Creating A Smooth And Efficient Process For Your Guest Questions

Okay, welcome along and thank you for tuning in. We are answering the question today of how do we let our guests know everything they need to know about their upcoming trip. My name is Liam Carolan, I'm Mark Simpson's co host and today we are shining the spotlight on a special guest who can help us answer the question. So in a moment I'll be speaking with Kate Stinchcomb Gillis who is the Chief Marketing Officer Officer from Touch Day and she's also one of the co authors in the book Direct Blueprint. So let's dive into that. But if you haven't heard of the book Direct Blueprint, then you can go and check it out@ww.boostly.co.uk blueprint and if you hadn't heard of it at all, it's the follow up book to the book Direct Playbook. It talks about the products and services and people in the industry that can help you with all aspects of direct booking. And just like a blueprint for, you know, house or something like that, it outlines exactly what you need, where and why as well. So let's dive in. Welcome along Kate and thank you for joining me today.

Good morning Liam. Thank you for having me.

So to get started, are you okay to introduce yourself, what your role is within touchstay and anything else you'd like to share about who Kate is?

Sure. So I'm Kate Stinchcomb Gillis. I'm the Chief Marketing officer at touchday and touchday are creators of digital guest welcome books. I've been with the team for about two years now. Prior to that I had my own PR marketing consultancy, very much in the holiday rental space because before I ventured out on my own, I was part of the team that grew holidaylettings.co.uk to be acquired by TripAdvisor and then I worked with TripAdvisor at Vacation Rentals for five years. So I have a long history. I'm a bit long in the tooth as far as marketing and the holiday rental space is concerned. So. So that's a little bit of my background and the time that I have been with touchstay.

Cool. I mean that puts you in a great position to help us answer that question today about sort of what guests need to know and when. So if somebody was listening into this and had never heard of touchstay, how would you best describe what it is and what problems it solves?

So touchstay was born from the co founders Andy and Joe being fed up guests. So two serial travelers who have stayed in many places around the world, many hostels, rentals, Airbnbs, whatever you want to call them, they had had too many experiences of rocking up, not knowing where to park, how to find the key, how to access the Wi Fi. And so TouchStay was designed to improve the guest experience, to make it easier for guests to get access to that information, to remove the need for them to have to contact somebody in the middle of the night, early in the morning, whatever time it was that they arrived to access the property or settle in. And in doing so, that also helps hosts, owners, managers from having to be on guard, on standby for those guest questions all the time. And it takes away the pain of repetitive guest questions. So that's the idea behind it, to make everybody's experience of managing and staying much simpler, much more pleasant, much less hassle involved. And so hosts and managers benefit from getting a little bit of time back, removing some of the niggles of hosting from the day to day, and setting up guests to be more prepared for when they arrive at their holiday. That then enables and kick in and start enjoying their holiday much, much sooner, which in turn, as you can imagine, makes for much happier guests who leave much better reviews and are more likely to recommend and repeat their booking.

It's just so important and I know everybody listening into this will be saying, well, how does that work? What does it look like from a host's perspective? Is there a lot of work involved?

You know, because we provide a template. So for example, if you've got a holiday rental, you choose our short term rental template. And that template is laid out in a very organized fashion. You log into an account, you have a platform where you enter content into this template. In fact, a lot of that content is already there. We actually guide you on where you need to personalize that content to your, your accommodation, where you can just leave it as it is if you want to. And we sort of steer you and say there are 10 essential steps that you probably want to do, like adding a logo, changing the colours match your branding, obviously, putting your name and contact details, how to find the property, how to access the WI fi, and then your favourite recommended things to do in the local area. So all the guidebooks come with a local area guide in them through an integration with Google Places. And it is, I can tell you this because it's very tempting to just put everything that's local to you, but the suggestion is that you just put your favorite things and to consider. The other thing to consider when doing this is how long your Guests are likely to stay. So if you typically attract guests for weekend stays, then you definitely don't want to overwhelm them with options. The top three to five things to do in a weekend, whether that's restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, museums, sites, beaches, pick the best ones so that the visitors to your area see the best things and want to come back for more. So yeah, you can. The template's designed to make it a quick and easy exercise and also it's entirely editable at any time, so you can come back and log in and improve it at any point. And one of the great things about that is that when you are dealing with guests and you have guest questions, a guest is likely asking you a question because they can't find the answer somewhere. So that then gives you the perfect opportunity to go in and add that information, perhaps in a little FAQ section within your guidebook.

