182. What STR Hosts Get Wrong About Hospitality - Interview with Moira Sedgwick

24:28And if they disagree, that's okay too. That's also out of my control.

24:33Natalie Palmer:Can you like, in these couple of examples, the tree falling in the generator, there actually like was a genuine an issue, the water heater going out and the wet vac there. What about the guests that you just cannot please like you know, you've done nothing wrong, but they just make it impossible. Like what do you do in those situations? Yeah, sometimes the stars do not align. And I do have a good example of this. Even just recently, our cleaning team has just so refreshing to hear you guys even more out with all her training has the same pain points we do. Okay. Keep going. Things happen. Guests happen.

25:14Hosting happens and it's going to continue. And we're all just out here doing our best. And I think it's the mindset. Sometimes I can't respond right away when I get a guest like that. And if I'm responding quickly, I'm going to be a little bit sassy and not hospitality forward. So sometimes I can't respond in the moment. I can't do a knee jerk response. I have to do a breathing exercise. some box breathing. And then remember what my goals are that aren't necessarily their goals. And a good example of this is we did mess up. We had some sort of snafu in scheduling and a property was not cleaned in time for guest arrival.

25:53The guest arrived, they battled New York City traffic to get to the Poconos and they were ready to arrive and kick back. and the house was not ready. And we offered them the same things we would do for another guest, you know, a round of drinks at the local pub and seats reserved. They're like, no, we're fine. We're just going to sit in our cars and wait until your cleaners are done. Okay. And then, you know, we would do our regular checks. We have automated messages that come in and we also follow up with those messages as well. And if we feel like there's a situation, we may add additional communications.

26:34And this man said, you know what? You've been bugging me this whole time. Please do not send me another message. Okay. And I said, understood, enjoy your weekend and turned off every other automatic message. Somehow got a five-star review. I do not know how. We did do a gift delivery. Yeah. Okay. We did a gift delivery and I don't even remember what the gift was, but we did our best and it somehow worked. Your best was good enough. Amazing. Okay. Yeah. So you just are out there trying, you know? You just got to try your best.

27:18Natalie Palmer:Yeah. Yeah.

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27:51Natalie Palmer:Can you pivot to events a little bit? And I know the audience is mostly short-term rentals, but you've put on and produced some huge events outside of Level Up Your Listing. I mean, I don't know. We might be the smallest event you've even helped produce. You put on some huge food and wine festivals. Give us some insight into behind the scenes of that because I think that there's just so much that we can learn from events and being quick to respond and handling things of that capacity. Like if you can handle that, hosting a short-term rental guest for a weekend is a walk in the park. Yeah. And I think it always depends on who the guest is and there are a lot of parallels and I do events of all sizes.

28:31Sometimes it's a dinner party for eight and maybe there are eight celebrities that are really high touch, or maybe it's a festival or a summit for 300, like level up your listing, or maybe it's the South Beach Wine and Food Festival that has like 8 ,000 people in one event in one day and the festival is four days long. So it doesn't, the same approach can be executed on any of these. You really want to have what the schedule is. And that translates to short-term rentals of what is your cadence of messaging beforehand? Like how are we making all of our operations ladder up to having the guest feel taken care of before they arrive?

29:12And really, when we're building an event, we're looking at all those pieces. All of the pre-work for an event is to ensure an on-site guest experience is executed flawlessly. And if something comes up, because it always does, we'll do our best to pivot. But we've tried to eliminate as many obstacles as possible. And it's the same for your short-term rental. When you're doing regular maintenance, you're alleviating some of these problems that would show up on site. If you're thinking about the overall guest journey, then that's going to alleviate the problems on site. And that's what we're doing with an event.

29:48We will make an entire run of show, which is a minute by minute explanation of all the moving pieces of an event, because we're looking at what's the overall goal. Okay. If this is going to happen, if you're going to be on stage at four, what needs to happen to get you on stage? What needs to happen before that to get you on stage before you get on stage? And all of those different pieces, it's like, what happens before, what happens before, what happens before. And it's the same thing with short-term rentals. What happens when they book? What is your steps of service there? What's your order of operations?

