Tactics to Successfully Manage Your STR Properties Remotely

There is a secret weapon out there when it comes to boosting direct bookings and it's in the form of a little box. Have you ever visited a Starbucks or a hotel or any coffee shop and you've wanted to use the WI fi? To get access to the WI fi, you have to give up an email address and your contact information. This technology has never been available before in the short term rental or the midterm rental market, but now it is. I've been talking about this company and my clients have used them time and time and time again and the results are phenomenal. The company is, of course, Stay Fire State is a global brand and they are making waves in this industry. I am so grateful and happy to say that not only am I a client, not only am I a friend of the company, they are also now sponsoring the podcast. And when Stacy came to me and they said, hey, we want to sponsor the podcast, I said, well, only reason I will do this is if you can give a really cool discount to the Boostly community. You can get started right now on Stay Fi, no contracts and get 50% off your first three months with StayFi. All you need to do is use the code Boostly. When you are getting started again, just put boostly to get 50% off your first three months. If you are serious about boosting your direct bookings, then you need to have StayFi in your tech stack. To lock in your Stayfi discount and start cultivating your engaged guest list, go to stayfi.comforward/boostly stay fire.com boost Lee and watch your bookings.

So, okay everybody. So today we are discussing tactics to successfully manage your short term rental properties remotely. And we've got very special guests to help us with a tool, with a tactic that will help you to do so. So thank you for tuning in. As you know, this is the Boostly podcast, the podcast that gives you the tools, the tactics, the training and most importantly, the confidence so you can go out there and work on your direct bookings. My name's Liam Carolan and we're shining the spotlight today on Florian Hoven from Keynest. He is the co founder and I'm not going to take anything away from Con from Keynest. I'm going to let him explain exactly what it is and what it does. So welcome along Florian. Thank you for joining me.

Thanks for having me.

So can you give an introduction to yourself, where you are in the world and what Keynest is?

Absolutely. So essentially we are a network of four to five thousand locations where hosts May be management companies, service apartment providers, etc. Everyone really that manages properties can securely store their keys or their means to access the property and then can give remote access to them. So if you have a property up in Manchester and you live in London, you can basically store your key in the local Keynes Point and then the guests can collect the keys there, the cleaner can go there, pick them up as well, the contractor, you name it. Yeah, just to really have a network, a global network of locations that you can use to, yeah, manage your properties remotely.

Sounds good to me. And of course, it's one of the questions which you always get asked is that, you know, if I'm not going to invest necessarily locally, to me, if the market doesn't make sense, then how else can I make sure that people can get in for, say, big apartment buildings or places where I don't live? I just want to make sure that you don't want that problem where a guest can't get in. Right. That's this, like, rule number one. You don't want to. Don't want guests not to be able to get in and be seeking refunds or compensation. So before we dive more into Keynest and what it does and how it does what it does, can you let us know, as the co founder, how did this all come about? What is the history with it?

Yeah, so it actually came from a problem and from an experience problem as well. So my co founder, Mark and I were both Airbnb hosts working in private equity in London. So we had very long hours. It was very difficult to, to host guests in, you know, different departments. So we thought about different things. What can we do? So first of all, of course, we're trying to meet them and hand the keys over, but that was just such a frustrating process because either, you know, the guests were annoyed because we came a bit late, or one of us was late and something like that happened because of work or other commitments. But equally frustrating was when, you know, you leave work early or you work, you leave work just to, to meet your guests and then go back to work and then they are late. It's not their fault. But you know how it is when you fly into London, it's quite hard to predict at what time you will be at the property. So it's just a terribly frustrating process for the guests and for him for his apartment and for myself for my apartment. So we experience exactly the same frustrations. So we talked about it just randomly over, over lunch and then, yeah, we, we thought about different ways on how to solve this problem. So he tried to install one of these lockboxes outside his property and tried that, but wasn't really comfortable with the security. And also the neighbors immediately complained that they don't want to have a lockbox just outside the property, the apartment block. So that wasn't an issue. We were not ready and not prepared to invest a lot of money into a smart block, especially because we had. He had two doors, I think that would have to be fitted and I had three doors even. So that was also not an option. So we thought about respectively giving the keys to a neighborhood store. He gave it to a cafe, I think I gave it to a, to a convenience store close by. And that worked like a charm. So the guests went there, they got the keys. So we thought, okay, that's great. But him and myself were very nervous because we didn't know did they have the keys, did they, if they actually get there. So you were texting the guests, hey, have you received the keys? Did you check in? So, yeah, we spotted this gap in the market where you want to have this convenience of an existing network of stores where people can come and go and they are greeted by a friendly face. But you need technology behind it. You need, you know, the tracking needs to be there. You need to know when a key was moved. And just, yeah, just, just having the peace of mind of knowing, being notified. All my guesses. Just received the keys. They have checked in, so I can relax. Yeah. So we looked at the market. Airbnb was back in 2016 and it was doubling every year. But without a solution for the access problem, something was probably the only thing that short term rentals were still missing to close the gaps to hotels with a reception desk. Right. So yeah, we thought about it. We had the idea with stores, cafes, et cetera, and then just took us quite a few months to build the app. Yeah. And then we launched in London in end of 2016.

