Five Reasons Why You Can't Manage an Extended Stay Hotel Like a Traditional Hotel
At first glance, extended stay hotels share many commonalities with traditional hotels. Rooms and suites are rented to guests; amenities such as swimming pools, laundry rooms, fitness gyms, and conference rooms are often available to patrons; and guests’ rooms are routinely cleaned and restocked by housekeeping staff. But a closer comparison reveals many more key differences between these two types of lodging, distinctions that make all the difference when it comes to managing day-to-day operations, financials, inventory, and so much more. For a quarter century, Gearco has focused primarily on the effective management of extended stay hotels. To say that we’ve learned quite a lot from working closely with our valued customers is to understate the matter. Indeed, much of what we offer today was created under the umbrella of team spirit between our development team and extended stay owners and managers from all over. As a result, we’d like to offer our top five reasons why managing an extended stay hotel the way you might govern a traditional hotel is an invitation for disaster.
Much Longer Average Length of Stays
For starters, extended stay guests are far more likely to remain on the property for an extended period of time (hence the category), staying anywhere between seven nights and forever. This is not hyperbole; many of our customers have guests whose folios span decades, uninterrupted. This distinction has far reaching implications when it comes to accounting, especially when managing tax revenue since state-level and local-level hotel taxes change throughout the duration of extended lodging. Traditional hotels simply tack on these additional hotel taxes upon checkout because the number of nights is predetermined; however, this doesn’t work for extended stays, because—and this directs us to point number two—there is no expected departure date.
No Expected Departure Date
According to our data, last year’s extended stay metrics showed that the average length of stay was 1.7 years with the longest stay coming in just under 26 years—that’s almost 9500 consecutive nights! For these guests, extended stay hotels are, for all practical purposes, a primary residence. For obvious reasons, extended stay hotels cannot simply wait until the end to take payment when departure dates are largely unknown, but this difference in accounting isn’t always—well, accounted for in many of today’s property management systems, since the prevailing protocol is to wait until checkout to collect. This brings this to point number three: up front payment.
Up Front Payment
Guests who choose extended stay hotels find themselves in a kind of tenant at will scenario, wherein they may remain on the property as long as they like so long as their bill is paid in full upfront. Likewise, should guests find themselves in arrears, the hotel may evict them. Should the latter occur enough times with a particular guest (or for any other reason), that person may be assigned a Do Not Rent status—meaning, if they attempt to rent a room in the future, their folio is flagged as “DNR”. This type of flagging is not a common feature in traditional hotel property management systems. But there are other reasons that guests might find themselves on the DNR list too, and some of these infractions are cause for point number four: security deposits.
Security Deposits
While most guests conduct themselves in good faith, others do not, and security deposits are the key preventive measure against losing money on bad actors who smoke in a non-smoking room, who cause damage to the property, or who skip out on payment after having remained in the room past the due date. Here again, most traditional property management systems don’t have this type of functionality built into the software, and even if it does, the process typically requires a credit card number up front for what would normally be classified as incidentals. Here’s the caveat: for extended stay hotels, the prevailing form of payment is cash. What then? The property management software needs to have the built-in functionality to easily accept non-credit card prepayments and security deposits—getting to the final point: cash payments.
Cash is King
Since cash (hard currency, check, money orders, or debit cards) is the leading form of payment for most extended stay guests, once again we see that the property management software must be equipped to handle this form of payment at every turn, including—but not limited to, loss mitigation. On one hand, extended stay hotels suffer fewer credit card merchant fees and/or chargebacks; on the other hand, having lots of cash on hand is a magnet for theft. The right property management software will have extensive measures in place to mitigate this problem.
Conclusion
The answer is simple: let Gearco take care of all these issues for you so that you can get on with garnering new customers, fostering relationships with your current guests, earning even more revenue than you thought possible, and enjoying a headache-free hotel operation that is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of extended stay hotels. Call us now and see for yourself!
The Truth about Social Media
For-profit companies simply must make sales to stay alive. Without trivializing the difficulty of reaching new customers while maintaining current clientele, it really is that simple. But where do we go, and what methods should we use to reach new customers? Magazine ads? Radio spots? Television commercials? Billboards? Online ads? All of the above? It depends, of course, on where your customers are, how they’re accessing new information, and where they are spending their time.
According to Smart Insight’s 2018 Global Social and Media Research Summary, the current number of internet users worldwide is 4.021 billion—up 7 percent from last year. Interestingly, the number of mobile phone users in 2018 far outpaces that number at 5.135 billion—up 4 percent over 2017. Considering that the current number of social media users worldwide is 3.196 billion—up 13 percent from the previous year—it’s not a stretch to think that if the 1.1 billion mobile phone users who haven’t yet used the internet ever do attempt to access it, they will do so though their phones—and according to this year’s data, 3 out of 4 of those will use social networks as the conduit. If the Internet is the bed upon which we all rest, social networks are arguably the fitted sheet, and the cell phone is the bed frame.
According to Smart Insight’s 2018 Global Social and Media Research Summary, the current number of internet users worldwide is 4.021 billion—up 7 percent from last year. Interestingly, the number of mobile phone users in 2018 far outpaces that number at 5.135 billion—up 4 percent over 2017. Considering that the current number of social media users worldwide is 3.196 billion—up 13 percent from the previous year—it’s not a stretch to think that if the 1.1 billion mobile phone users who haven’t yet used the internet ever do attempt to access it, they will do so though their phones—and according to this year’s data, 3 out of 4 of those will use social networks as the conduit. If the Internet is the bed upon which we all rest, social networks are arguably the fitted sheet, and the cell phone is the bed frame.
Once upon a time, the older generation would confidently claim that social networks are purely for the younger generation. However, they might consider Pew Research Center’s findings for social media use in 2018, wherein “…roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users, and roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook on a daily basis. With the exception of those 65 and older, a majority of Americans across a wide range of demographic groups now use Facebook.” Excepting retirees, most adults are engaging on Facebook—right now.
But what about finding new prospects they way we’ve done in the past through the use of online advertising like Google Adwords? Well…maybe. An analysis was conducted and reported by CNBC wherein they sought to answer the question “How Effective is Google Adwords?” The results were uninspiring. Fraud topped the list of deterrents as “…advertisers lost about $12.5 billion in 2016 due to invalid traffic—clicks driven by bots instead of humans.” Then there are the dreaded (or loved, depending on which side you’re on) ad blockers. “In 2016, the usage of ad blockers increased nearly 30%. We are now beginning to see brands shift more of their spending into things like experiential events, live social media campaigns, and influencer marketing.” Brands like MasterCard, Jaguar, and Absolut are moving their outreach efforts more and more toward real events, lunch-and-learns, and interacting with customers in real time. Marketing mogul Gary Vaynerchuk chimed in on PPC back in April when he said, “Go look back at 1995 to 2000 clicks throughs on banner ads, 10%, 20%, 30%. Now, if you get .01, you’re a hero.”
Gary Vaynerchuck—or GaryVee as he is known on social—loves challenging old-school marketing techniques, typically launching a full scale attack (complete with a festoon of F-bombs) against businesses that fail to embrace social media. In a recent article called “How To Sell”, Gary lists several reasons why businesses fail to grow, and a favorite among them is the following cautionary tale: “Being tied down by the idealistic vision of how you made your money in the past. The world is changing! And the way you were successful yesterday definitely won’t be the way you are successful today. You need to look forward and become utterly unromantic about what you did in the past that got you “here.” Read the rest of the article and you’ll find that he’s listed virtually all the most popular social networks as viable channels through which business might reach insurmountable numbers of new customers. But are we ready for that challenge.
Gary Vaynerchuck—or GaryVee as he is known on social—loves challenging old-school marketing techniques, typically launching a full scale attack (complete with a festoon of F-bombs) against businesses that fail to embrace social media. In a recent article called “How To Sell”, Gary lists several reasons why businesses fail to grow, and a favorite among them is the following cautionary tale: “Being tied down by the idealistic vision of how you made your money in the past. The world is changing! And the way you were successful yesterday definitely won’t be the way you are successful today. You need to look forward and become utterly unromantic about what you did in the past that got you “here.” Read the rest of the article and you’ll find that he’s listed virtually all the most popular social networks as viable channels through which business might reach insurmountable numbers of new customers. But are we ready for that challenge.
