Cold open

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb live, the share economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Thrive. I'm your host, Stevie Stax, coming at you from Fort Worth, Texas. And we have a great show ahead of you on this episode 283 of your favorite short-term, mid-term, long-term middle podcast of the world. And real quick, shout out to my buddy Brian Wynne at the Muse Coffee. He's the one that keeps me caffeinated and keeps this show going amazingly. Uh, you know, all jittery and stuff sometimes. But fun. We have fun. No, this stuff, this stuff is the greatest coffee you'll ever have in your life. The Muse Coffee. T A you go look it up online, themuse.co, and get you uh some some of the best coffee you ever had. I'm drinking an espresso right now and I'm loving it. And uh just smell the beans, it's so wonderful. Anyway, shout out to Brian. Go to themusecoffee.co and he will hook you up if you put L L T on there somewhere. All that magical internet stuff. But enough of that. We have a special guest, uh Miss Tayan, like Kayan Pepper, T-Y-A-N-N. I should ask the rest of her name, Marcinc. Uh Hammond is going to be.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Stevie, it's think Mars and a Sink.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Mars. So Marsink. Okay. Is that is that French? So what is that?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

No, um, I believe it's like a German, Polish, Russian. It's it's my first husband's last name. So kept it so that my kiddos would have the same name as me. Um, and then added Hammond when I got remarried.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Awesome. T M H. Yeah. So yes, thank you for joining us. And she's from Touch Sky. And I will read a little bit about her before she jumps in and starts telling us all about the greatness that she's doing in this wonderful, wonderful industry of ours. So, who is she? Well, I will tell you. She is the queen of guest experience with Touch Stay Digital Guidebooks, owns and manages two brands totaling 16

The bank with the vault laundry room

SPEAKER_02 2:27

properties currently, including my bank, where you can legally launder in the Ozarks. Uh, can't wait to hear what that's about. And another six plus being built this year, started in 2007 with her first purpose-built vacation rental, industry leader and speaker. Welcome to the show, Tyane.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Thank you so much. I probably should have updated that because those properties have launched. Uh, so we are at 21. We're setting up number 22 uh this next week over the two brands. And as you know, you read, one of them is my bank where you can legally launder in the Ozarks. It's a bank building with original vaults, two original vaults, built in 1902. So when I took it over, I completely rehabbed it. And just so you know, a little little known fact that you can put away in case you ever need to get into a early 1900s bank vault, the drill bit will need to be 30 inches long.

30-inch drill bit to crack a 1902 bank vault

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Wow. 30 inches. That's what that's what that's the equipment you're gonna need to bring with you. Um, so yeah, did that. Um, you can now stay in that bank. Um, it's a four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms. The laundry room is in the vault. The look on the appliance delivery guys' faces was absolutely priceless. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

You can I get it now. You can legally launder money, you can go wash money inside that bank. You know what I'm saying? I heard Ozarks, so I was like, you know, everybody knows the show. I was like, oh, okay. So it's uh, yeah, we we know what goes on in the Ozarks, but yeah, you're being cheeky there. Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

You're very welcome.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

So, so um, you mentioned off the bat, and and I wanna I want to dive into so many things because you know, we got guidebooks, you got the two brands, you got all this fun stuff, but guest communication study. You you mentioned a guest communication study. Let's jump into that because I I mean I've been doing

25 touchpoints between booking and arrival

SPEAKER_02 4:34

this for a year, a few years now. I know how important it is to say the right things and not piss off the guests and to to make them happy. And so go into this study that you that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

So this summer, Touch Day Digital Guidebooks did a the very first of its kind. Um, we call it the guest communication study. And this is something that I have experimented with over the decade plus that I've been hosting guests. I started back 2007. So, you know, I'm in year number 17 and had to learn how important communication is. And when people hear how many touch points I have of communication after a guest books, they're like, holy smoke, no way. Isn't that annoying? Why do you do that? Um, I am Stevie, I'm up to 25 points by the time they arrive. So between booking and arrival, I will touch my guests an average of 25 times. And the I had just had this gut feeling, and as I did this, you know, it it's increased my revenue, it's increased repeat guests, um, better guest satisfaction. And yes, I can talk all day and every day about my gut feeling, but there are those folks, and they're like, okay, show me the data. What does the data actually say? So this summer, Touch Day said, you know what? We're gonna get that data to back up exactly what you felt, Diane. So it's like, yes, this is awesome. Okay, so we surveyed um over 2,000 guests that are travelers who stayed in vacation rentals. So specifically, they had to say they had to stay in a vacation rental that they are a traveler. Um, we had a third party conduct the survey for us so that this would not be bent any which way. So we would get that really good data and some really cool findings. Um what we asked them um included things like how many messages did you receive from your host when you stayed? Um, this was um this was disappointing on when I us as hosts and property managers, because the guests said 60% of

80% of guests receive forgettable or zero messages

SPEAKER_03 6:43

them only received one or two messages between the time of booking and arrival. 20% of them said, well, they didn't remember receiving any messages or they didn't receive any messages at all. So, Stevie, that's 80% that the guests said they received or did not receive messages that were forgettable. Now, do you want to be forgettable or do you want to be unforgettable? Okay, so think about that. It's like, wow, okay, so just the fact that you could just send one or two more messages to your guest and you are into that top 20%. Now we also asked the guest, well, how did you feel? And then we correlated that to how many messages they received. When the guests received 11 or more messages, you know how many of them said that they did not feel very well taken care of?

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Zero.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Yep, zero, zero guests. Now, the sweet spot and how they felt take taken care of was that three to five messages. That's that's the sweet spot. Three to five is what we found. Um, the other cool thing is the more messages you send, the more things that your guests find to do in the area. So when you go from just one to two to three to five to

Guests who get 6+ messages book 40% more nights

SPEAKER_03 8:08

sorry, one to two to six plus messages, that increased by 15%. And when they said how many more upsells and add-ons they purchased, that increased by 20%. And when they said how many more nights they booked, if they received six or more messages after they booked before they arrived, 40% of guests said they booked more nights.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

Yeah. Now I this the the the and now I'm rounding the data just slightly. So the actual numbers to the point are going to be in the guest communication study. Um if you go to touchday.com, you'll see that. Um the thing is, is more than half of the guests felt they did not feel very well taken care of. And when I saw that, it's like we're in hospitality that where we're supposed to be taking care of people. And as you know, I go through, you know, I've gone through hosting thousands upon thousands of guests. And then this communication study shows yes, communication is so important to one that the guest feels well taken care of, that we're doing our job as hospitality providers. Um, and it's brings us more revenue as well. It's a win-win-win when that win is a third, is our bank account, you know, and then be when we're profitable, we can stay in business and continue to do what we do.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Oh, yes, communicate as they say, communication is key. Uh, it's been beaten, you know, into us for so long. And and and you're right, man. I mean, I'm just thinking of my own stays, you know. And um, you know, going back back in the day, hotels, they never really sent you any messages, of course. Um, Airbnbs back back in the well, yeah, it's it's not too common because I you know I still use Airbnbs, and I don't yeah, it's not too common. We do we schedule messages for our guests, you know, and then we do but we don't do, yeah, like you said, that sweet spot, maybe three to five. We we we stay around maybe like you said, maybe three or maybe around three messages, um a welcome message, you know, and has all the stuff that they need, and then we have a message like uh a day or so later saying that hey, you know, we hope you we hope you settled in nicely or we hope you're enjoying the place. And then there's like exit message, it might be one in between. Um, I need to get with my team and see where we're at with those um those can canned messages. But but I just automatically think I automatically think back to like when I when I stayed at uh at this uh at this um kind of like condo uh uh this this little resort, whatever in Maui. I just I just I don't know when you were talking, I just and automatically thought of this. I would get text messages from the from the front desk, hey, they're gonna do like a little uh uh they're gonna make lays over there, you know, tomorrow uh today at whatever three o'clock. Hey, they're making these these little those little you know, those little necklaces they make out of nuts or whatever those things are. I forgot what are the cuckooy nuts, whatever. And um they just they just kept me like, oh cool, there's some there's some things going on, and I can take I'm gonna take the family. Had a great time, you know. Otherwise, I just what do we do? I don't know, open up Google something, let's just go do something, you know. But but those little messages helped me like, wow, did they really took care of me? You know, they really made sure we were doing things. And uh, I don't know, that that just stuck out.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

No, that absolutely. And the thing is, is they know their guests, they know their target guests, they know you, they know it's it's a family coming in and they're gonna be looking for things to do. And so they made sure to communicate with you in the way that was best. Um, the other part of the communication study is we ask guests what type of messages that they want to receive during that journey between booking and then throughout departure. So vast majority email in the pre-journey.

Text during stay, email before and after

SPEAKER_03 12:06

So after booking, they want communications and emails and then some OTA online travel agent messaging. So that's your verbo Airbnb messaging platforms. And then once it gets real close to the stay and during the stay, they want to flip to the text messages. They don't want to be checking email, they're happy to have text messages, and then after they depart, they want to go back to emails. But the really interesting too is also the age of the guests affected what their answer was. And when you have the older, I say older, 55 plus, and I'm gonna be there in a decade or so. Um, they want a phone call. They they're like happy. They're like, Yeah, give us a phone call. We want to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

I I don't know what you mean because like when you when you do call one of your guests for whatever reason, and I do sometimes still, you know, even though I got my team and we got over 50 properties. I still every now and then I'll call because of something. And then yeah, the older ones that just want to talk your ear off and tell them, tell you all about themselves and and what they're in town for or what they're doing, and their whole family. I'm like, okay, cool. You know, I I I'm a I I converse a little bit, so I'm cool with it. But I'm like, yeah, you're right, you know, the and the and the the younger ones are like, What the what the hell are you doing calling me? Why didn't you text me? You know, they they want to see a text message, but we got to text them first and then warn them, hey, by the way, I'm gonna call you. Just this me, you know. Oh, okay, cool. But but the older ones are the hey, what's going on? Or they'll call you directly, what's going on? You know, that just old school, yeah, old school.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah, and I like so I, you know, I said I have two brands of um properties in Missouri. So my big properties, four to ten bedrooms in size, I it's mainly three, four generation families that I focus on. And those are at Table Rock Lake, Branson, Missouri. And we call every single guest after arrival. We pick up the phone, we call them because we know our target guest. And it's usually generation three or even four, is the one who's actually paid the bill. They're the ones that have booked, and they're the ones we're building that relationship with. But then our other brand in Missouri wine country, the historical houses, those we don't call, we text them because it is more of the folks anywhere between 25 and 45, usually, who have booked the house, and we know that's the target guest who's come in and the things that they're going to do, and that they want a text.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Yeah. Knowing your more you know in your target avatar or target yeah, bark it is very, is very um, very, very uh you gotta do it. I can't even think of the word.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Well, why don't we just say profitable?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Profitable. That's a good word. It's my favorite word. Exactly. And I'll tell you something too, real quick, you know. Um, so we have a mix of units here. That's a differ DFW area, right? We got Fort Worth and we got Dallas. Dallas ones, Dallas is a little more edgy, a little more grungy, a little more, but it's in close to downtown. A lot of young young people want to be there. Older people too, but the older people that want to go, they don't want to stay in grungy type, you know, the urban settings. And so we actually restructured everything on our on our um, we put all those, you know, the these little, these fun little um uh one bedrooms and uh, you know, efficiencies. Um, we we market it and called it youthful stays, and we we turned it into this whole thing, and we actually, you know, we worded it, you know, this is for adventurous, you know, backpackers, uh, nomads, whatever, trying to say, hey, old people, don't book these because you're not gonna like them. You're gonna leave us a bad review, it's gonna be bad, don't do it, you know. But the youngsters love staying there because, right, you know, they can walk to downtown, it's exactly where they want to be, and they don't mind a little bit of the the gritty nitty-gritty Dallas, you know what I'm saying? So, but Fort Worth, it's really you know, higher end. We we we like the older, you know, ones to book there, and they they it works, you know, we market to them. It's it's it's very important.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Absolutely, and you've you've found that niche, and I'm sure that you know, as you said, oh gosh, we don't want the bad reviews. So you're focusing on those younger folks, and this is you're saying exactly who it's for. You probably went through a little bumps to get to that point, which you know, trial and error, hard knocks, school of hard knocks, it you figure it out. Um, so that but the sooner you figure it out, the the more profitable you are.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

