The Vacation Rental Goldmine · How to Maximize Your Rental Income With Great Guest Experiences by DeBusk, Chris -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

I. Introduction

What Makes This Book & System Different? How Great Guest Experience Makes You the Most Money The Voice of the Guest Why a Vacation Rental Goldmine? How to Use the Book & Goldmine Toolkit

Chapter 1 – Create a Vacation Rental Marketing Plan

What Are Your Vacation Rental Financial Goals? How Developed is Your Rental Market? What’s Great about Your Vacation Rental Property? What Sets Your Property Apart From the Competition? What Could Be Better About Your Property? What Types of Guests Do You Want to Attract? How Are You Pricing Your Property and Why? Where Will You Spend Your Precious Marketing Dollars? Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 2 – Guest Experience Really Matters!

The Changing Hospitality Industry The Ritz Carlton Experience What Experience Will You Create For Guests The Phases of Guest Experience Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 3 – Browse Listings – Draw Guests in With Experiences

Make Your Listing Stand Out Help Your Guests Shop Draw the Window Shoppers In Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 4 – Choose Property – Know & Appeal to Prospective Guests

Who Are Your Prospective Guests? Making Your Home Appealing to Guests Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 5 – Choose Property - Create an Exceptional Listing

Using the Goldmine Toolkit Listing Planner Planning & Taking Exceptional Pictures Do it yourself photos or go with a pro? Search Position Matters the Most! Obsess About Your Listing Search Position Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 6 – Create a Great Vacation Property Website

Why Create a Vacation Property Website? What Should Guests Get From Your Website? An Amateurish Website is Worse than No Website Simple Websites Win! How to Design Your Vacation Property Website Create a Homepage Sketch Sketching Out the Other Webpages The Importance of a Good URL Building the Site Making Sure You Have a Great Site Getting Found Online Keeping In Touch With the Online Guest Experience A Word or Two about Social Media Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 7 – Choose Property – Vacation Property Comparison Shopping

Characteristics of Great Inquiry Responses Evaluate Real Inquiry Responses Creating the Standout Inquiry Response What Is Your Guest Telling You in the Inquiry? The Silence Can Be Deafening Connecting with Your Guests When to Give a Discount Reservation Requests – Getting it all Right When It Doesn’t Work Out Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 8 – Booking – Make the Reservation Easy!

Stay Away from Reservation Fees Crafting the Right Rental Agreement The Security Deposit Dilemma The Case to Eliminate the Security Deposit Your Guest is Ready to Book, So What Next? Reservation Confirmation Email What Guests Do Before Vacation Create a Helpful Welcome Document & Use a Hospitality App Communication, Communication, Communication Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 9 – Vacation - Put Your Guests First!

When Your Guests Arrive Great Guest Experience Creates Guest Loyalty What are Your Guests Experiencing? What Happens When Things Go Wrong? Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 10 – Creating Great Local Guest Experience

Ingredients for Great Local Experience What’s the Best Way to Make it Happen? The Rental Company Challenge The Smaller Guys Can Do Better Local Guest Experience is a Partnership Finding the Right Local Partner Local Service Selection Questions Conduct Reference Calls With the Top Scorers Negotiating The Best Price The Contract Guests Finally Arrive! Don’t Wait For Complaints The Emotional Connection Send a Thank You Postcard After the Vacation – Harvest Testimonials & Reviews Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 11 – Using Data to Maximize Rental Income

The Goldmine Dashboard Using the Goldmine Dashboard Data – Lies, damn lies and statistics Are your guests happy with their vacation experience? How many bookings could you get a year? Are you getting enough prospective guest shoppers to maximize bookings? Are you doing a good job converting inquiries to bookings? Where do my bookings come from and why? How often are my bookings reservation requests? Where should I increase or decrease my rates? How many returning guests do I have year to year? Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 12 - The Financials of Vacation Rentals

Setting Your Financial Goals Financial Planning Planning for Expenses Using the Planning Scenarios How to Track Where You are Financially Taxes & Other Fun Stuff Gold Mining Tips

Chapter 13 - Bringing It All Together Appendix – Using the Goldmine Toolkit Notes