That's amazing. And I love businesses like this, which come from solving problems firsthand. You know, you're solving your problem first and actually from that you discovered the business which then has gone on to do amazingly well. What sort of locations are these keys kept in then? So at the moment, how many did you say? About four or five thousand locations. And on what sort of locations are they kept?

Yeah, so we, yeah, around 5,000. So we are in around 15 countries right now. So several, several European countries from the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, etc. And we are also in the US, Canada and Australia. And these, these Locations were quite open to who we work with. So quite often it's small chains, it's often hotels as well and they can be convenience stores. Just most important is the reliability and the opening time. So most of our locations are 24 7. But then afterwards we have brands we work with that have 500 stores with us roughly. And then we also work with people who own their, their only shop, but they are in a location that is highly demanded. And we've had this relationship for a long time, so we're very open to it. As long as, you know, they, they are passing our vetting process and have great opening times, ideally 24 7.

That makes sense. And I mean, if, if you're listening to this podcast thinking, well, you know what, this, this doesn't make sense to me. If, you know, if you're somebody who's got a key box already in place and you've not felt the pain of it, then, you know, maybe you've got no need for this right now. But trust me, as a host myself, I know from the locations where we've got apartment buildings or where there are, it's not just not very easy sometimes to access some of these places and to tell guests where to go, it can detract from the, from their experience. So actually having somewhere where they can go and pick up a key and then go and use the key, you know, in the, in the right place, then, then that is definitely a big benefit. When you switched from doing those meet and greets to having a key, were you worried about the guest experience at the time? And, and has it impacted guest experience or guests just okay with picking up the key from a third party location?

Yeah, it's a great, great question. We launched Finesse because the guest experience, even without the technology, you know, no, no, A guest obviously needs to go and provide a code and everything we built behind it. But even back then when we just started, guests loved it because they didn't have to tell us, will you be there at 7pm Please let me know if you're a bit delayed. Are you at 8pm now? We told them it's a cafe or a store, um, a two minute walk away from the property. And don't worry about it. Just, you know, whenever you feel like going to the property, go there. If you want to stop to buy some groceries on the way, you can do it in the location as well. But if you want to stop by having some, some dinner before, you can come in whenever you want to, you don't need to tell me which is just a. So much nicer as a guest because you're not starting your holiday stress because your flight is delayed and you're worried about, oh, I told my, my host, I'm going to be there at 6, I'm going to be there at 7. And then you're delayed. And also, for example, versus lockboxes, which is most of our customers, as you can imagine, switching to us from, from these lockboxes, it's often that you're still greeted by a face. You're still going to a neighborhood store where you can pick up groceries, a bottle of wine, some food, you had a long flight, or ask them if you need something, where's the closest cinema, where's the closest pharmacy? And it's basically sort of a welcome to sort of a reception desk. Our locations, which is always nice, right? It's nicer to be greeted by someone who's locally, you know, we all know the Airbnb slogan, which I think they still use of living like a local. And it's just a nice start to your. Yeah. Your holiday or your start to a city trip to go somewhere where there's a face that you can ask a question if you need to.

Well, one of the things we talk about a lot at Boostly is direct bookings, and we're constantly talking about building relationships with local businesses, local people, and what a great way to do. So, you know, if there's a local corner shopper, if there's, you know, somewhere which makes sense where they can go and pick up the key. But actually you can then, you know, recommend them in the guest book. You can say to, you know, say to them this is mutually beneficial. What, what is the benefit that these locations get? Is there. Do they get any monetary benefit or is it more just. Just passing custom? How does it work?