30:22And then when they arrive to the house, what's their arrival sequence? And what is the whole guest journey? And that gives the framework of how you can approach all the other little small touch points. But you start big with the goal of what's going to happen. And then you walk back to dissect how you can get to each of those different pieces.

30:43Natalie Palmer:So in events, I feel like this is like more straightforward in a way. Like, you know, I'll keep going back to level up because that's my what I know. And we just came off of it. But so, you know, it's like, okay, so we've got our VIP party was like in the morning on Sunday. And so what happens before that is we got into that venue the night before to set up and everything. And there's like a schedule. And then it's the morning of what time is food arriving. Later, we have the welcome party that evening. So who's staying at the main venue to set that up at a short term rental. If you're trying to like pre plan this experience for your guests, you're not scheduling their entire like journey, right?

31:23Natalie Palmer:Like here, it's like very, like we're telling people like be like doors open at 8am, come here for this, like grab and go breakfast and then be in your seats by this time for this workshop. We're like really guiding them through like the minute by minute. But with a short term rental, you're not telling your guests like arrive promptly at 4pm for check in, you're going to walk up the stairs and like once you're here, turn on the fireplace and the TV. So when you're trying to give people like more flexibility, how are you still guiding them like through this journey that you envision. I hope my question makes sense on that.

31:56It does make sense. And it is about expectations of the guest and then anticipating their needs beyond those expectations as well. And we can't control when people arrive. We personally ask what time they are arriving to see if we can help in any way, shape or form. And we do also always have an inspector go through the property to make it easier for guests to come in. So lights are on. We do turn on a TV, depending on which TV it is. Maybe it's a fireplace on the TV. And giving that moment.

32:30Natalie Palmer:Okay. I like that. Because you're not going to start a fire before they like get there, but already just that like sets the vibe. I like that. Yeah. And particularly, so we do that for the Poconos in Baltimore for our properties here, we'll put jazz and art on the TVs here. So there's just something, but the lights are on low. Please have dimmers for all your lights. If you have, if I am a lighting snob and I second this, like every single switch in my house and in my properties has been converted to dimmers, every single one. And with smart lights now, it's so easy. So you can even set up, you know, timing and when the door opens, do this with that light.

33:11Anyway, we don't have to get ahead of ourselves. The idea is we're anticipating those needs. And because we do that inspection, a lot of times we have guests say, oh, we're later than expected. Will it be dark? It sure won't because we have all those lights on for you. It feels cozy. It feels homey already. You're not fumbling into a new place without knowing what's there. And in terms of dictating what they do next, we've thought of what the guest journey will be. We know I have one house in mind. It's a house in the Poconos. When you come in, if you're staying downstairs, you're going to go downstairs.

33:48And if you already know the house, you're going to go upstairs. But if you don't know the house, you're likely going to go into the first floor, explore what's there, then make your way upstairs. So we know how people go into a house and we know the flow. And thinking about that helps to think, you know, what are the things that we need to have? What doors should be open? What's that visual when they get in. And it's really thinking about what's the end goal, then what do you have to do walking it back to get there? And it's just like a grocery store. For the most part, grocery stores know how you're going to navigate the store.

34:23And it's not guaranteed, but it's anticipated. And then it sort of matches your expectations as well. And one of my favorite places to watch that happen is Trader Joe's. Everyone takes the same path. It is - Oh my gosh, you're right.

34:37Natalie Palmer:Yes. Yeah, you're right. Even when I go for like one specific thing and I know where it is and it's like eight aisles down, I still follow the same path every single time. Even if I know exactly where I'm going, why do I do that? It's the psychology behind, oh, to quote Tatiana, psychology of space. The psychology of space. Yeah, it's here. And it's also, IKEA is the same way. I mean, so many places are like this. They know the way that you're going to go. And you can deduce that too. You really know how you're directing folks and you're making the same suggestions. So you can think through how you want them to experience it.