That's cool. And that question that you've, that you've answered there has brought me on to what if I've got multiple properties in one location, Can I tailor the experience for each property?

Yes, completely. So the, the clever bit behind the scenes means that you can. As you add more guidebooks, you add bespoke information to the property, which might be, you know, what's in each bedroom, how that particular coffee machine works, but all of the information that is the same, whether that's your contact details, the local area information, how to book again in the future. You use a tagging system and you say that tag, that content has this tag, which means it goes in all the guidebooks related to this location.

That's cool. That's cool because there'll be lots of people who host a multitude of different avatars in a close by location. It sounds as though you've got that covered. So let's talk from a guest perspective. What does the guest experience? What is their first kind of touch point with this information? How does it feel to them and what's the benefits to the guest?

So the technical bit is that it is a progressive web app, which means that as a host you share it as a link with your guests. And now that link can go in any of your existing communications, whether you send emails, SMS's, use a property management service, you name it, that link can go in anything and when the guest opens it, encourage them to open it on their phone, open it in a browser, and the browser will automatically prompt them to save it to their home screen. Now once they do that, it will appear just like an app icon on their phone and Once they've opened it there on their phone from the app icon, it will start to work offline. So if you're off grid and they. And they need to come and find you, they can do that once you've opened it. And all of that information is stored to your phone. And then using it as a guest is really simple because all of that organization in the template that I talked about before is replicated in the presentation to the guest. So the guest opens the guidebook, they see a series of category titles, a bit like a content list, and each of those categories opens subcategories and topics where the detail is hidden. And some of the other clever little bits are that you can interlink between one topic and another. So you might, for example, in the arrival information, say, if you arrive early and you want to orientate yourself, go and have lunch at one of our local restaurants. And that might link down to the. The restaurant section. So as far as the guest experience goes, it's a very, very visually pleasing exercise. They're looking at what looks like an app and works like an app. It's beautifully designed and it's entirely tailorable to your brand colors. So you can really immerse them in your brand vibe, your brand voice from, from the off. And it's entirely up to you when you put it in their hands too. So we would obviously advise that you put in their hands as soon as you book. As soon as they book. And there are other clever things behind the scenes that mean you can hide sensitive information until you know a certain time before they arrive. So you don't have to give full access right from the beginning. But it also creates an opportunity for you to drip feed information to them between booking and arrival, because you can send them what we call deep links. So, for example, if you are near a Michelin star restaurant or a restaurant run or owned by somebody particularly well known that gets booked up really quickly, one of the steps in your guest communication flow could be restaurants to book now or at least three months before you come. And the link that you provide to them at that point is not just the link to your guidebook, it's the link to that particular restaurant or the restaurant section in your guidebook.

That's really cool. I love the, the point you made about being offline because it's one of the things which people may struggle with. Certainly I've got very rural properties. So the fact that they can still access the information, you know, and sort of get that information when they need it is just so important. So what would you say, and I think you've mentioned a few already, the benefits really, to a host, why should they really be using a digital guidebook to improve that guest experience? And I think the one you've mentioned which really stands out to me is, is the reviews, which is really important. But I also know that you guys help with emails and things like that. So, yeah, what, what other benefits are there?

So the benefit of the guidebook, particularly from a direct booking perspective, is that you can tailor the content and perhaps even add a section that's, there's, there's a templated section that sort of thank you and farewell, but you might want to add a stay in touch or book again section. And there you can say, sign up to my newsletter or follow us here on these social media channels. Go to our website if you know, here's a code for a discount when you book again. Or feel free to use this code and share it with friends so that there's a huge opportunity there for you to proactively communicate with your guests, not only about the experience they're going to have while you stay, but the future as well. The ways that you can communicate the guidebook to your guests extend beyond just giving you a link. So we have a scheduled messaging platform as part of the tool, and you can send SMS or, and, or email. And again, we provide you templates for doing this. So we have up to seven templates for SMS and for email, where we prompt you a little bit, like I was suggesting with that restaurant example, to drip feed guests between booking and arrival and even beyond arrival to ensure that they're having a good time and keeping in touch with them. The idea here being if you proactively communicate and you communicate well and you do it in short bursts, the guests are more likely, much more likely to engage with those communications, read them, absorb them, and respond to them in a positive way. And a much more positive way than being sent lengthy emails, weighty PDF attachments, or links to content that, that may contain lots of information but aren't easy to navigate through.

You know, that is, there's something which I'm guilty of that myself. In the past, when I first got started in hospitality, I'd send an email with literally, hey, this is all the information that was almost like throwing up all the information they could possibly need throughout their trip, you know, sent to them when they first book or just a week before. But that's the key thing with touchday, isn't it, that you can, like you say, trickle that information just when they need it. And a lot of hosts, I speak to them all the time, we say, hey, why don't guests read what we send them? And you have to look at how and when you're sending that information to really look at why the guest might not be reading. And don't get me wrong, there are guests who just don't read anything until they get to the door and then they call you. But a lot of the time, it can be reduced the amount of calls and messages from guests by feeding that information through at the right time, which it sounds like this is perfect for, that giving them the information they need to know, when they need to know it, which is called. What would you say to the hosts out there who go, do you know what? No, I'm on Airbnb and I've got an Airbnb guide, and that works just fine. What would you like to say to them?

I would say that that is a really nice, simple approach. It keeps everything in one place, and if that works for you, that's brilliant. But I also have an Airbnb listing, and I don't have an Airbnb guide because it's just too base. It's really, really too simple. And obviously, I work for touchstay, so I'm going to say that I also have a TouchStay guidebook, and I do. But the huge benefit for me personally is I can see how many times my guests are opening my guidebook, which tells me, A, not only are they reading it, B, I can see how often they're reading it, and I can compare that to how often they're contacting me or. Or not to ask me a question. And I can also compare that to how well they look after the property or not when they. Once they've left. So it's. And I think perhaps the thing that. That may also get. Get lost in things for people who are solely reliant on Airbnb. Airbnb. So it's a link. Airbnb doesn't let you send links. Well, as soon as they booked, you can send them a link. And also as soon as they've booked, you do get the phone number from Airbnb 2, which immediately opens up another line of communication. Immediately enables you to communicate directly with people and start to steer them down the direct booking route and away from your reliance on Airbnb. So there's lots of reasons to not just use the tools that the platform platform provides. Airbnb is an enormous platform. It's enormously resourced, but its priority is getting guests to stay in places that is not necessarily to get your guests opening your communications and listening to what you've got to say. Plus, Touchday offers a 14 day free trial, so you might as well go and have a play, right?

100%. I love that. And you're absolutely right. And you're preaching to the converted with, you know, sort of Airbnb not being the best place to have your guys because often when people then look at them, experiences on Airbnb, you'll actually see Airbnb suggest places to stay nearby or other things to do. So they're actively promoting accommodations which might not be yours as the host. So it's just so important, isn't it, to have your own, your own land, as we're always talking about here at Boostie. When it comes down to the digital guidebook as well. I know that you guys are great with the collection of emails, but also, is there ways for hosts to make extra revenue through some of the things that you do?

Yeah, so that was my next thing I wanted to say, actually, because Upsells is a conversation that we often have with hosts. And in fact, we've run a couple of webinars on the topic too, with both people who are expert and experienced in this, but also who use touchday to surface their affiliate links or their relationships with local businesses. And that is just two of the ways that you can do this. So if you have set up, set yourself up as an affiliate partner with perhaps an attractions website, then that's one way to go about this. You promote the attractions that are nearby to you. And when you're persuading your guests that they're a good place to stay, it's that affiliate link that you include in your guidebook to drive them to that site and to the booking. Similarly, if you have relationships with local restaurants, local shops, whatever it might be, however you manage that relationship and that, you know, guest discount, whether it's a promo code or mention my name or, you know, book via this link and add this promo code. Again, when you're detailing the places to stay and visit in your guidebook, you can add that information as part of your content when you're promoting that location.

You know, you make such a good point there because they're so important to have the affiliate links. Isn't it just that's, that's the way that you can stand out and be different from all the other hosts in your area is to actually first of all provide the guests this information. But then if you've Got the affiliate links. If you can build a relationship with that local cafe or restaurant or bar or, you know, sort of hire canoe hire or place like that, you can definitely then make some extra income. But also you're becoming. You get it reciprocated. Because if you're suggesting their place when they've got people asking them, hey, is there a place to stay? Or, you know, friends and family, they'll. They'll be recommending you as a host or your brand as a host, which is amazing. So, yeah, and another thing that I really want to dive into, Kate, is obviously you've been involved in hospitality since 2006, so what ways of. More marketing side of things now? What ways of marketing have you seen in hospitality that has changed since you first got started in the industry? And. Yeah. Is there any advice you can share on. On marketing in general?

