Keynotes by Casago

Welcome to Keynotes, a podcast
just for Casago homeowners.

This is where we explore how to get
the most out of your relationship with

Casago, learn tips and tricks on how
to make more income with your property,

and learn a little bit about the short
term rental industry along the way.

I've been a vacation rental nerd since
my 20s, and the team has finally let

me have this podcast so I can share
everything I've learned with you.

I'm your host, Steve Schwab,
and this is Keynotes.

Hey, welcome to keynotes, the
podcast just for Casago homeowners.

Today I'm with Michelle Gillin and Tim
Wilson, who are with BB Finder Casago has

recently started to work closely with BB
Finder as another channel coming on to

make sure that we promote your property.

And today we're gonna be talking
about five reasons why b.

B Finder is good for our homeowners.

Guys, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

Glad to have you guys here.

We're just going to jump right into it
and talk about the mission of B& B Finder

and how that helps our homeowners get more
bookings and hopefully more, more income.

Yeah.

Our mission is to make vacations more
affordable to everyone, everywhere.

And what that means to us is
bringing hospitality back to

booking a vacation rental.

And so with the.

Other OTAs, which I think are great
to list your property on, by the

way, the property manager doesn't
have the opportunity to speak to

the traveler right off the bat.

And we allow the property manager to
speak to the traveler immediately,

thus sort of the return of hospitality.

So yep, that's our mission.

Great.

So we're going to go over the
five things that our homeowners

should know about B& B Finder.

And so for number one, we
said, There's no guest fees.

That is correct.

So when travelers are searching for a
place to stay, they oftentimes will go

to one of the other OTAs like an Airbnb
or Verbo, they'll find a place to stay

and there may or may not encounter some
additional fees that might price them

out of being able to book that property.

The big part of our Business
model is no traveler fees.

And so rather than encouraging travelers
to find something somewhere with fees

and then go search around a bunch of
other places to find it elsewhere without

fees, our listing site allows them to see
the lowest advertised price, basically

the same exact price that Casago, uh,
websites would show and then book direct

with that local Casago property manager.

So no fees to travelers.

Yeah, you know that makes for more money
for our homeowners because obviously those

OTA fees have to be paid out and it just
lowers the take rate for our homeowners.

So not having to pay those on a per
reservation basis helps our homeowners

make a lot more money when they
book through B& B Finder, right?

Absolutely, yes, and it goes both
ways because not only is the property

manager paying a fee, but if the
traveler is also paying a fee that

might Price that traveler out of being
able to bıctte that extra night, or

being able to book a special excursion
or something else on their vacation.

Yeah.

Or maybe not choose your property.

You had to choose a lower end property
because they couldn't afford the property

that they really wanted, which was, you
know, one of our classical properties.

So number two, you guys said there is a
lot more additional exposure by having

B& B Finder as one of our channels.

Yep.

So Tim, feel free to chime in.

The exposure piece for us is just
the fact that the Casago logo, all

of the social media, all of the
contact information is displayed

prominently on all of your listings.

And so not only are you able to list
all of your properties for free, you

also get to showcase your brand and
all of the local fun social media

links and everything else that you
would advertise on your website.

All right.

So, that's what we mean by more exposure.

In addition to the fact that you're listed
on a listing site, you also get all that

additional exposure in each listing.

You know, the other side of that
additional exposure, when it comes to

brand and being part of Casago, is, you
know, we do a lot of email marketing.

And the fact that they find us on B& B
Finder, they see our logo, they end up

booking directly with us through B& B
Finder, and then having the opportunity to

re market, to cross market, to get those
guests who have already stayed with us

coming back to our homeowner's properties
is an advantage of using B& B Finder.

And I might add too, one thing to be
clear about is that there's no closed

loop communication channel here, where
you are forced to communicate with

your guests through our B& B Finder.

Communication platform.

You are talking directly with your
guests and we've all, you know, heard

or seen the stories or even done it
ourselves where through some of the

other platforms, you know, you're
spelling out your phone number to try

to, you know, get in contact directly
and, you know, jumping through all these

hoops to try to get around the system.

And what we do here is just
facilitate all of that to make

it super easy for everybody.

Yeah, you know, Tim, how do you be
hospitable when you can't speak to

the person you're being hospitable to?

Right.

We agree.

Yeah.

So for number three, more control.

Yeah.

As far as control is concerned,
uh, you have complete control.

We are not telling you how to set
your policies or your policies.

All of your policies and pricing is
what is reflected here on B& B Finder.

We are also not placing your
property in the sort order.

Uh, if this is what we mean by control
here, uh, but we're not placing you,

you are placing yourself in the sort
order where you want to be and where

you think you're going to get the most
visibility and opportunity for bookings.

When you need the visibility and the
extra opportunity for bookings, um, and

so I guess to be to expand on that just
for a second, there's no annual contract

here with folks that we're working with.

You can go up and go down in level as you
need to and as your business commands.

Yeah.

You know, when I think of
more control, I think of often

about cancellation policies.

