The STR Revenue Growth Course
Beyond Airbnb: Everything you need to know to boost bookings and grow earnings.
Episode 2: Optimising Direct Bookings, with Chris from Rentals United
Showcasing your properties in the right place, in the right way, is essential to increasing your bookings and revenue.
Check out the full video with Chris, Commercial Rep in the US & Spanish markets at Rentals United, to learn how creating a direct booking website with My Website can empower you to do just that.
Don’t have time to watch the video right now? We’ve got you covered. Our key takeaways mean you won’t miss out on a thing!
Key Takeaways:
Organic Beginnings: Distribution strategies usually evolve organically. This lack of planning often leads to an over reliance on OTAs (or direct bookings). Striking a balance is key to efficient management.
Consequences of Imbalance: An unbalanced distribution strategy (e.g. over reliance on one channel such as Airbnb) can lead to overspending on commissions and fees. Chris explains that OTA’s are an opportunity for exposure, but a direct booking page offers untapped potential benefits.
Building Your Brand: A direct booking website provides the freedom to build and promote your brand. And a brand helps build guest loyalty, trust, and the perception of value. These help you stand out in a competitive market.
Efficient Website for Returning Customers: For property managers with a significant number of returning customers, having an efficient website is crucial.
Simplified Booking Process: Using a tool like Rentals United allows direct bookings to sync seamlessly with your channel bookings, eliminating the risk of double bookings and ensuring a smoother, more efficient, booking process for both property managers and guests.
Missed something? Read the full video summary to get all the insights.
Transcription:
“Hello, everyone.
I’m Chris, the commercial representative for Rentals United in the Spanish and U.S. markets. Today, I’d like to demonstrate how incorporating direct bookings into your existing distribution strategy can be a game-changer.
In my regular discussions with property managers worldwide, spanning various business stages, one consistent challenge is finding the right balance between distribution channels and direct bookings.
Some property managers invest heavily in website development without incorporating a booking engine, facing restrictions on payment gateways or compatibility issues with channel managers. These early decisions can significantly impact your growth potential.
Let’s start by refining the first slide. Instead of merely stating that showcasing properties in the right place is essential for increasing bookings and revenue, let’s emphasise the importance of showcasing properties in the right way at the right time.
Establishing a distribution strategy often evolves organically, leading to a reactive rather than proactive approach. Whether you initially faced overwhelming demand for direct bookings or relied heavily on OTAs, achieving balance is crucial.
A robust distribution strategy involves striking the right balance between exposure on major OTAs and channels while efficiently capturing direct bookings. This requires promoting your identity effectively to maximize visibility.
Now, let’s delve into the consequences of an unbalanced distribution approach, focusing on overspending on commissions and fees. Distributing properties across major channels is essential for growing bookings, but the associated costs can significantly reduce margins.
Considering this as an investment in OTAs for visibility, it’s crucial to have a direct booking page to capitalize on the exposure and ultimately build your brand.
A direct booking website offers the freedom to build your brand, a critical factor in earning guest loyalty, trust, and justifying higher prices in a saturated market.
For those experiencing returning customers, questions arise about the website’s effectiveness in showcasing availability and prices. Ensuring ease of direct contact and booking becomes paramount in retaining and expanding your audience.
Now, let me highlight some quick benefits of using our website solution. No longer do you need to invest in developing or hard coding designs. Our platform offers standard templates for quick replication and publication, simplifying updates to your property portfolio.
Additionally, the seamless flow of direct bookings through a single platform eliminates the complexity of managing multiple systems during the booking process.
If you’re interested in further discussions or a walkthrough of our product, I’m more than happy to assist at any time.
Thank you for your time and attention.”