Well, even before 2006, I worked in restaurants and one of the things that worked really powerfully for us, we were in central Oxford and we used to print pads of maps of Oxford so that you could walk from the restaurant into town and explore. And we used to go and talk to the porters at the colleges in Oxford and to other local businesses around the city to say, would you like some of our maps all branded with our restaurant logo on the bottom, contact details, so on and so forth to hand out and share with people who are looking a bit lost around the ancient lanes of Oxford? So that was one of my favourite tactics, well, 20 years ago. Nowadays it is a little bit different. But what hasn't changed is the importance of relationships and picking up on something you were just saying about affiliates and how you get people to recommend you.

The.

It's that balance between the technical enablement of links and buying things and being paid back for that and building a relationship in the first place and in an ongoing way so that people genuinely do return the favour and recommend you by return. So there are. So there are those two things that I think are a bit old school but still very applicable to today. The ability to be human and to occasionally put something in people's hands. I think the other thing that has changed is that we. For an industry that is all about people and relationships, it's not always necessarily been the friendliest, chattiest or most approachable. I think nice restaurants especially have an air of superiority or formality about them and hotels can too. I think the opportunity that holiday rentals and holiday rental owners have is to be more personable. And it's where brand, voice and personality come into play really powerfully, particularly if you're going down the direct booking route and you're trying to stand out a little bit from the crowd. And that's being true to yourself, picking a tone of voice and a personality for both your design and for your. The language that you use and how you talk about what you're offering is. And how you talk to people is a really powerful tool now. And you can see a couple of the bigger hotel chains doing it, if anybody. Well, actually, the brand that most people refer to when they. When they think of sort of chatty, cheeky smile, raising copy is innocent, innocent drinks. But if you want to go and see a player doing it quite well in the hospitality industry, go and check out Citizen M. The copy for their hotels and all of the collateral that's inside the hotels is very friendly, a little bit tongue in cheek, and definitely a good lesson in adding some personality to your accommodation brand.

I love that. And the best hosts that I know are people who talk to their guests like a friend, you know, who really not overly familiar, but, you know, aren't afraid to make a joke, aren't too formal, you know, and it's just. It's just the difference, isn't it? And I guess it does come down to the brand and the style of place you want to convey, but certainly it resonates with me and I'm sure there's lots of hosts listening to that who completely agree with you, Kate, on. On how important it is to. To just be more personable and friendly at the end of the day. So let's talk about the book Direct Blueprint. How did you get involved in the book Direct Blueprint? And what was it like writing your chapter?

Well, Mark approached us. Oh, gosh, maybe at the start of the year. I can't remember exactly. And classic Mark style. It was one of those not to be missed opportunities, I think. And so as a team, we got together and put our heads together and decided what it is we wanted to talk about and how we could refine our story and our experience and our guidance on guest communication to genuinely help people understand the importance of guest communication and how it helps with managing guests, but also how it could actually be quite a game changer in terms of running a more sustainable business from a productivity perspective and an efficiency perspective.

That's really cool. And I know you co wrote it with Andy McNulty, the CEO. And what do you hope, what do you both hope that the reader is going to take away from your chapter?

Well, actionable takeaways is really important for us, whether it's reading a book, attending a talk, going to a conference. And I would like to think that they will both get a feel for us and our business and our brand personality, but also the importance of communicating with guests, the ease with which anybody can start communicating with their guests really effectively today. And also some top tips to just get them started doing that step by step. You know, Tian, who also works in the team and co wrote the book with us, she has a very thorough guest communication flow. And it's not that we're recommending that you implement that overnight, but it's just recognizing where there are opportunities in the guest journey to drop an additional proactive communication and to not think of proactive communication as creating more work for yourself. Because the idea is to take the weight off in the long term.

And like you say, there is actionable steps in there. I've been lucky enough to read the chapter and certainly there's actionable things that people listening to this will be able to go into the book and actually go off and do. And it's also a great story. It's worth mentioning as well. We we've spoken to Andy and Diane and you know, if people do want to hear what they've got to say about the chapter, then you can search that on the podcast. Boostly podcast is available as well. So what do you think the future of Touch Day is going to be like?

It will be full of innovation to make guest communication even simpler and more effective. And if you think about that in the, in the context that we want to make communication easier for you and therefore more effective for the guests so that their overall experience is better. We whilst we have always been a brand that says no integration required, we do recognize that those people who use other tech in the space want to simplify their tech solutions. So we have an integrations program in place. We're already integrated with five PMS systems and there are more on the list for next year. So for those who do use property management systems, then that's a new door opening. And there are some other cool feature developments in in the making that will all be revealed in the at the beginning of 2023.