Yeah, so that is part of it as well. And the biggest benefit for them, though, is just the extra footfall. So they do get tourists coming from all over the world. And yes, it's great for the guests to be able to pick up something, but that's also great for the store that they have, you know, people traveling from far who are just happy to go somewhere and being able to buy the sandwich, buy the bottle of water, get the bottle of wine, as I said. So they, they mostly benefit from the.

Extra footfall and for hosts who are considering this. So, so, you know, hopefully, you know, somebody is listening to this, just going, you know what? I've been meet and greeting. I'm exactly that person who is having to finish work early, having to arrive five minutes after the guests already there, which doesn't look good. How do they check if their location is available for Keynes? Because I take it there may be some places where it's not yet available. But is there a place they can check?

Yeah, we're not everywhere yet. It's coming. But yes, for sure. So on our website, so if you go to Keynes.com and you can look for your postcode and all of our locations are there. So we are still opening at least 20, 30, 40 locations per month, often even more. And we always open them on demand as well. So all of our locations that we currently have, which is already pretty full map, is added to by new locations because we have customers saying, okay, great, I use you in this area or here, but we actually have a property, you know, somewhere in a different city where we're not yet or in a different part of town or something like that. And then it takes us around two to three weeks to open a new location. So we go out often, we have these partnerships already in place. That's why it's quite easy for us. So we work with a chain that also has a store in that area and then we just do our vetting and then within two or three weeks we can open a new location as well. And as I said, we, we get multiple requests a day and always try to, to action them all as fast as possible. Sometimes it takes a bit longer because most important is finding a, as I said, reliable location with great opening times. But yeah, normally the average is always two to three weeks.

I mean, it's good as well that the host doesn't have to go and know somewhere and go, oh, you should use this corner store and stuff like that. If you already work with certain chains and certain people who are familiar with your business, you're familiar with theirs. That, that sounds like, you know, an easy solution. In most cases, if you're struggling on.

How to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start, then I recommend you go and book in a call with Boostly and our team right now. We can walk you through exactly what we're offering, how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only your niche, but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2000 hospitality businesses all over the world and increase their direct bookings. And if you are interested, then all you need to do is go to Boostly. B o o s tly.co.uk forward/, call and book in an appointment with one.

Of our sales team when it comes down to the reliability. Because one of my concerns as a host, and I'm sure people listening to this, is how reliable is it? So, you know, like, is what happens if they're, they're closed on that day or something like that? Is, does these situations come up or is it pretty, you know, pretty reliable?

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's pretty reliable. No way we have a problem, but for sure. So there's several reasons for why the service is reliable, but also secure. So first of all, as I said, it's not that someone goes, right, and says I'm here for some apartment and they look for the right key and then hand out some random key. It's all through our app and it's only done with a valid code. So someone wanting to collect a key, they would need to fix the a code which is by default single use. So they can't just, you know, go back a week later and try the same code because it won't work because it was used unless the host wants to make it reusable. So it's single use codes. And then the keys are always anonymous and there's a double verification process. So we have little fobs attached to all of our keys which look identical. So you can't identify the key either. But when the code is entered into the app, which is done by, by the start and the location, they will be told which key it is in the safe, but then they need to scan the fob to double verify it's the right key. So only the right key is given out matching the code and then yes. So opening times, as you can imagine. So we in regular contact with our stores. We also, most of our locations now are sort of reception desks. So we have our Keynes are used less than every 30 seconds. Now obviously it was a bit different than when we started, but now, you know, every 30 seconds at all times during the day they are used. So they are real partners of ours and most of them we've been working with for years. So for sure it can happen, for example, that the store says, sorry, next week we're closing for a week because we need to refurbish. And in that case, for example, we sent someone either out of the store, we sent someone just to move the keys to the next store. And then when the, when the refurbishment is over, we just move them back there because we know that the keys can't be locked there for a week, for example, because people need access. And by building these relationships, all these challenges that come and that, you know, that that can always happen, that there's something they need to refurbish, as I said, or something like this is the case, we move the keys. One more thing is we, we do work with chains and larger stores. So it, it does not happen that we have stores, you know, that, that tell you every year for half the time we go on holidays and then we close the whole shop and because they're not run like you know, your mom pop, that store, but by professionals with staff members, et cetera. So also if there's a staff member that's, that's ill, they have a replacement, et cetera. So that all goes into our vetting process and all of that combined together is really important for us and just to ensure reliability because as you said that that's absolutely key.

That sounds really reassuring overall. I mean just, just the fact that it's, it's somewhere secure, people can't just see somebody else has wandered in and got a key and say, hey, can I have a key to, you know, like it sounds as though there's a good system in place. And I've seen it in a former life I was working in a convenience store, you know, in a small shop. And often these stores are looking for extra revenue. You're doing things like parcels and stuff like that. So they're used to dealing with secure processes, to making sure that they're open, available and like you say, they appreciate the extra foot form. One question I would have is how far away would you say is acceptable? So if I've got units, say city center, how far away would be acceptable would you say for the guests to still pick up a key? Because I've got the situation, for instance, in my local town where you can get the train in, but then if somebody had to, you know, get a taxi to get a pick up a key to come back out, that could be difficult. So how far would you say is like a typical or a recommended distance for picking up the key?

Yeah, excellent question. And so we always say it should be within 5 minute walk, not drive, but walk. So it's very short distance, as short as possible, of course, and there are a few exceptions to it, which is for example what you just mentioned. If everyone comes in with a train and the Keyness is in the train station, and it doesn't really matter because everyone comes in there, okay, pick up the key and then they go to the apartment. If it's then a 10 minute walk that's totally fine because they would have done that anyway. Or they take the bus from there. And so we have, you know, we always say within five minutes it can be longer if, if it's next to the tube station, next to the train station as you said. And then we have a few cities which is usually only happen in the US mostly where the hosts don't really care that much because everyone is driving anyway. So, so they say as long as it's in the city, ideally somewhere where people pass next to the, next to the highway, that, that, that's totally fine. And we even had properties which were quite far away. But because everyone said everyone drives on the highway to our apartment, they, they are happy to pick up the key on the way there and then it's still a 10 minute drive even. So it depends a bit. But yes, the more urban you go and you know, in urban cities in the, in the, in. Yeah, in Europe and we always want to be as close as possible. I would tell a host, always consider maximum of 5 minute walk and again with a few asterisks and situations where longer can be acceptable or doesn't matter to the guest.

That makes sense. And what is coming along in the future then for Keynest, what is the plan?

Yeah, so we want to become truly global. So you know, we're in 15 countries and, and growing but we really want to be the standard solution everywhere. So as I said we, we already checked in way over 1.5 million guests and it's, it's, it's growing every year. So in some cities and countries we definitely the most preferred or the preferred check in option but we want to extend that to other areas and to other cities and into other countries as well and really want to be within 10 minutes. For example in the UK, if you would ask me where do you want to be in the UK it's to be within 10 minutes of every postcode in the UK. So that wherever your, your property is, if we can help you, you have a keyless that's close by.

Yeah, that's really cool. And is there anything else around the project product you want to share with us today?

Yeah, I think it's important to mention that we always have the guests in mind but the host is equally important I guess also important to say that yes we work with a lot of individual hosts, but the majority of our customers are either small or big property managers. So people with like 5 to 50. Obviously we have customers with 500 or way over a thousand apartments, but it's Important that we built this platform to be usable B2C but our focus is to really make it, yeah, easily reusable by B2B customers. Which is why we built all these integrations that we integrated with hundreds of PMS systems and often with our clients directly just to, yeah, really take the stress out of operations. And as you said at the, at the start, not only take the stress out of operations but also allow our clients to scale and to, to manage their property remotely in other cities. So you can launch in a new area of a town or you can launch a new city without having to open an office and make it very expensive because as long as you have local cleaning staff, someone for the linen, you have a place where you can hold your keys. So you don't need someone there permanently who's running around the city and you know, text people in. So that's really how we see ourselves as a. Yeah, I would say as an, as an extension to the operations teams of our customers.

I think one of the questions that I get asked quite often is can I leave my luggage somewhere as well? So, you know, if any of these places can do that as well as pick up the key then, then that, that, that would be amazing. Just something to.

Yeah, most of these locations do. We have a lot of partners offering this service, so it's not something we are providing as keeners and looking into it, but we have partners that basically offer the service and they are often using locations either the same or similar locations to us. So for sure, this, this happens very often. I think that someone picks up their key there, leaves the luggage and then comes back, picks up the luggage and goes to the apartment.

I, I really like this. I, I think especially for, for those of you who are listening and you've got your apartment building and you're having to do, you know, all, all the stress and all the hassle of meet and greets or you're just trying to, you're about to take on a building and you're, you're just not sure what to do for a key solution. Like you say, there are smart locks out there. I use a few smart locks and various degrees of success. I've used key boxes, again, various, you know, pros and cons for those as well. But Keynest, like you say, just puts a face when somebody arrives. They've, they've got somebody to talk to. So it makes sense why actually it doesn't impact guest experience. It actually improves things. And also how much easier is it, especially if you're managing in, you know, locations further away. It just, just takes the stress and the hassle out of it and actually is more secure than a keybox. You know, I know it's one of the, the first points you made, but anybody can take a key for a keybox and go and copy it, right? They, you know, at least here you've got somebody who sees it being returned and there's that, you know, sort of the gizmo on it, which keeps track of it and that side of things. So, yeah, I absolutely love the project product. Before we share more about how we can get in touch with you, we love to ask a couple of fun questions. So I'm just going to pick out a couple at random for you. Who would play you in a movie?

Oh, that tough, tough question. No, no, I have to. It can't be someone, someone too good looking. Right. Then I come across as weird. Who would play me in a movie? I have to say first, I'm not a big movie person. I'm not a good actor person. Elijah Woods.

Nice.

In the middle, right?

Yeah, yeah, no, I can see that. Okay.

Okay.

Awesome, awesome. And I know who it is, which is good. What podcasts or books or resources are you listening to at the moment that you'd recommend others to go check out?

Yeah, I guess it's a bit of a standard boring answer, but I listen to a lot of podcasts on the, on the morning, Dropping the daughter and picking up in the evening. But it's. I love how I built this. And I think lots of people probably know that. Just, you know, listening to how very successful entrepreneurs have built their businesses. But it goes a bit more in depth there as well and talking about what they failed at and what they learned from the mistakes. And also, you know, I think it's, it's, it's called the Pitch. Probably lots of people know that as well, which is a bit of a. Similar to Shark Tank, just a bit more real world, less show, but, you know, talking about, yeah, interesting business ideas because it's, it's a great industry we're working in, but sometimes it's good to be reminded that the world is massive and there's lots of people trying to, you know, achieve different things and build new products. So I always like to have at least an hour or 30 minutes a day where I just listen to entrepreneurs doing something in completely unrelated industries.

I like that. So that's called how. How I Built this. I don't.

An npr and.

Yeah, okay, I'll check that one out. That one will go on the list so thank you for that. So who do you go with on holiday and where do you like to go? Where is the, the, the destination that you like to visit and who do you go with?

Wife and daughter.

Go.

Going on holiday. I'm. I'm pretty open to the destination. I would say my, my favorite holiday destination would be Japan. I only went once so that's not, not often. We go quite often to, to France to the south of France because yeah true familiar with the area. It's not too hard to get to. It's. It's good weather. So that's the go to place that we would go to. Yeah on a weekend break.

Well you know if you want to book direct there's an awesome lady called Tracy Northcote who is based in Japan. You guys can connect. She's got places out there so giving her a shout out. She's part of the boostly community and yeah worth, worth connecting to all over the world now which is great to see. So I'm going to throw the mic open Lauren how, how can we get in touch? How can we learn more?

Yeah so get in touch is the easiest is just to send me a message on LinkedIn. Very responsive there. So connect with me or if you want to discuss anything with a team the best is just to call us on, on our number or just send us, send us an email to supportinase.com.

Awesome and of course we'll share the links around however you consume in this media. So thank you for listening in and thank you for being here and really enjoyed finding out about Keynest seeing what you guys are up to and just really refocusing and understanding the product and really how it benefits us as short term rental owners and I hope this has been useful for yourself as well. So lastly, what is the mantra or motto that resonates most with you?

Several come to mind I would say and that's really come from experience that if you fail at something at first just call it version 1.0. There have been so many situations in life not only professional was personally it's so good to remind yourself if something didn't go to plan or you actually failed at something, do it again and do it better because the next time you're not afraid of trying something new because you know that's, that's really important to be, to be brave and not to be afraid of failing.

Really a sentiment that I can certainly share and thank you so much for spending the time with us. That's it from myself and yeah we'll see you on the next podcast. Thanks very much.

Cheers, Liam.