And I've always looked at
cancellation policies as a way

to protect our homeowners, right?

So when we're trying to make sure that
in a holiday season or a high value time

of year, that if somebody's going to
book a year out, that we have a way to

protect that homeowners so that suddenly
at the very last minute, somebody doesn't

cancel and we're stuck holding the bag
with a homeowner with no income for

the most important part of the year.

And we've really been pushed by other
channels to continuously make easier and

easier cancellation policies to fit their
needs in order to push the guests through.

But there's some exposure there for
our homeowners and being able to set

cancellation policies by season, by
day, or, you know, whatever we choose

is going to be the most valuable to
that homeowner through B& B Finder is

really strong attribute of your channel.

Thank you.

I think so too.

And to add to that, it's not a one
size fits all sort of solution in

terms of a cancellation policy.

It depends on what market you're
in, depends on a lot of factors.

And we believe that our property
managers are doing an incredible job

managing your properties for you.

And whatever cancellation policy they deem
is the most effective in their market is

what they should be able to practice no
matter where their properties are listed.

And so that's what we believe.

Yeah.

I agree with you.

And there are times for lenient
cancellation policies, you know, and

you're just trying to drive traffic
or this high demand and a lot of

turnover, but then there's also times
for a really strict cancellation

policy, like a large 12 bedroom
house in the mountains for Christmas.

Sure.

You know, if you get a last minute
cancellation on something like that,

you're not going to get to rebook it.

Somebody may have held that whole
for a whole year and suddenly

you're just out and that homeowner
is out and it's not fair.

Right.

Right.

And so being able to.

Sculpt your cancellation policies that
match the market and the homeowner.

It's important and it's nice to
not be deemed for that, which

brings us right into number four.

There's no algorithms on B& B finder.

No, we respond to the
asks of our travelers.

So I guess if there was an algorithm,
if you say, Hey, I want to stay in a.

three bedroom house that is pet friendly.

Well, then our algorithm is
going to show you a three bedroom

house that's pet friendly.

But beyond that, it's not really
going to sort properties in a way

that, let's say, is optimized for us.

It's going to sort the properties in a
way that is optimized for the properties

that we're working with because they are
determining the sort order on our site.

And I would add in sort of
advantaging the traveler.

So, for example, if someone did buy a
gold or silver or bronze listing in a

market and the traveler filtered for a
private pool and that gold listing doesn't

have a private pool, obviously we're not
going to show that property first because

it doesn't fit the traveler criteria.

So, traveler criteria sort
of always is important.

Number one, because we want
to serve up the property.

That's the best fit for the traveler,
but those are based off of filters.

Those aren't based off of
any sort of an algorithm.

So yeah, you're absolutely right, Tim.

It really is just based off of what
the traveler searching and that's it.

That's that is fantastic.

I really appreciate you
guys coming on the show.

Got one more question for you.

What's your favorite thing about Casago?

Oh my gosh.

Well, you know that incredible video
I saw it in a couple of different

channels But I got to see it live at the
last streamline conference and it just

showcased all of the different franchisees
you interviewed a bunch of folks talked

about the before and after of Casago and
everyone's so happy and And thrilled.

And it's such a tight community.

That's probably my most favorite part.

Well, and I think expanding on that too,
it's just, I think everybody has such an

amazing resource with each other, right?

And which is what makes
it such a great community.

And so that's where I'm at too.

I think you guys are all very well aligned
with each other, but also very supportive

of each other in ways that I don't
know how anybody else could find that.

Kind of support.

Cause I think you guys probably all have
diverse backgrounds and you bring a lot

of different sort of experience to the
table and rely on each other for that.

And I think that's such a neat
thing that you guys have there.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Our community is such a wonderful
community and the fact that.

Every partner, you know, a franchise,
we, we call each one of our

franchises partners because they
are, they have protected territories.

They all get to collaborate
with each other without the

fear of creating a competitor.

And it just builds a great community of
like minded people who care about our

homeowners, who are owner centric, who
believe in putting the homeowner first.

And that's our fiduciary and sharing
their knowledge of best practices.

It helps grow.

Great property managers through
an environment that allows

them to really flourish.

And I'm with you a hundred
percent on that guys.

If somebody wants to get ahold
of y'all to talk about BNB

finder, how do they find you?

Well, there are several ways.

We've got a join@bmbfinder.com
email address that sends to our

entire sales and support team.

I'm michelle@bmbfinder.com.

Tim, which is M-I-C-H-E-L-L
e@bnmbfinder.com.

And then Tim is the same.

It's tim@bmbfinder.com.

And I would just say anybody here is
generally our first name at BNBfinder.

com.

So if there's anybody you need to get
a hold of, that's how you'll do it.

That's fantastic.

And homeowners, if you decide that you
would like to get your property on BNB

Finder, make sure to reach out to your
local property manager, the owner of Casa

Goloit in your market, and let them know
that you'd love to be on this channel.

Guys, thanks so much for coming on.

I really appreciate y'all.

Thanks for having us.

This was awesome.

Such a pleasure.

Yes.

Thanks guys.