Leaving us hanging. I like that. It's exciting. I mean, I'm excited for you. That does sound like the PMS integrations is a big one, isn't it? So, yeah, thank you so much for this. So as we reach towards the end, we'd like to just do a couple of quick fire slash fun questions, more about yourself. But before we do, I mean, for me, the biggest takeaways from speaking to you today is definitely the fact that you can track the number of times people are opening them links and how you can then compare it to how good that guest was. I think that's such an important one that you can't get from. From most other technology in there. And I often get asked all the time when we have calls about websites is what should I include? You know, pre stay, what information and when should we give it to them? And what I love about touchstay is these questions become void when you can simply send out that link at the right times. And like you say that that drip feed is just so important. So, yeah, really some. Some big take. So let's do a couple of fun quick fire questions. So what top travel or when you're traveling, what top amenities do you look for personally and why?

Oh, my word. Oh, that is a very tricky question. And I've traveled a lot recently. And what has been the most disappointing thing? Face cloths.

Face cloths. Okay, didn't expect that.

What about face cloths and why no hotels provide them? And one vacation rental I stayed in in Nashville was very smart and provided black ones because, you know, as a host who wants to find makeup all over their white towels. So they were clever in saying, here's a stash of black face cloths. Use them to your heart's content to take your eye makeup off, take your foundation off. Whatever it is, it doesn't bother us because, you know, they're easy to clean.

That's really cool. Do you know what? You've reminded me and great tip for people listening. You can actually buy, I mean from, from Amazon and places like that. You can actually buy ones which say makeup cloth. You know, like you can actually buy.

There you go.

Dark ones. They're fantastic and great for hospitality if you're looking to supply them. Mark talks about you guys as the Avengers in the book Direct Playbook. Is there what superpower would you have if you could have any superpower?

Oh, my word. I might steal something from Tyenn here. I would like a wand that waved magic fairy dust over grumpy guests to make everybody cheery.

I can get why that is. That's one that we'd all like. Hey, that would be a bestseller in no time at all. And lastly, we always finish on this, which is what is your mantra or motto that you either like to live by or one that really resonates with you.

So mine comes from way back when I was probably about 11 and I was leaving primary school and a teacher wrote in a book, wrote this in a book for me. And I was very, very much into music when I was a kid and she wrote in musical note form, never be sharp, never be flat, always be natural. And I think in having found my way into the hospitality industry and various aspects of it, it's something that has held very true and very reliable over the years.

I love that one. That takes you back to when you were 11. Wow. That. How can the listeners get in touch with yourself or with Touch Day?

So you'll find touchstay@touchstay.com you'll find me at kateouchstay.com you'll find me on Twitter as Kate stinchcomb. Same on LinkedIn. It's a bit of a mouthful of a surname, I do apologize, but there is only one of me, so that generally makes it a little bit easier.

Love it. And of course we'll add these to the show notes as well. So thank you so much for anybody who is looking to have, you know, read of the book. Direct Blueprint, you can go to boostly.co.uk blueprint to get involved with that. Again, depending on when you're listening to this will depend on what will display on that page, but that's where you need to head to and definitely go and get involved. It's going to help you with touchstay, obviously, as you've heard from Kate today, but also with all the other services within the industry that you, as somebody looking to get more direct bookings, can, can get involved with and find out about. So is there any questions that I've missed, Kate, or any final thoughts before we bring things to a close?

I don't think you've missed any questions. I think I would just say that touching on the grumpy guest point, it can be very, very easy as a host in hospitality context to lose sight of the reason you can got started or to lose a little bit of the joy that hospitality can bring. So, yeah, it's finding the ways to hold on to that joy or reclaim that joy and getting rid of the things that make it a slog and touch day is very much part of the toolkit that helps you ditch the slog and reclaim the joy of hosting. So I hope that has been conveyed today and I'm very happy to answer anybody's questions about it.

Hey, I've certainly learned a lot about Touch Day and yeah, what a great way, great sentiment to end on. So thank you so much, Kate, for joining us today. Thank you for your time. Thank you. If you're listening to this on the podcast or watching on the live, that's bye from me. And that's bye from Kate as well. We'll see you on the next one. Cheers, everybody. Bye for now.

Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee like Bruce Lee? Cause it's so hard and the T is loose leaf making up those rhymes don't write it, just do it loosely.