The vacation rental business has one bottom line: growing your management for vacation rentals means that you must attract new owners. You might think that this isn’t an easy job, but it easily accomplished by taking a couple of simple steps.
However, you must first understand why potential owners might be hesitant to alter the management for their properties. A way to describe this reluctance is as follows: “It’s hard for owners to change because of one thing and that is that most owners see a change in agency or manager as too hard to implement.”
If you’re a property owner wanting to enhance your portfolio, it is imperative you start by thinking about things as if you are the potential owner. A new owner client will most likely be inquisitive about:
- Safeguarding their investment
- Making sure there are consistent bookings to ensure a steady cash flow
- Great communication with a property manager, which includes clear and timely reports.
If a new owner is already working with a different agent, it’s important that you build a connection with the new owner and foster it properly over time such that when the owner is ready to buy into using a new property manager, you’re the first person they think of.
It’s all about the engagement. Back in the older days, if there was something that you desired to get out into the world, you issued press releases. Now all you have to do is figure out where travel bloggers and writers are hanging out and start making conversation with them.
You shouldn’t use social media as a direct market – by this, we mean don’t constantly tweet, post images of, brag about, or blog about your home. Instead, you’ll want to reach out to your audience, engage with them, and get to know them.
Below you’ll find a list of some of the best ways to attract new owners for your vacation rental business.
Talk to Potential Owners
What do you discuss when you’re trying to build a relationship with a potential new owner? Here are some suggestions:
- Bring Them Information About New Properties: When you go to talk to the new owners, bring them information about new properties that they would be interested in owning. Remember that this relationship depends on giving and taking.
- Emphasize the Numbers: Almost every property management company provide the same or similar services. It’s hard to gauge the excellence of these services objectively. Therefore, you should go over the numbers. An example would be to think about if your clients now get great ROIs or operating margins. If they do, discuss how you have helped improve their operating margins.
- Meet the Potential Owners: Rental owners hire property managers based off of referrals and personal relationships – much like you would with a real estate agent. You want to avoid advertising only online. Instead, you should network and be active with the community to get to know people.
Market Yourself
It’s easy to forget to advertise your assets to new owners because you’re working on marketing your vacation rental properties. For example, while you’re maintaining your property reservation websites, are you also using social media accounts or websites to market your vacation rental business to potential owners?
If you’re not, you might want to consider making a website that is designed specifically for property owners because it will help enhance your professional reputation. The website that you create should include similar features that work well for your guest website, including:
- High-quality and clear images
- Easy search functionality
- Mobile-enabled design
You might even want to consider having a blog included on a website that is dedicated to vacation rental properties because these websites can help showcase your know-how and help create a positive impression on potential new owners. New owners might even love getting an informative newsletter that shows off your knowledge about the industry and some interesting facts relating to your business.
Keep Up Your Reputation
Along with providing a website dedicated to potential owners, it’s also important that you check on your social media accounts, using a listening tool, for instance, and responding quickly to issues that might pop up. Potential owners are eager to see if a vacation rental property business is responsive to their guests, which could be the reason that they get repeat business.
Taking a proactive stance on your social media accounts will help boost your brand when it comes to potential owners.
Be Wise with Your Resources
You should consider taking advantage of the tools that are available to you to help build relationships with potential owners and guests that come to your vacation properties. You can easily be a specialist in your field by staying up to date on rental property news. The best and easiest way to do this keeps up with blogs about vacation rental property and read new books that come out about the subject.
You’ll want to make the right foundation to help you promote growth for your business. If you’re looking for an easier way to manage all your properties, consider using vacation rental software.
By using a single platform to handle payments and bookings, to manage channel listings, and to automate some daily tasks, your team will be able to take on more work in a little amount of time to help you expand your business. All of this means that you are taking strides to make your vacation rental business thrive.
Stick to a plan. You should remember that your vacation rental property growth relies on several steps that lead to success. To grow your business, you must:
- Figure out a plan
- Find ways to get found
- Become competitive
- Be booked solid
- Become automated
- Attract new owners
Now is your time to take your vacation rental business to the next level. After reading through all of the steps that you should be taking to grow your business, hopefully, you have a better idea of what you need to do to make your business grow.