Top Six Benefits of Enabling Cloud WIFI Control in your Hotel
Your hotel's Internet service is important: not only do you need it for your day-to-day operations, your guests will want it to operate smoothly so they can work, or stream movies, or even play games without suffering the constant buffering or timeouts associated with ungoverned WIFI. Fortunately, we came up with a solution to mitigate potential connectivity problems all the while protecting not only your best interests, but your bottom line as well. We call it Cloud Wifi Control . Here are the top six benefits of implementing this unique service at your hotel:
1) Bandwidth Control
- With
Cloud Wifi Control , you can restrict the amount of bandwidth used by each guest which, in turn, helps all guests enjoy a better overall Internet experience. This way, you prevent single users from hogging up all the bandwidth and causing bottlenecks for everyone else.
- With
Cloud Wifi Control , you can restrict the amount of bandwidth used by each guest which, in turn, helps all guests enjoy a better overall Internet experience. This way, you prevent single users from hogging up all the bandwidth and causing bottlenecks for everyone else.
2) Device Limit Control
- Sometimes it's just a numbers game: more devices equals more Internet usage. Use
Cloud Wifi Control to restrict the number of devices per customer that can access the Internet at once. Similar to bandwidth control, this feature allows you to prevent individuals from soaking up too much capacity by putting a cap on the number of devices he or she can use to access your network.
- Sometimes it's just a numbers game: more devices equals more Internet usage. Use
Cloud Wifi Control to restrict the number of devices per customer that can access the Internet at once. Similar to bandwidth control, this feature allows you to prevent individuals from soaking up too much capacity by putting a cap on the number of devices he or she can use to access your network.
3) Blacklist Control
- Block illegal and unwanted web content with
Cloud Wifi Control by filtering all your WI-FI traffic through a continually-updated master index of blacklisted websites. Not only will it help provide a safe surfing environment for your guests, it will also save you money by reducing the likelihood of your receiving copyright infringement letters from your ISP which could quickly generate legal fees if left unchecked.
- Block illegal and unwanted web content with
Cloud Wifi Control by filtering all your WI-FI traffic through a continually-updated master index of blacklisted websites. Not only will it help provide a safe surfing environment for your guests, it will also save you money by reducing the likelihood of your receiving copyright infringement letters from your ISP which could quickly generate legal fees if left unchecked.
4) On-time Rent Control
Cloud Wifi Control allows you to disable Internet access for guests who are late with their payments. It's a slightly less aggressive tactic that encourages guests to pay their rent in a timely manner or risk losing access to their favorite sites while on your property.
Cloud Wifi Control allows you to disable Internet access for guests who are late with their payments. It's a slightly less aggressive tactic that encourages guests to pay their rent in a timely manner or risk losing access to their favorite sites while on your property.
5) Do Not Rent (DNR) Control
Cloud Wifi Control will also block WI-FI access for individuals who have been placed on your DNR list. Not only does it deter would-be "piggybackers" (users who log onto wireless services without the owners' explicit permission or knowledge), it also blacklists users who have been deemed unfit for tenancy at your hotel.
Cloud Wifi Control will also block WI-FI access for individuals who have been placed on your DNR list. Not only does it deter would-be "piggybackers" (users who log onto wireless services without the owners' explicit permission or knowledge), it also blacklists users who have been deemed unfit for tenancy at your hotel.
6) Intrusion Detection and Outage Control
Cloud Wifi Control includes an Intrusion Detect System (IDS) which blocks unwanted malware and prevents infected computers from spreading their viruses to other computers on your network—including the front desk terminal. Uptime is of utmost importance to your business, and you can't afford not to continuously guard against any intrusions.
Cloud Wifi Control includes an Intrusion Detect System (IDS) which blocks unwanted malware and prevents infected computers from spreading their viruses to other computers on your network—including the front desk terminal. Uptime is of utmost importance to your business, and you can't afford not to continuously guard against any intrusions.
Truthfully, Cloud Wifi Control could be a wise option for any business, but for True Extended Stays®, nightly hotels, and other lodging services, we believe it's a must—and that once you try it, you'll wonder how you got along without it. Click here to learn more!