35:17And you can certainly turn on a TV. You can turn on those lights. You can set those things ahead of time. And I don't know. We also like to leave like little surprises along the way too that aren't advertised. Like we know they're going to go this way. So we're going to surprise them with a s'mores kit here. We know they're going to go upstairs and then that's when they'll get like the welcome gift and they won't see that right away But then they'll be surprised thinking they've already seen their treats, but they get something else

35:43Natalie Palmer:I love that because yeah, I think to my like question earlier was like, you know With an event when everything is like scheduled and there's an itinerary you can plan These moments like at level up after lunch each day. We opened up like a candy bar And so it's like, okay, you need a little sweet treat pick me up and we have the timing of like when we're putting that out but I feel like in this case, you can almost benefit from like the element of surprise. Like, Hey, we're actually not handholding you through it. So there's going to be some little surprises for you to like discover on your own.

36:12Natalie Palmer:That's like such a cute way to take advantage of that. I feel like I love that. And it's surprise and delight. And that is something that is exceeding expectations and really giving people more than they're expecting, which is where you get that value add. And then people feel like, wow, I wasn't expecting this. It's more than I paid for. And it's just really that idea of giving people more than they expect. I would love to know how you grew your co-hosting business, Echelle Collective. So you had your property in the Poconos. And then how did you start to attract clients that fully supported you here?

36:50Natalie Palmer:I talked to one girl at Level Up who, she's trying to grow a property management business. And she was really telling me that she was shocked to see that there were no other large property managers at the summit. And she was like, I've seen a lot of co-hosts, but why am I the only established, brokered PM here? And I was telling her, for some reason, we just don't really attract that kind of crowd, unfortunately i think a lot of like old school legacy property managers like in the smokies or i'm in big bear we have some of those i'm sure you have those kinds of pms in the poconos yes they don't care if your property gets bed bugs like they'll just decommission it for a while and tell you to fix it and then when it's ready they'll relist it and with a boutique like co-host or a property manager that focuses on that they're going to come in and like help design the property put these gift baskets, put these moments and just take way more care to do these things to pre open the door for you.

37:53Natalie Palmer:Like the legacy property managers in our area literally make you drive to an office to pick up a physical key before you can even go check in, even if it's out of the way. Even if you've already passed your cabin, you're driving 30 more minutes into town through winter traffic with snow chains on to get your key and then go back. Like it's horrible, but they are the, they just dominate the market. And that's where a lot of people go by default. So how have you been able to craft and like find that clientele that like supports you in this and they understand that there may be some additional expenses, but like it's so worth it.

38:27Yeah. That PM experience is true in the Poconos as well. That just old school set of folks like bring your own sheets. Yeah. What?

38:38Natalie Palmer:I didn't know that that was a thing. Like, I don't think we do that on the West coast, but the first time I ever heard, I saw, I used to do, I don't do it anymore, but I used to do this like Q &A episodes. Maybe I should bring that back, but I used to on the podcast have people submit questions. And I got a question that said like, should I put sheets out for my guests? And I was like, what are they even talking about? And I researched this. This is a thing in the Northeast. I did not know this. Yeah. New Jersey, Cape Cod. Why? Is it just like too hard to do laundry there? Like I just, I truly like don't understand.

39:12Natalie Palmer:Like that to me is like minimum, like you're providing sheets. At a minimum. And I think this is where hospitality comes into play. And this is how the game has changed. This old school mentality is completely the opposite of hotels. And we are just on the same playing field. And again, we're trying to achieve hotel level care without hotel level staffing. And we do provide sheets. And now I actually forget what your question was. Oh, how did we grow? How did you find like-minded clients that support this mission and they're not just defaulting to the legacy property managers? Yes, I think a lot of it has to do with the evolution of truly Airbnb as a platform and getting folks to understand remote hosting and how properties have changed over time.

40:00So there was, I've seen a few things because I purchased my first home in 2013 and started hosting then. Then around 2021, 2022, we had more folks in the space because they were taking advantage of COVID pricing. And that was an incredible time, also an incredible time for people looking for destinations. And a lot of people would take anything as long as it had space and was not super far from the city, but that's what people wanted. And now so many guests have experienced Airbnb and now they're branching out to VRBO and now we have direct bookings and now there's all these other things. But the point is the consumers have gotten really educated.

40:44So with that, the homeowners need to have a level of education on their own as well to understand that they need to continue to evolve. And sometimes it's my responsibility to get them to understand that and bring them along with us on the journey. Sometimes it's my responsibility to let them go if they can't continue on that journey. And what's really nice is now we are expanding and looking for that alignment from the beginning. So it isn't a pivot we have to make a little bit later. And a big question we ask folks when we start working with them is like, what hotel brand do you identify with?

41:24And then from there, we can really talk about, you know, that level of hospitality identity and really making sure that if you're going to identify as a Ritz-Carlton or a Four Seasons, that we're not delivering anywhere close to a Motel 6 experience. And to understand that brand identity, which get a branding guide. I work with the Olive Jar. Don Asher is incredible. And that really helps you understand what your identity is. So you can start to plan for the property that you want to bring you the revenue that's needed to bring you the types of guests that you desire. So you're not getting these folks that are expecting a bare bed without sheets.

42:03So we're properties that are looking for the ideal guests because we've made that groundwork and that framework. And we really have to ask our clients at the beginning if they understand that. We do have a little questionnaire to weed people out. And sometimes we'll take a call with them even after that, if we feel like there may be a fit, but that conversation has to happen. So we understand who are you going to be in the marketplace? Do you even understand the marketplace? The worst is when someone comes to us and they're like, I just furnished this house. we got to get it on the market. And I'm like, whoa, you're like eight steps too fast.

42:41No one even likes that furniture. I'm so sorry. And they really missed the car that they should be and sometimes it's just, they don't get a call back, which is not super great. We do want to ensure that people are aligned with our level of hospitality. And to your point earlier, our level of an investment, because it's always an investment when you're putting together a beautiful hotel. And if you think about it, would you want to go to a hotel where they're just doing budget level, entry level furnishings, and then they'll deal with the rest later when they cashflow? Absolutely not. I don't want to stay there.

43:17One of my prerequisites is that I have to do an audit there anywhere from three days to five days. And I can't stay one night in a place that isn't comfortable and well-designed.

43:29Natalie Palmer:So if you can't even pass the first night test, I'm not staying long enough to audit you for three to five days. Like I'm out. That's great. Yeah. That's what I want people to do is understand what their identity is and who they're going to be, how we can make all of that ladder up to this beautiful experience. So your guests are coming back to us and they're remembering how we made them feel. And we want them to feel special in these places. You shouted out Dawn, which I had no idea when I met you when you connected with us that Dawn is a good friend of yours. We've had Dawn on the podcast. She was one of our rising stars this year.

44:04Natalie Palmer:So shout out Dawn. I'll link her to episodes that she's been on in the show notes if you want to check her out. But I think that that's a really good point you bring up. Like if it starts with branding first and you've aligned with the client on that, you don't have to do the awkward pivot later of like, wait a second, like you were expecting just like basic econo lodge like accommodations and I'm trying to like turn you into the local Ritz Carlton equivalent. Like this is, this is a mismatch. So I think that that's great advice. And then what are the services that you kind of like offer within your property management?

44:43Natalie Palmer:So you're doing, I mean, I'm sure that there's an additional cost to this, but like, I'm sure you'd recommend like a design refresh. Like what is all encompassing for you to give like the level of guest experience that you want to? Yeah. So the ideal client has not started any of their own decor and someone new rather than like taking over. They already try to DIY it and now you have to go back and fix things. You know, I won't put myself into that corner. I will say both are okay as a refresh is always possible. And some of our clients have come from a total refresh. I think the understanding is whether you're new or you're a refresh, we're going to make you a brand identity first, which is where our partnership with the Olive Jar comes into play.

45:28And then we'll work on that hospitality design once we understand what your identity is. And then we can really build out all of those touch points. Again, if it's a refresh and we're working with what you have, that's always customizable based on what's there. And then the other side of things is maybe you're an up and running property that does really well, but you want some tweaks. We also do hospitality consulting to get you that up level in service. And maybe it is some recommendations on decor. So those would be our three pillars in addition to hosting. We have the design, then we have the hosting, and then we have the hospitality consulting.

46:05Natalie Palmer:Okay. Got it. Maura, I think we're coming up on time. So I'll start to wrap up here. But is there, I just think you're so like fascinating to talk to like the way that you've blended like so many parts of the hospitality world, I like forever find interesting and like how we can make our STRs better from like what you've learned from events and vice versa. I love all of it. Is there, if somebody you mentioned the setting the table book, are there any other like resources that you can like highly recommend for somebody that just wants to dive all in on hospitality. Like this is just your world.

46:38Natalie Palmer:So like give us like the spiel and the pitch and shout out like what you went to right now. Jeez Louise, I wish I was a little bit more prepared. I'm so sorry. Also, I could give you more time to think about this and we can like put some book recs in the show notes or whatever you want to, whatever you recommend. Yeah. You know what? I will say that I'll give some more thought to books. I do love Danny Myers setting the table for sure is old school hospitality. And then I like to think a lot about mindset and expansion because that also helps us in hospitality to not get so ground down, particularly when we have a difficult guest.

47:18We think about like, what would I love? What would I love this guest to walk away with? And some authors I like are Kathleen Cameron and Bob Proctor. And those are just expansive folks that are looking at beautiful big lives anyway, but really this intentionality of like, what would I love? I would love my guests to feel really happy and to walk away with a beautiful experience. So coming back to that. And then I think following those folks on social media as well will give you new ideas. I also love to follow hotel brands and see what they're doing because that always sparks my brain and we're all on social media so much it might as well do something good for us so do follow those bigger brands and then follow those cutie niche hotel brands as well I personally love to follow the cliffs in Hocking Hills they have such a stuff property everyone knows if you're in the STR space and And really do not forget, do not sleep on what big hotels are doing because you can implement those things.

48:20I can help you with that also. So they're giving away these little nuggets all the time. Also go stay at a five-star property at least once and see what they do. It's a write-off.

48:30Natalie Palmer:It's a write-off. You're going there for R &D. Yes, exactly. You can take them with you, go together. Your choice. Yeah. Bring Maura with you so she can help you audit the place appropriately. Maura, if somebody wants to book one of these hospitality consultations with you, or if they have a property they want to bring to A Chalet Collective, where can I direct people? Where should we send them? We are on the worldwide web at achaletcollective.com or on Instagram at achalet.collective. Okay. We'll link that. Perfect. And they can book a consultation with you as well through there? Yes, ma 'am.

49:10Natalie Palmer:Okay, wonderful. Maura, thank you so much. I just can't wait to continue working with you and bring you back for Level Up next year. Everything you were saying of just doing triage and stuff, we know we had some fires behind the scenes. I hope nobody listening to this who attended Level Up sensed anything. I think we put on a good front-facing presence, but of course, there was things in the background and you were just such a level-headed presence for Tatiana and I just to be like, it's not the end of the world. It's okay. Let me go talk to whatever and deal with it. And so I just can't thank you enough.

49:45Natalie Palmer:And we can't wait to have you back for next year. And with that, it is now checkout time. Thanks for listening. And I'll see you back here next week. Lastly, as Airbnb hosts, we all can appreciate a good five-star review. So you already know a great review on this podcast would mean so much to me. Please subscribe, review, share, and connect with me in the show notes below. Bye.