There's that word again. Um so that brings us to guidebooks. So you you have uh two brands of guidebooks?

TouchStay digital guidebooks walkthrough

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Is that what you said?

SPEAKER_03 16:41

No, two brands of property management companies.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Oh, okay. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

So the guidebooks are Touch Day. It's Touch Day Digital Guidebooks. Um, it's in its 10th year, uh, based out of London. And um, it's actually a key part of my guest communication flow. And it's so so Stevie, at your properties, I bet you have some type of manual or guide about the property, the area, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

Right, right. Yeah, we we utilize the well, the Airbnb guidebook, you know.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Ah, okay. That's the best one, but you know, exactly, because you're not using Touch Day yet.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

Hook me up, sister. Come on.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Yeah, I know. Okay, so Touch Day is, I mean, yes, I'm absolutely biased. Um, and I will admit that. Um, but it is it was used by over three million guests this past year. It's in over 30 countries and over 35,000 guidebooks created. Uh, so it is fantastic. Um, it's beautiful, it's sexy, it's simple, and all generations love using it. Um, it is something that you, as a host property manager, can send to your guests immediately upon booking so that they can start getting to know the property, getting to know the area, getting to know things to do. So then they buy upsells and they add on nights because they realize there's more things to do. Um, and it's not something they have to download. They don't have to access any special thing with the login or anything like that. Um, because it's it's a link and it's a PWA, which is fancy progressive web app is what it is. Super fancy sounding, but you just send them a link, text, email, however it is you want to send it. You send it through the Airbnb messaging platform, even after they book and they access it on their own device, any web browser, they've got it in their pocket and it's completely branded to you. So your colors, your photos, your logo, your contact information, and you organize it so it communicates with your guest in the way that you need to.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Nice, nice. Can you send me a link to that? I want to look at it. I want to look at it on my phone. Can you send me a link to one right now?

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'll do one of mine. I will text that over to you. And this will be the guide for my largest house, my sky retreat.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Actually, you know what? Could you share it on your laptop and then we can, you know, on the YouTube, they can see what's going on with this thing.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

I sure can.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

We gotta be more uh, you know, vocal, vocally expressive for the for the podcast listeners, you know, the ones driving in their car right now.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Okay, we can do that. Um the cool thing, we just we just um released some really cool updates as well. So embeds. Like I have a Spotify playlist for road trip because my guests um drive.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Oh, cool. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

Um, and you can embed forms and matter port tours, all kinds of things. So, okay, share screen. Um, this is the one I want.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

There we go.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

All right. It says, wow, lots of great content here.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Loading. Okay. So now on a phone, it'll look a little bit narrower, obviously, um, because I just I just shrunk my main browser window. But you can see it's my branding, my logo, my colors, all of that. Um, and it's your guide to lake life. Now, Stevie, do you have folks who guests who come in who speak different languages?

SPEAKER_02 20:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

Okay, cool. So, what you can do is you can also do translations. I've got Google Translate because I don't have a lot of guests that come in that speak other languages, uh, so they can do whatever they want, but there's also native translations. So if you decided, hey, I got a whole bunch of folks, my guests, who come in and they speak Spanish, you can have a complete version in Spanish that you've done for them. So you don't have to rely on Google, and it will automatically pull up on their phone as Spanish instead of English.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Yeah. Okay, so get started and all these block widget blocks information. You can do what you want. Um, I'll show you that Spotify playlist. I tell my guests to prepare for their adventure. Details how to travel. You got your road trip playlist, uh, and you can embed that in there, and they can uh we've had lots of guests um play it as they're coming in. We're usually three to nine hours drive, it's lots of fun. And I send this um by text to them two days before arrival. So that's one of my touch points. And it comes through from Touch Day. Touchday has what's called memo, and you can schedule text and emails to go out to your guests, and they include deep links to sections of your guidebook. Um, but you can do photos, you can do video. This is where my video tour is about the property, so they can see where they're all going to sleep with 10 bedrooms. You've got a large family, and everybody's got to figure out where to sleep. Um, your arrival information. Um, and then the night of the arrival, they get a text asking them Hey, is everything good? How was Your arrival and they can rate their check-in. I find out right away if something is wrong, so I can take care of it. Like the summer, super embarrassing. Stevie, oh my gosh. Yes, my title is Queen of Guest Experience, but one of my guests

Three-star first impression from a missed dirty diaper

SPEAKER_03 22:18

found a dirty diaper behind a bedroom door that my team had missed. So we got a three-star first impression. But what happened is we were able to then immediately call the guest, get it taken care of, and it didn't fester throughout their stay and end up in a bad review in the end. So this was really good.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

That's a good idea.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Yep. So yeah, Wi-Fi inside the house, outside amenities, hot tub. We do videos how to remove the hot tub cover, how to use the controls, all of that. Um, and then let me come down here to shop our place. So we have a lot of guests who love our pillows. So we have this job form, it's embedded in here, and our guests can buy the pillows and we drop ship them to them. Um, they can order a charcuterie board before arrival, they can get some swag, they can get a gift certificate. Um, and it's all right here in the guidebook, too.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Oh, that's awesome.

unknown 23:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

And then you've got the map. The map is awesome where it has our local recommendations pinned. Sorry, my connection here at home is very slow tonight and very cold. How cold is it there, Dallas Fort Worth?

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Right now outside it's about 25 degrees, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Okay, okay. I think I think we're around 10 or so, something like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

It is cold.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

All right. So all these pins are um, you pin them yourself, but it's tied to Google Places. So it only takes about two or three seconds per place because we don't let AI choose anything. If you say, hey, AI, what's the best restaurant? Could totally say subway. And we know that's all a lie. So we don't do that. Um, so but we pull all the information from Google Places, so it's really easy to do. Um, so you can pin anything, and then your guests can filter down to if they just want to see golf, if they just want to see grocery shopping, and then you can even add notes to it. So, like Harter House is the best place for meat and the biggest wine selection. Um, if they were to hit get directions, it takes them directly to the spot. Are you gonna hit read more and it's more information pulled from Google? Um, and then all the information they need, like hours, phone number, location, everything. Then what a lot of guidebooks don't have is search. So if the guest just wants the look at your guide, it's like, well, I just want to find the Wi-Fi real quick. They don't want to open their eyes and look, they can just search for it and it's right there, and then you go directly to it and they can pull it up and get the info they need.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Okay, can you search pizza or is that just whatever's inside the guidebook thing?

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Um, I can well, yes, because I've got lots of pizza in my guide.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Oh, sweet.

SPEAKER_03 25:23

And guess, Stevie, pizza is my other example whenever I show people too. I either type in pizza or Wi-Fi.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

When you know, and it's it's funny. I I I brought it's a pat on my back. Funny I brought it up. But pizza, it's like when I'm on vacation, uh I I don't want to have a pizza, I don't want to have dominoes or what I always have at home. You know, I want to I want to know where the best local pizza is. You know, that's a big thing for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

Yep, absolutely.

unknown 25:50

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

So yeah, that's that's the two-minute tour of Touch Day Digital Guidebooks. Um, it's it's incredible. It really is. And um, we integrate with all kinds of different property management software, but you don't have to have an integration to use it. Uh, it's a standalone product. And then when you're integrated, that's when you get to use more of the features. Like I can when I send this to a guest, um, it's specifically for them. It's a link, and I can drop their name into the welcome. So I can have it to say, you know, welcome Stevie to Sky Retreat. And I can have your dates of stay and all of that. And then you can use memo. So, like one of my memo texts that go out includes the door code. So the morning of arrival, an automatic text goes out and says, Hey, we're looking forward to your arrival tonight. Um, don't forget, here's your door code.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

That is so cool. Yeah, and one thing that stands out to me is because even though we have all, you know, the Google and the technology and and um AI, like you mentioned, uh people still love to ask other living human beings in the flesh what's what's a cool place to go, what's a good place to eat, what's a you what should I do here? You know, they just they still love to get a word of mouth. Word of mouth, I think it's even more powerful now than it used to be, you know. Because yeah, because I mean I'm gonna trust you. I never been there. I'm not gonna just Google something, and people, you know, those businesses can pay money to Google and make themselves rank higher and all that crap, and then put fake reviews and say they're good. But anyways, but I ask you, and you like, oh man, our favorite pizza place is this. And I'm like, I'm going to that place, you know? And and so I just think that's yeah, it this is another reason why why these um guidebooks are so powerful.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

And the great thing too is, you know, it doesn't matter where your guests come from. If it comes if they book you on Airbnb, if they book you on verbo, they book direct. This is you know, separate from those platforms that you can send it to your guests and utilize it for every single guest and give them an amazing experience with you. And you are saying, hey, you booked with us, we're not Airbnb, we're not verbo. Hey, you booked with Stevie and hit their really awesome grunge studio efficiency places downtown, and this is the best thing to do, and yeah, okay, here's some things to watch out for, but you know, just say yo and all good.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

I need to hire you to do our commercials, by the way. Just just say yo and all good, and then it's all good, right? Speak speak their language, just say yo, they'll they'll understand what you're saying. Um, no, this is really cool. This is really cool, and and um, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna hit I'm gonna hit you up on this touch day. Maybe you'll give me a good discount. Maybe you give all of our fans a good discount on this thing.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

We can hook you guys up.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

All right, yes. I mean, how can I just ask price? Is that is that allowed on a podcast? Can I ask price? What is it?

SPEAKER_03 29:04

I mean, it's your podcast, so we can do it whatever, you know. Um, yeah, so no, actually, this is this would be interesting. So, TV, Stevie, how much do you think it costs?

$99 per year per guidebook, drops to $24 at scale

SPEAKER_02 29:14

A million dollars.

SPEAKER_03 29:17

Yeah, is that by another 10 or 20 million?

SPEAKER_02 29:24

How much for a guidebook for a place? Uh that's a good question. Uh 100 bucks. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Oh, you're right. $99 for a year for one guidebook.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Oh, nailed it.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

You did. The second one's half price. It's $49.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

Now you can do monthly, but it it costs a little more when you do monthly. But when you commit to a year, you get $99. And that includes the memo text and everything.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

So somebody, you know, bought one of your, you know, pillows or a piece of art or something that pays for itself, right?

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Exactly. But what's even cooler is the time it saves you because you're answering the guest questions before they even ask them. So more than gosh, we just did our NPS national promoter score, net promoter score, I'm sorry. And I believe I have double check, I want to say about 70% said they save, they cut their time managing guests by 50% or more. So what can you do with the time you save to be more profitable in your business? Because you just gave all of that, not all of the communications, but you increased your operational efficiency by using Touch Day Digital Guidebooks and even the memo feature too.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

Yeah, you're right. Time is money. Time is money for sure. So it goes from 99 to 49 for the second one. And then does it drop again after the uh you go to number 50, number 100?

SPEAKER_03 30:56

Uh-huh. It sure does. It sure does. So, you know, when you get up to, I think, gosh, Stevie, you probably have what 500 properties or so. So at that point, I mean, what $24 a year per property per property that cheap.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Okay, there's my goal right there. Hit 500 properties for that $24 discount.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Um, yeah, touchstay.com. All right, cool. Enough of the infomercial, tie in.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Uh I'll just get it.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

No, this is really cool. I'm gonna I'm gonna look at I'm definitely, I always tell my guests I'm gonna look at their thing, but I am gonna look at this afterwards and and try my my free uh trial, right? Yeah, free trial.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

Yep, free trial.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

All right, cool, cool, cool. Um, so you had mentioned also you you you've you got in this at 2007. That's a long time ago. That's before. Well, that's this is okay. Vacation rentals have been around forever, guys. You know, not we always think the world started at Airbnb, not really.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Um so what made it started back, I think, about 2000, no about yeah, 80, around year zero, when I think

Building vacation rentals since 2007 while pregnant

SPEAKER_03 32:05

there was this small family who went into Bethlehem and they were told there was no room in the inn, so they had to go find another place to stay. And it was a really cool barn cave, one of those, you know, it had the animals' whole experience.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

And then Jesus gave him a four-star review. Uh, you know, he's a little tough on them, but the review smelly, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

There's a slight smell.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Some barnyard smell going on.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Uh yes, um, I've been around a while, 2007. Um, when I was, what was it, seven, eight months pregnant with my third son, signed the contract to build the first house, purpose-built house, four bedrooms, four bathrooms. And I made the very specific decision to make sure I slept at least 14 people. Because looking at the area, when you slept up to 12 people, there was tons of competition. You were against two and three-bedroom condos. But once you slept 14 people, the competition dropped to 12. Only 12 properties, half of those owned by my family.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Whoa.

SPEAKER_03 33:17

My aunt and uncle got into it first, and then my parents the next year, and then I got into it. Then my parents built two more, and then my aunt and uncle said, Well, we'll meet your two seven bedrooms, and we're gonna build an eight-bedroom. And then my parents said, Okay, well, we're gonna build two more seven bedrooms fast forward. And um, my aunt and uncle have a big property management company, my parents have five large homes. You know, I have my small property management companies, and two of my brothers and my sister are all in the business. Each of us our own businesses, we're competitors, houses directly across the street from each other. It's lots of fun.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

Wow, that is cool. That's a friendly competition amongst family. That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

It is, it makes for great holiday dinner stories.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Oh, we grossed 100,000 this year, not bragging.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Um we're shooting for two million.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Oh, never mind, never mind. We a month. I meant a month. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

Yeah, you got you guys.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Um, so so where are these located again?

SPEAKER_03 34:18

If you could refresh those, the big ones are down in Branson, Missouri, Table Rock Lake. And then my smaller properties, the historical properties, including the bank, is over in Missouri wine country.

Missouri wine country saved European vineyards in the 1800s

SPEAKER_02 34:32

See, I never never even heard of Missouri wine country.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Well, you're like most people. Um, we are an hour west of St. Louis, uh, right next to the Augusta area. And Augusta was the first dedicated wine country in the United States, August of 1980. I say it's in celebration of my birth earlier that year. And Napa Valley was second.

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_03 34:59

Now, other little known trivia, since I love my little known trivia, and we're gonna pack this this episode full of it. Also, the Missouri wine industry saved the entire European wine industry in the 1800s.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Okay, this does ring a bell. How did this how did this happen?

SPEAKER_03 35:17

Yes. So, what happened is this little bug that got into the roots, the van, the vines in over in France and just started eating it away. And of course, they're losing the vineyards left and right because of this little pest. Um, but over in Missouri, um, where agriculture, they've been studying things and they realized that this little pest bug hated the roots of the Missouri vines. So we sent rootstock, hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of rootstock, over to France. They grafted it onto their vineyards and to get rid of the pest um and save the wine industry.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

That is so cool. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Thank you, Missouri, for saving wine for the world, or French wine, anyways.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

That is that is cool. So, so okay. So people go there for the wine experience, kind of like Napa. Is is that it? I mean, it's kind of like that.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

I mean, um, no, no, it's not well, yeah. Okay, so yes and no. I mean, you go for the wines, yes. Um, they people call our wines Hillbilly wines. Um, they have awards, but not not quite as many as California. Uh, but it's it's an experience. I mean, there's live music every single weekend year-round, even when it's cold outside. You know, you get out on the deck and you drop the plastic sheets and you bring out the heaters and you still go outside and enjoy your wine and the music. And um, we don't have as many number of wineries, but we do have quite a few. Um, one over in Herman, Missouri, where that I was actually born in Herman. Um, they have the largest and oldest under arched underground cellars in the world. In the world, or maybe it's in the country, yeah. But they and it's um, yeah, so that was pre-brohib prohibition, all of that. Um, and during prohibition, they grew mushrooms and then they were back to wine.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

There's a pivot right there.

SPEAKER_03 37:18

I know.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

That is cool. Now, do you leave bottles of wine for your guests?

SPEAKER_03 37:24

We do, yes, yes, approved by insurance, take care of all that, um, specifically for the the properties who are on the wine trail, uh, because we know where they're coming for the wine. Um, other properties we we don't. We do other things like coffee, um, such as your sponsor, Muse. You might do that for your your folks. Um, we make sure there's local coffee in all of our places, and then other things that are very specific to our target guest. So we're very aware of that and and meet those needs and wants.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

Nice, nice, nice. I like I like that. You you yeah, you cater to the different needs of different guests. That's that's a theme in this show. Big time.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

It is, yes.

SPEAKER_02 38:09

Um, and so, and so you like you own, do you own all your properties?

SPEAKER_03 38:14

Not all of them. No, I own six of them. Uh, so two of them, two in wine country, and then four down in Branson. Uh, the big 10-bedroom. Plus, we did um the six-bedroom with private indoor pool and spa. And then this summer we did two houses and we added container pools to the backs of those. So we're the only ones in the Branson area with the container pools with the windows on the side, the cool automatic covers. We got some mermaids contacting us for a little retreat. Lots of fun.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Wow, real life mermaids, that's cool. Um I I was just, I was just um, I remember, I remember around around COVID times, right? A lot of people struggled in the in the short-term rental, uh, vacation rental industry. But I remember my friends that they were going on these trips where they could take like two or three families, and they were going to like um the Ozarks and stuff like that, and they were staying at these huge places, like you said, like six, 10 bedrooms, whatever. And I'm like, man, I could just imagine your places did amazing at that time.

SPEAKER_03 39:17

We did. We, I mean, when COVID started, we thought, oh my gosh, what's gonna happen? And that's we were literally in the middle of setting up that 10-bedroom house. Uh, but we embraced it and we actually pretty much lived down there and just set it up slowly, which was very nice to take, you know, a month or so to set it up versus other houses. We usually take about a week or so. And and then around middle of May, I mean, just everything opened up, you know, travel-wise. And Missouri never closed. You know, our governor's like, hey, use your common sense and it's all good. And so everybody decided, yep, we're coming. And it was fantastic. Uh 2021, the same, 2022, even bigger. It just grew and grew. Uh, 2023, we struggled, you know, we didn't struggle, but we definitely dipped down, just you know, like the normal nation nationwide. Uh, but 2024 is already were pacing well over 200% over last year.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

I think, you know, I would just venture a guess because it happened to a lot of us, you know, that uh oh, everything everybody found out about oh, we can just throw something on Airbnb and make a bunch of money. And then so it became you know saturated in a lot of spots in the country, as y'all know. And and um, but like you said, 2024 is picking up for us too. And I think 2023 shook out a lot of the pretenders from the industry.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

It did, yeah. I mean, there's someone I I just read recently was, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats, but a tide when it comes back out, you see who's swimming naked.

SPEAKER_02 40:52

That is true, that is true. Um, yeah, so so that is cool. Um, I was gonna ask, so so you get these houses, um, and how do you okay, how do you finance something like this? Because I know banks are unless you buy them all cash

Zero cash down on a 10-bedroom house via 1031 exchange

SPEAKER_02 41:10

because you're rich like crazy, but but I know banks, you know, with if you're gonna buy a house and live in it, you know, that okay, they'll give you a loan. But if you start saying, I'm gonna build a 10-bedroom vacation house, and be uh, how how does that work?

SPEAKER_03 41:22

Okay, so the 10-bedroom vacation house, I'll give you the path of financing specifically. Um now, no, there's it's it's not the usual path, okay? And it's definitely doable again, but you just also have to know it takes a long time. So um 2010-ish, uh, we bought a small house here where we live at home, because I live three and a half hours from the big houses for a long-term rental. Cost us, I believe, about $55,000. Um, fast forward several years. Uh, my first husband he left me and I got this house in a divorce. And I soon found out that there was drug dealers living there. And I'm like, whoa, I am not going to be a druggy landlord. Not happening, no way. Uh talked, you know, figured out Missouri landlord laws, found I could very easily uh get them out. So that's what I did. Um, sheriff helped me with that. And when I looked at the damage, I realized, okay, it's, you know, quite a bit of money. I think I put 10 or 12,000 into it just to make it livable again. And then realized there was no short-term rentals in my town at all at that point. I'm like, you know what? Let's furnish this and see what happens. So I did. Um, did that for a couple years. And then I realized, you know what? The money I am making from this short-term rental, that money is not working very well for me. What else can I do with that? Because this house had now appreciated to around 100,000. So I'm like, okay, I've got a good 40,000, 45,000 in equity. What can I do with this? So I decided to sell the house and I 1031 that into a lot for the 10-bedroom house. So no cash down, 1031 right into the lot, got a construction loan, and the construction loan built the house. Then I furnished the house with my line of credit and a new credit card. Then after the house was finished, I got it reappraised as a commercial property and got all my cash from setting up back out plus equity. So building that 10 bedroom house with none of my own cash whatsoever. Now, like I said, Stevie, it's a long game. Okay. So this was well, you know, it took over 10 years to get to this point and such and things to happen. Um, But learning how to do that, I've basically done the same thing with all my other properties. So I sold my five-bedroom from back in 2000, built it in 2009, and also sold my very first one from 2007. I 1031 into new lots to build bigger houses. And I call this trading new. So they were about 10 years old, and I wanted to trade new so there's less maintenance. Traded new into lots, got construction loans, built them out, get them reappraised, get the equity back out. I only, you know, have a loan of 60, 70% because it's by the time it's done finished, then I have more equity in it as well. And then I can take that money, either pay myself back or go on to the next project and come and just completely um recycle that over and over again until I want to stop.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

That is awesome. How did you think of, I mean, I don't I don't know anything about construction loans, you know? But how did you how how did you learn that? And is it hard to get these construction loans?

SPEAKER_03 45:10

So one of the good things that came from my first husband is he was in the banking system, um, small local bank. So I learned a lot of the banking ins and outs um just because of him. Um, and then as you grow, you know, these aren't residential loans, these are commercial loans as a commercial portfolio. So two keys, one being commercial portfolio, two relationship with your local bank. That is key because I can text my banker and say, hey, Joey, you know, that I'm looking at this property, I'm gonna need a million. What do you need from me? And be like, okay, give me your updated numbers, I'll fill out the application for you. You know, just gotta sign it. You know, in your local bank, when you have that relationship, they take care of you. But it's it's not something that happens fast, you know, when people come and say, okay, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna get this many properties in a year, X, Y, Z, and we're gonna do that. How do I get all this funding? Well, if you wanted you, it's one way to go, but the other way to go is slow and steady and build and build and have a solid foundation. Build those relationships, just like we build our relationships with our guests, because they come back to us after over a decade. One of my first guests, they brought their family for dad's 80th birthday. 12 years later, they email us and said, Hey, we're ready to come back for mom's 90th birthday.

SPEAKER_01 46:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

So everything you do, you're building that relationship for long-term gain.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

I love that. I love that. And um, and I want to talk one thing before we before we end this wonderful episode. Um, um, so these big giant houses. I I want to know what kind of amenities you're packing these with. And then, and then please, and let's let's talk about amenities

Seating for 34 people in a house that sleeps 32

SPEAKER_02 47:04

that make a big difference and the ones that really don't move the needle at all, if you could go into that.

SPEAKER_03 47:09

Yeah. Um, so as I said before, I know my target guest. I know who is staying there. So those are the amenities you have got to put into your house. So my target guest for the big houses, it's grandma Sue. She's coming, she's bringing her dog. She wants to have family dinners around the table with all her grandkids and her kids, and they want to make at least one meal a day in the kitchen. So, therefore, my tables and chairs have to have enough to sit the entire family. Not half the group, but the entire family. So my 10-bedroom sleeps 32 people. There is seating for 34, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

That's a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Well, there's three tables, three handmade tables, plus the kitchen counter island. Um, and then we've got benches, so you can actually fit lots of little kids along the benches. So you could sit more. Kitchen, big, double fridges, double stoves, double dishwashers, plus your appliances that your small appliances that help. So kitchen aid mixer, two electric griddles, you know, different things that you absolutely need when you do when you have large families. And the reason I know these large families is because I come from one. So I am the oldest of six kids. Um, when my family gets together, just our immediate family, my brothers, sisters, their kids, and my parents, we're talking 25 to 30 people. You know, it's normal for us. We under I understand that. Um, in the bedrooms, small things like every bedroom is an ensuite bathroom. No one has to share a bathroom, making sure there's at least one bedroom bathroom that is handicap accessible with the grab bars, with the right height toilet, the right height bed, the transfer shower with a handheld shower head. You know, those amenities that really speak to the needs and the wants that the guests have, and you know your target guest, but it might not be as flashy. Um, the ramp to get into the house versus just steps. Now, the fun stuff is knowing what they want to do. So our houses have pool tables. We try to put in the theater rooms whenever we get a chance. Every house either has a hot tub or a private pool. We got to have a water feature. Every house has a gas grill. You've got lounging for outside, you've got a view, um, you got location. And then where we can, we put in the EV chargers as well. Um, so we make sure we hit those amenities that, yeah, at first it sounds like they're basic, but they're going to meet the needs and desires of our target guest. And we make sure we hit the safety features as well. So, like bedside chargers, that's because you do not want a guest having to move furniture to get to that outlet. Instead, we make it easy. The bedrooms have um light blocking curtains because they're on vacation. They need to sleep. You know, thinking about those small details that makes their stay more comfortable and they know that you have thought ahead and you're thinking of them.

SPEAKER_02 50:16

Well said, well said. Now, real quick, and all those I'm gonna listen to this episode again, of course. Um, what are some things you've tried that really didn't make that much of a difference?

SPEAKER_03 50:28

Really good question. Um, we tried to do e-bikes at the historical properties,

E-bikes and wine don't mix - insurance killed that upsell

SPEAKER_03 50:37

but that didn't work out too well. Um, and then insurance didn't like it as well. So we had to stop that because we had insurance when we started, and then they're like, No, we're dropping you. Like, all right, that didn't work.

SPEAKER_02 50:49

Um bikes and wine don't mix, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 50:52

No, but yeah. I mean we're we're on a bike trail. Yeah, we're on a bike trail, so we thought it would work really well. And they're like, Yeah, you can do regular bikes, but not e-bikes.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

Like, okay.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

Um, excuse me.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

All right. Uh let's see. We have tried. Um we tried to sell tickets to like the shows and things like that. Um, we haven't done very well with that. Uh, we're gonna try again with a different way, we're gonna tweak it. Um, we have tried to do, hey, you wanna do early check-in, late checkout, and try to sell it um for those add-ons. Nope, it doesn't work. Um, I've got another idea to try it a little bit differently, um, offering to extend their stay. Uh we'll see what happens with that when we're gonna start trying that in the next month or so. Uh, but upsells, we just we don't do too many. I think what we found, especially in in the big houses, um, in the higher price. So in the summer and the holidays, we actually give our guests a charcuterie board on arrival, even though we do make it available as an upsell. And we we've had, you know, one or two folks, yeah, we want to do, we want to buy that ahead of time. And we absolutely help them out with that. Um, but the higher one, the higher end stays, we act we greet them with food. Um, and I think that's that's really important to know too, because these people are coming in hours upon hours of driving. And um, when you're greeted with a really pretty box of food, you know, that's local and fresh and just looks beautiful, it really makes a good impact.

SPEAKER_02 52:35

That is cool, and that that that makes me think of something because you said you give them a free shakuri and shakuri board, adult lunchable exactly, and that's the board, it's a wooden board that you you put stuff for, like uh, you know, uh cheeses and meats and sauces and all kinds of stuff. You just throw it on there, anyways. Uh um, so you give them a free board, which is cool because that's the hip trendy thing right now, by the way. And and um, but you you're servicing like maybe three or four different families in one house, and so so the the other, you know, wife or husbands from the other family, oh, that's pretty cool. I want one of those. Oh, we you could buy, you know, you get one for free, but you could buy one here, you know. That that's kind of cool, right?

SPEAKER_03 53:19

Right, right. And we and we get a decent size, it's not meant to be a meal, it's just meant to be a snack on arrival. So it's not like it's it's huge or anything, you know, it costs us about 60 bucks a time, uh, but they could definitely do bigger ones to serve the entire family, um, and we can help arrange that too. Uh, but we're we're very much along the line of we want to meet their needs and we'll do what we can to provide without nickeline and dimene or add-ons or anything like that. Um, so like even shampoo and conditioner, we've got giant 32-ounce bottles. They're branded with our logo, and we just keep shampoo and conditioner filled at all the houses so they don't have to worry about that. Um, the little soaps, we have handmade goat milk soaps done special for us. Um, you know, when you go and you order 2,500 bars of soap at a time, the soapmaker loves you. And, you know, it's the guests get to also support another small family business. Uh, so to us, that's really important to let them know, you know, we what our mission is, what our values are, that we're a small family business. We give back to the community. We're there to serve the guests and provide a safe and secure and comfortable, amazing place for them to build their family bonds, to, to grow with each other, um, strengthen friendships. And we're providing that place for them to do that. But at the same time, we're giving back to our community and making sure we use local, we give them local ideas and send them to local family businesses. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 54:55

And I'm thinking like the upsells too. So let's just say one of my, you know, nitty-gritty uh one bedrooms in Dallas. Yeah, 50 bucks for early check-in for a couple hours early. That's that's a good, that's a good uh percentage of a night's booking. That's good. But you try to nickel and dye 50 bucks here, there. It's not really a big percentage of your nightly stay because you're charging a lot, but it would go a long way if you you offered it for free. You know, oh, by the way, the place is ready early, y'all could check in early. Oh, this is really cool. We get to go in there, you know, we don't have to wait in our cars for you know, until whatever. And then they'll think of you when they when they book again. So it's yeah, it's all relative.

SPEAKER_03 55:34

Exactly, exactly. And I wish we could do more of that with especially our big houses, but you know, when there's a guest that leaves that morning and there's only six hours till the next guest comes, and it's 24 man hours to turn that place over, you know, they are running, you know, it's using up all that time to get the house ready. Uh, so it's definitely something we try to offer when it's possible. It's just on those high season times, it's not something we can do. So we find other ways to surprise and delight the guests.

SPEAKER_02 56:06

Nice, nice. So the big things I got from you today, guest communication is huge, number one overall, and then and and it really goes a long way for their happiness. I didn't realize that, but um, you know, I've been in situations before where everything goes right, you don't send a lot of messages, you don't hear from them, and then they might leave, they might be cool with the place and they'll leave you a four-star. But everything goes wrong, but you communicate with them, you're nice to them, and you and you you handle the situations and all these things going wrong, and they give you a five-star review. So, yeah, it's it's the communication that really brings them around.

SPEAKER_03 56:43

Exactly. And then you get connected with them too, and they get to know you, and they're same with Stevie, they're not staying with Airbnb, they're staying with Stevie.

SPEAKER_02 56:52

Stevie's tax, you're right. Well, thank you so much for Tyane for hopping on the show. Uh, where can people find you?

SPEAKER_03 57:02

Um, you can find me personally over all socials at Tyane Marsink. Um, you can also find Touchday Digital Guidebooks at Touchday as well as on the website touchday.com. You can find my properties, Branson Family Retreats.com and Branson. And if you want to see the wine country properties, it's Missouri House. And house is the German spelling, H-A-U-S. So Missouri House.com. Um, and both those brands are on socials as well. Come follow along with us. See if you can find which property has the hidden Harry Potter room.

SPEAKER_02 57:33

Ooh, I can't wait to check that out. Um, we'll have all that in the show notes as soon as Tyane texts me all those things, and I can put it to the show notes. We will do that. And thank you so much for hopping on, Cheyenne. Uh, it's been a great episode. I'm gonna listen to it again because you dropped so many nuggets. I mean, it's it's unreal. Thank you so much. And the Muse, our first sponsor, the Muse Coffee, the T-H-E-M-U-S-E.co. Go there. And he uh Brian just texted me, so you get 20% off. Oh man, this stuff's so good. Anyways, you know, Stevie Stacks wouldn't steer you wrong. The Muse Coffee, it's the best, and thank you, Tiane, and we will talk to you soon and wish you good luck on everything you do. Liveletrive.com, liveletrive at gmail.com, all that fun stuff, and we will see y'all later.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Livelet Drive. Be sure to tune in next week for all the latest in the world with Airbnb and all that and kills. Bye bye.