How the Right Property Management System can Prevent Employee Theft
Cash registers have always had a couple of "achilles heels" when it came to theft, namely the no sale method and the void method, and dishonest clerks exploit these functions for their own monetary gain, particularly when cash is used.
In the first example, the clerk takes advantage of the no sale option by pretending to ring up the customer, accepting money, hitting 'no sale' (or equivalent command), and quietly pocketing the cash. Not only is this method the simplest, it is also the most devious since there’s no record of a legitimate transaction to examine—only a time-stamped "open register" command. In the second example, the clerk abuses the void function by legitimately completing a sale, and after the customer leaves, the sale is promptly voided and the cash pocketed.
Neither heist is perfect since properly-counted inventory will always indicate a loss in revenue when compared to register totals, but shrewd thieves will usually choose items that aren't counted daily (or at all), thus increasing the time between the cash/inventory discrepancy and its discovery. This, of course, makes it all the more difficult to pinpoint the perpetrator.
Typically, monetary gain is the end goal, but in the hotel world it could also be a clerk who wants to give a friend or relative 'freeloader status' in an available room. Either way, it's money out of your pocket. But with a property management system like Gearco, these kinds of illicit moves are caught almost immediately since all voids, refunds, or whatever other income reversals that exist, require the clerk to first log into the system and type a valid reason. All of this information is permanently recorded and is also included in reports that are generated at the end of each day.
It's not 100% foolproof, but if it does happen, there's a nice, detailed paper trail leading you directly to the guilty party.
Welcome to the 'Amazon' of Property Management Systems
It’s entirely possible that you’re reading this on a 15-pound CRT monitor while connected to the Internet via a dial-up modem, but we’re betting that’s not the case. Neither do we suspect that a flip phone dangles from your hip with its monochromatic screen and inconvenient inability to connect to the world wide web. It's also quite doubtful you derive the entirety of your musical listening pleasure from vinyl discs, cassette tapes, and terrestrial radio stations, or all of your movie watching pleasure from local television stations, VHS tapes and DVDs. But all of this certainly could be true, right? These individual products and services worked exceedingly well for decades. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, right?
Except that they did get fixed. Hardware became software. Analog signals became digital signals that got tossed into the cloud. Most of the aforementioned bulky, physical components were combined into a single, lightweight mobile device—your cell phone. We had no idea how broken it actually was until it was fixed, and we couldn't be happier about it now. Let's examine just a few of these recent fixes.
By hoisting their operations off of the ground and into the cloud, these three Herculean companies quickly and effectively satisfied the wants and needs of their customers. Not only did these 'fixes' give us instant access to products we want, but the process of actually receiving and enjoying them requires less hardware. Faster access. No hassle. What more could we possibly want?
With Gearco’s cloud-based property management systems, owners and managers experience the exact same technological win.
For one thing, you can finally ditch those old, bulky, outdated computer systems, and instead, enjoy a slimline solution that not only frees up more space at your front desks and in your offices, but will host the very latest in cloud-based technology. And we won't force you to pay for upgrades; rather, you'll receive all your software updates for free. And there's nothing for you to install either; we handle it all behind the scenes—out of your way—so you can continue to run your business, uninterrupted.
Not only that, you'll take advantage of a whole slew of services unavailable with other property management systems such as live chatting, cloud texting, cloud printing, digital signature capturing, mobile device apps for housekeeping, maintenance, and security, and lastly, our brand new cloud assistant (ask it questions and it'll give real-time stats and metrics about your property, run and print reports, and so much more!)
And if you're concerned about having to learn a new platform, fear not. With Gearco's training courses, we'll ensure all your employees are following proper procedures and best practices while you maximize your profits. We'll tailor the learning process to fit your demanding schedule, too: Learn by working one-on-one with members of our support team, onsite at your location, or if it's more convenient, we can walk you through the features of your Gearco property management system online via webinar. Topics include check in and check out, renewals, payments, reservations, reports, closeouts, alert points, room and guest search, account search, transaction or task search, and so much more!
Why not give us a test drive today? Our introductory 1st gear platform is free for life and includes basic property management apps with limited support—plenty enough to feel the power of Gearco!