded community of entrepreneurs.  Mentioned in this episode: Davids FB Page Davids LinkedIn Davids Texting Community - (949) 298-2905 Slick Talk Website & Socials Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PointCentral provides Smart Home solutions that enable vacation rental and residential property managers to remotely control energy and access to ALL their properties from their desktop or mobile device. Sean Miller, the President of PointCentral joins me to talk about more than just Smart Home automation but the three key value adds that solutions like PointCentral can bring to property managers in order to better serve the property owners and maintain quality control when properties aren't occupied!  Mentioned in this episode: PointCentral Website More About PointCentral Slick Talk Website & Socials Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sahara Rose De Vore is a Wellness Travel Coach and Consultant and the Founder of The Travel Coach Network. Sahara spent a decade traveling to over 84 countries before founding her businesses. Her mission is to educate companies on the wellness benefits of travel. Sahara is a published author, global speaker, and has been seen in over 70 media outlets including Forbes and Business Insider for her expertise. I first met Sahara on a series called Discover Hospitality and we stayed connected since! When I first heard about her business and how she started it, the podcaster in me had to know more!   Mentioned in this episode: The Travel Coach Network Website TCN Facebook TCN Instagram Sahara's LinkedIn Slick Talk Website & Socials! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices