Posted by Adam Zippin on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 @ 03:00 PM
The final installment of our software blog will discuss the CRM aspects of our software and how it can directly increase your revenue. Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is one of the current evaluators used to determine a company’s potential success. Gone are the days that big companies can abuse their customers with huge and frequent mail blasts. With social media and the internet, customer relations have become an integral part to the success of any business. The question for most is how to convert those relationships into revenue.
Barefoot has been in the business for some time now and we are very proud of our software, particularly its CRM aspects which have been around long before it was the industry norm. The Agent software boasts “unlimited amenities fields” both in the Property and the Tenant databases. Lots of software systems today offer various or sometimes unlimited amenities fields as well. However these systems are limited by either the amount of amenities or the type of fields such as drop down, click, or text. Barefoot believes that documenting every interaction with a customer, either renter or owner, is the key to a great relationship. Based on this, our CRM is a prospect management system. In this system every interaction you have can be stored as a prospect in your system
The area in red is a small example of our amenities, this screenshot is of a property search. This user has included the amount of floors in a building, unit type, dining and entertaining options, internet, and pet options. Any or all of these boxes can be checked to narrow a search field for perspective renters. If a person calls requesting a 2-story house with a pool and high speed internet, your agents can now search for properties strictly within the interests of the consumer. This makes managing each prospect much simpler and vastly more efficient.
The true strength of this prospect management system comes through when using the integrated e-mail in the system. As previously mentioned, the amenities fields help you in two ways, document prospect interests and to simplify searches for prospective renters. The third method of improved CRM is through our e-mail system. Along with limiting search fields, these amenities fields can help you send e-mails and offers to clients. In the fields pictured, you can see fields like BBQ, internet, and 2 floors. These fields are 100% customizable and generally include potential clients’ interests. Once you have harnessed the wants of your clients, you can send e-mails out to them to entice them to come for shoulder season vacations. We have a several beach destination communities whose peak season is the summer. However, these destinations also have incredible fishing in the shoulder seasons. By including an amenities field that can qualify anyone interested in fishing, these company’s now have a viable client contact list
As I mentioned before, our e-mail system uses the same search options. Here in New Hampshire, we have great attractions year round. Our summer is adventurous, our fall is beautiful, and our winter is famed for snow activities, however most people come for the winter simply unaware of the other seasonal attractions. We’ll continue to use the beach house example, knowing that they are located near water, the fishing is incredible in the offseason. Despite this information, the value is not carried over to the people who only come for the beach. If you include a “fishing” box for your agents you can now search by any renters who are interested in fishing by performing a simple search. Any profile created who has an interest in fishing can be sent an e-mail through the software, saving you several steps, and drawn to your shoulder season attractions.
So what does your company gain from this capability? Money is the answer. Each renter or tenant now has their own profile which does many different things. These profiles create a more loyal client base, they allow you to save time searching for ineffective results, creates a feeling of importance and reliability from the customer side, and makes your company easy to differentiate from your competition. Utilizing the software to its maximum creates an even more enticing appeal, rounding out your income to be less seasonal and creating a stronger more consistent cash flow.
If you do not understand this process 100% fear not, you can call Barefoot for a demo of the software. We will show you how to utilize this aspect of the software to the fullest.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Thu, Feb 09, 2012 @ 08:13 AM
Who created the software your company runs on? What qualifications do they have? Are they even in the industry? These are some immensely important questions to be asking about your vacation rental software. In December, I wrote a blog about the lessons I learned at the Triple Play Realtors Conference, one that resonated with me was that software is often written by people outside the industry. What if Enzo Ferrari had never driven, would we have these luxury cars today?
This same principal needs to be applied to your company. Most software products are designed to be simple and easy. The question you have to ask is whether or not this will maximize your business. Barefoot’s Ed Ulmer has long played a pivotal role in designing our Agent software. The core of our system is designed by realtors for the industry. Furthermore, Agent software has evolved over the years to include suggestions by rental companies. As good ideas roll in, Barefoot has captured the strengths and put them into our software. Not only are our software designer’s realtors, but all the ideas of our vacation rental companies combine, helping to further design the software.
Ed Ulmer has recently received his RSPS certification from the National Board of Realtors. He is one of 1400 other Realtors in the country that has this certification for the Resort and Second Home market. While much of this certification is sales based, the fact of the matter is about 1 in 20 homes in this country is a second home and in resort areas the number of second homes is significantly higher. His long term commitment to the rental, real estate and tourism industry is one of the reasons why Barefoot Technology is 2-3 years ahead of it competition and continues to attract those that want to dominate in their market. For more information click here.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Wed, Feb 01, 2012 @ 04:55 PM
In Hawaii, a bill is currently under legislation that will allow the state to collect an additional $35 million in tax revenue. Currently, if a Hawaiian property is owned by a non-resident and additionally, rented by an out-of-state company the taxes due from the rental are difficult to track down. With states looking for additional revenue, this has been low hanging fruit and a loop hole in many states lodging tax models. Barefoot has written a blog about several cases in Colorado where VRBO homes have been rented without paying the proper taxes, seriously limiting the money collected. For example, Breckenridge Colorado has estimated that it has lost over $1 Million in taxes and fees based over the past few years because of this loop hole.
For years out of state owners have rented out their properties under the radar of state lodging tax laws, but with the introduction of large online travel agencies and vacation rentals becoming more main stream these transactions are now out in the open. The taxes structured around all lodging are designed to help with the wear and tear on the environment and infrastructure in the area as well as to pay for tourism marketing programs. The question is how does a state manage this efficiently.
This new law, if passed in Honolulu, would allow the government to collect up to $35 million dollars in taxes. To do this, non-resident owners must work with licensed real estate brokers and salespeople on the island. This will ultimately help the island maintain its beautiful landscape and continue to draw in the tourist economy that helps the entire islands economy.
Even more important is the timing of this legislation, as the Wall Street Journal has reported that Hawaii is back up to its 2007 vacation levels including an average length of stay of 8 days. This travel increase comes despite air travel reductions, departures of cruise ships, and a drop off in Japanese tourism. Fueled by new attractions like the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center, Hawaii has remade itself into a must travel destination. Many major tourism players agree, Disney opened its first Hawaiian property in 2011, Aulani as Did Donald Trump. Many Americans now see Hawaii as our nation’s most exotic destination, which in part has been fashioned around a marketing campaign paid for by those lodging tax dollars. It is only fair that all that benefit, should pay their fair share.
Story Courtesy of TheRepublic.com
Abcnews.go.com
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Thu, Jan 26, 2012 @ 02:50 PM
Over the past few months we have brought you many stories about scams and how renters have been trapped by them. Almost all the scams we have found highlight a significant weakness in for rent by owner. The bottom line is that a company that is brick and mortar, can take credit cards, has a legal contract and insurance and knows what they are doing is a significant advantage over an owner who does this part time. The only thing that the owner might have is price and possibly the uniqueness of their property. As you have read in our blogs in the past, scams abound, and main stream media is just starting to pick these up. This potentially helps the managed properties, but it also hurts everyone in rentals as not everyone understands the difference between a FRBO and a managed property. For those in the managed property business, understanding these articles is very important, it is a tool that can assist you in targeting your owners and potential owners and it is a marketing reality that needs to be address for tenants. We will continue to provide you these articles as we come across them.
Image Courtesy of Gold Beach Real Estate
Steve Chase has had several families show up to his Fort Lauderdale home expecting a nice vacation, only to find a note on the door saying the home is not for rent. Scams like this occur and often have no resolve, however in this story, we see a happier ending. The group of women in this case is another set of victims to fall into a scam by sending a wire transfer for the amount described. With this transfer it is difficult to track and even more difficult to track where the money ends up.
Due to these circumstances, people often leave with a terrible memory of their vacation. Some home owners have begun to fight back. Steve Chase has tried to report these offenses to the authorities but has often run into difficulties tracking down the right person to talk to. We are happy and sad to report however that the recent amount of reported offenses has risen and made these crimes more noticeable. In one blog, the writer was lucky enough to realize the scam in progress prior to sending her money. From there, she proceeded to make a checklist for any weary traveler that you can follow to ensure your safety. The largest rule to follow is to use a reliable method of payment that ensures a method of tracking like a credit card. Credit cards are a great way to have security and minimize your liability in instances like this. A huge red flag is to stay away from wire transfers all together. In most instances of fraud the party involved has used a wire transfer to pay for the rental property.
Even industry giants have fallen prey to these fraudulent as we wrote in November about someone scammed through VRBO.com, a vacation rental giant. It is important to have a sharp eye when booking a reservation. One of the simplest ways to do this is by booking through a local agency. Not only does this give you a human interaction to base your transaction off of, but it also gives you a sense of trust. We hope you will never need to use the information in these articles but we are here to help however we can. If you have been a victim of a rental scam let Barefoot know about it.
You may also want to read:
Does Insurance or Trust Offer More Protection
Lawsuits Are On the Rise in Vacation Rental Industry
Delaware Man Charged With Rental Fraud
http://www.moneyville.ca/blog/post/1118578--apartment-rental-scam-i-was-lucky
http://todaytravel.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10095885-watch-out-for-vacation-rental-scams?chromedomain=travelkit
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-rental-scam-20111230,0,2600410.story
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 @ 08:07 AM
Barefoot Agent Software Part 3- Tenant Net
This week I will be describing Tenant Net. This is part of our social media products. Once a vacation reservation or a quote has been made, you can give your vacation rental client a user id and a password and they can manage their reservation including up sale, payment of outstanding balances and communicate with you on special needs pre and during their holiday. Tenant Net also allows for tenants to communicate with their friends at multiple levels. Future reservations can be made which does not require them to reenter their information saving them time and energy and building a portfolio. By creating a portfolio rewards options become practical.
From you agencies perspective, by directing the tenant to these pages, you create a habit and all data can be mined. When you incorporate Vacation Rental back office CRM components into this data, you can provide better offers and up sales opportunities as well motivate them to share with their circle of friends through Facebook and other social media tools.
Photo Courtesy of OliverN5
Here are some examples of ways tenant access can be used
Tenant gets out of the shower grumbling about water pressure or lack of hot water. They log on to Tenant Net and document the issue. The issue is electronically sent to Barefoot Agents and the work order system and either the work order system or VendorNet, depending on his relationship with your agency, sends it to the person in charge of that property or that type of work, who happens to be 2 minutes away. The handyperson knocks on the door, before the person’s hair is dry.
Tenant wants to get his wife flowers, he can buy them online and have them tied to his reservation. Tenant Net also automatically communicates to the staff or the vendor providing that service. If flowers are not part of your up sale products, the tenant can always ask about flowers and get a response you decide how to handle the question. The tenant may also want to go fishing-the system tracks that and it can be used to manage an offer on the off season to them regarding the fishing options on the shoulder season
Tenants can talk to their friends about where they are staying via Facebook or an electronic postcard and have it tied back to your web site. In addition we will soon have some advanced communication tools that tie tenants together who are vacationing together.
This product has been available for 5 years, but it is now starting to be used and as a result clients are asking us to add new functionality, thus we have a new version of this product soon to be released. Let us show you what it does and we look forward to your suggestions and comments on continuing for it to bloom.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 @ 11:20 AM
If you read last week’s blog’s then you read all about the importance of social media and the connections that you can make through these free simple mediums. Y Partnership has some interesting statistics that, when paired with social media tools, could yield some amazing results. These stats are collected from the 2011 VRMA conference.
Image Courtesy of Katerha
According to the numbers compiled by the Y Partnership, things like flash sales are making a heavy impact on sales. 38% of people surveyed booked a trip last minute (less than six days prior to their stay). This could impact your business several ways, especially when you pair it with the 25% surveyed that booked a trip because of an unexpected e-mail they received. These two numbers may not be incredibly significant until you look at them after reading a previous blog about shoulder season rentals. In that blog, we wrote about the season peaks diminishing for vacation rental internet hits. With Barefoot software, we have the ability built out for you to send out mass e-mail flyers to your owners. Knowing now that 25% of people surveyed booked a vacation after an unexpected e-mail and even more booked within six days of travelling.
Using our software will allow you to reach these people with e-mails to bring them in for the shoulder season. Some other statistics from this article are that only 21% of people visit mega sites like kayak.com. 59% of people used trip advisor, another 36% resorted to Facebook. This means that more people use Facebook more than Kayak to plan their vacations. Barefoot uses HTML codes to give each owner individualized websites which can be shared on their Facebook walls. This immediately reaches out to their average 130 friends who use Facebook more than supersites to plan their destinations.
Barefoot software is designed to put you ahead of the game, as more and more research comes out, we have more data to back out software. Here at Barefoot, we have been building out software for our customers for years. Now, these features are being proven by data from independent companies. Call Barefoot today to see what we can do to put your company ahead of the competition.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 @ 03:59 PM
This week we are focusing on one of our social media tools-Advanced Owner Access. It was built 7 years ago when we started to look at social media. Social media from our perspective is not Facebook, Twitter and linkedin, those are just new automated tools for social media. Social media is empowering those that love, worship and are devoted to you with the ability to assist your business. Obviously owners have made a commitment to you, they trust you and that is the bases of most social media-Trust. We have talked about trust before in our blogs-, take a peak by clicking here.
Here is the logic behind this tool. Owners where once Tenants, they fell in love with the area and decided to buy a property or two in the area. Owners surround themselves with people just like themselves, except many of their friends, family and associates may not have made the commitment to buy in the resort area. In addition, while all owners are proud of their properties, the ownership is not something that often comes up in a conversation. But, a friend who knows of the owner’s property trusts that property and the property management company the owner works with immediately. What needs to happen is the connection.
Barefoot Agent has all the owners’ property information, so we decided to give owners their own web sites. As an agency, you already have web pages for each owner and you can give that URL to the owner, but it is most likely long and impossible to remember. In Advanced Owner Access we made it simple-the owner can pick their own url within reason, something that they remember.
They then have a number of options. They can place that URL on an electronic classified at work or with any social group they want. For example, John Doe works at a hospital. Everyone know John, and by putting his URL on the hospitals electronic classified, he is announcing to his social circle, I have this property. For those who are interested in the area and like John, they are immediately drawn to the property and trust of the property and the property management company is immediate.
We also have links to those social media tools like CraigsList, Facebook and others that take into account our 7 years of experience. We have found that each owner’s social network is larger than we originally realized. For example, the average Facebook user has 130 friends (https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics) which means that each owner immediately has a focused, trusted link with 130 potential renters, and each friend also has 130 friends. Our average Barefoot user manages 170 properties, which means approximately 170 owners that equates to 22,100 direct potential clients who trust and a second tier of 2,873,000 prospects.
And that marketing campaign cost you the time to motivate your owners into using the tool, but was cash free on your budget. In addition this is a marketing campaign that is so niche that it would be next to impossible to reach on your own.
Myrtle Beach Resort started using our owner access in 2009. In 2010, one of their owners booked $250,000 in rentals without ever talking with a prospect or the resort. The average rental is $2000 in their complex so that is about 125 reservations. If you can get 10% of your owners using this tool other marketing aspects become secondary.
Barefoot’s history of firsts in unparalleled by any other rental software company and this is just another example of how we, with our clients are changing the nature of vacation rentals. If you have any questions about the information in this article feel free to post in the comments or call and ask us directly.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 @ 03:31 PM
As many of our customers know, Barefoot is constantly striving to make business connections that will reward our clients. We continually announce new partnerships in our news page and always try to have a blog post up describing our new partnership and what we can do for you the customer. The newest partner to come on board with Barefoot Technologies is Vacation Storebuilder, a Software-as-a-Service platform that enables vacation rental companies to quickly and easily manage their websites.
As we keep you up to speed on our end of the business, we are always pleased when a partner makes news. On January 6, Bald Head Island announced the launch of their new Vacation Storebuilder powered website. While Bald Head does not use Barefoot’s Agent software(yet), we are more than happy to share in the continued growth of our new partner.
Vacation Storebuilder is an excellent online tool to really make the most of your Barefoot software. With a website service designed around the rental market, this tandem of website to software match will really help take your company to the next level. This partnership comes at an important time in the industry as well. According to HitWise, an online website data company, the seasonal peaks for website traffic to vacation sites is rounding itself out. Over the past few years, data has shown a less significant focus on the seasonal peaks.
This means a few things for your business. First it means that if you are seasonally busy, your online traffic is more likely to come during the offseason. People are thinking ahead and planning their trips more. This means that a great website will help separate you from the crowd. Secondly it means that your software must have excellent CRM tracking built in to help you maintain your relationship with these clients. How many names can you remember from 3 months ago? If it isn’t 100% of them then our software will be an amazing asset to you. The second impact is that your shoulder seasons are becoming more valuable for bringing in potential renters. If people visit your website to view homes for the summer but see that there is a great offer for a shoulder season rental which is a great opportunity for any company. This more consistent stream of traffic is much more indicative of a more consistent cash flow for your company.
Factor all of this in with an article on BizReport.com which describes the new level of details that potential vacationers are looking for and your business has a recipe for success. The report says that when shopping around, people are looking more and more in depth for not only good deals, but great details. The best way to get those details is to contact someone who lives, does business, or has invested time in the area. Does this sound like a vacation rental company to you? Of course without the proper CRM and prospect management systems all of these industry changes will be hard to capitalize on. Contact Barefoot to have them answer any of your questions or to set up a demo.
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/2011/12/travel_relying_less_on_seasona.html
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9082396.htm
http://www.bizreport.com/2012/01/travelers-looking-for-more-detail-deals-when-planning-trips.html
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Fri, Jan 06, 2012 @ 08:30 PM
Ever wonder about all the interesting features that Barefoot offers, but you can’t keep up. Well this is your chance to find out. Over the next few weeks I will be writing a blog about several different unique components of our software for our readers to see. If there is a specific aspect or program you would like a write up on then comment below and I will tally them to decide the next write up. 
The first functionality within our system I will be writing about is the Owner Access. One of the driving goals behind our Owner Access is to empower your owners to be more involved in the process of managing their property. They have already put their trust in you as a company to manage their property effectively, so why not show some mutual trust. With the internet, it is easy for your owners to access your site to see their property. Our clients have told us they want to use all the technology they can to empower owners to be more a part of the process.
Eight years ago when we came out with this functionality we were miles ahead of the industry and to this date no one has come close to catching up with our functionality. Part of the reason is that our clients have lots of great marketing and efficiency suggestions and needs.
When an owner logs into your owner access system, they typically see our Message Center, Account, Properties as well as several customizable tabs.
The Message Center is relatively simple tool to use yet profoundly important. It creates a steady communication stream between you and the owner, regarding anything that you want to share with all your owners from office hours, special notices, reminders and more. The Account tab allows the owners to not only see their client profile data, but to also edit specific amenities that you have given access like home address, phone, but also CRM data like best contact, birthday or what every you deem important. The owner can enter their credit card in a completely PCI compliant system if you do property management and you want to be able to batch charges if rents cannot cover monthly expenses. Similar in functionality to the account tab is the Properties tab. An owner is able to view and/or edit fields you provide access to. As you know in Agent 3.0c you can create unlimited amenities and in this section owners can assist you in updating the property information including any upgrades they have made to the property such as a new carpet or adding a hot tub. In addition, each owner can book the property for themselves through this feature, instead of calling the office and having you do it. The tool is flexible enough to provide different options for different owners. Work Order, What do your owners do when they need work done on their property, or have a question they would like answered? They probably call you, or they send you and email. With this tool, they can create a work order, you can all reply back and forth, and everything is documented within the Barefoot system. Reports allows owner to see their owner statements but you can also attach a monthly newsletter to the statement so you can better explain what is going on in the industry, new offers and focus on communication with you owners.
Pine Acres a long time client on Cape Cod, started using Owner Access about 3 years ago.
"We cannot say enough about Barefoot, Agent 3.0c and Ownernet. The support is extremely quick and efficient. The software’s flexibility, ability to be customized and the staff’s interest in our business allows us to stay ahead of our competition. Our owners love the Ownernet and we think that Barefoot’s social media products are revolutionary."
In my next blog in this series, I’ll share with you one of our unique social media tool, Advanced Owner Access. This functionality is redefining the industry
If you have any questions on Owner Access please feel free to comment below or e-mail me at adam@barefoot.com or call us at (877) 799-11110.
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.
Posted by Adam Zippin on Wed, Jan 04, 2012 @ 12:49 PM
Why your busines needs to do vacation rentals.
Do you own a real estate company? If so what is it worth? The reason I ask this is simple, does your company have any value. The answer in most cases is no because your real estate company is only as valuable as your current sale, that is unless you own the building. So what is your exit strategy? If you plan to retire will you sell your company, live off of savings or have you invested in real estate?
Did you know that last year Wyndham bought two vacation rental companies for 56 and 77 million dollars each? That is over $16,000 per managed property for Wyndham and $33, 0000 per property for Jack Tar. If that number fails to hit home then consider this, in 2009 27% of all homes purchased in the United States were second homes (NAR). If you live in a resort community, obviously that number is significantly higher.
In addition, last year 40% of homes purchased were done so specifically as an investment or as a vacation home according the 2010 NAR Second Home Investment and Vacation Home Buyer Survey 2011. Why? In part because the stock market is still uncertain., Real estate while also uncertain is a tangible asset and over time has always proven to be a winner, you cannot say the same for a specific stock. In addition everyone needs to live somewhere. Furthermore everyone still takes a vacation. It may not be as extravagant as it used to be, but a the number of vacation days the average US family took in US in 2010 was 14 (http://money.cnn.com)
Wyndham and many of their lodging competitors realize this. They also realize that buying and refurbishing or building a new hotel is expensive, even before you open the door. We at Barefoot believe that the future of the vacation industries will follow this pattern. Wyndham, Marriott, Westin and other hotel giants will pick markets, look for the best property management and real estate sales company and walk in with a check. I don’t know many real estate and property management companies out there that would say no to a paycheck that is $7 million. Especially when the lodging company, says look I want you to run it like you have, but here is insurance and a 401 plan for your employees. A call center for after hours, training, linen and international marketing. In regards to the major brands currently like Century 21, Remax, Keller Williams, do you do that for your agents? Do you have the branding that Marriott and Wyndham have? Face it Wyndham is already in real estate sales, the call it time share it is only a matter of time before they franchise their vacation rental, property management and real estate sales product. The difference will be that rentals will no longer be the poor step child, sales will. Think about it. If you manage the property-you are most ideal to sell it. If you have an intimate relationship with the owner-you are more likely to sell or assist that owner in buying. If you have an intimate relationship with the tenant-when they decide to invest in a second home, or move to their dream you will be their choice. This is social media at its best.
All of these reasons should be enough to convince you that rentals are the way to go. If you are still worried that you are not big enough or competitive enough, here’s one last piece of information. Wyndham does not necessarily want the biggest, they want the best within their niche. They want a company that thinks like them, has social media, business plans, concierge, a great value proposition and efficiency that comes from cutting edge technology. When Wyndham bought Resort Quest, they learned from Resort Quest’s failed model, don’t try to standardize. Each market is different, rustic means something different in Gatlinburg Tennessee, than it does in Destin Florida. Embrace that uniqueness but wrap it with efficiency.
Will your company be there to capitalize on these trends? At Barefoot our motto is “Vacation rental software for Visionaries”, and we are curious if you fit this description. If you would like to be a leader in your market, and set the bar that your competition will follow then contact Barefoot Technologies and lets have a conversation.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/25/pf/unused_vacation_days/index.htm
“Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey 2011” National Association of Realtors. Research Division, March 2011
Barefoot Technologies-Fitted rental solutions for visionaries.