Love a good deal? Lodgify having a sale!

It is no secret that I love our Tokyo Family Stays direct booking platform, Lodgify as I have raved about them before but did you know they are having a Black Friday Sale and you can get up to 50% off. That is a huge saving!

Short story – Way back in 2018 I realized It was time to capture those repeat bookings for myself in a professional way. I was accepting direct bookings in cash from time to time but it felt really “bush league” – because it was. I recognised the need to nurture my guests to be repeat guests. Then to get them to recommend me to their friends. Fortunately, I was enjoying good word-of-mouth referrals this already on the OTAs and I wanted to reduce my dependence on a single source of guests. So I shopped around for a direct booking white label option and found one that fit the bill. We went with Lodgify and have been mostly happy with this choice.

From Bush League to the Big League

Here are five reasons why Lodgify is considered a great choice for managing short-term rentals – all of which were reasons I went with it for Tokyo Family Stays.

1. User-Friendly Website Builder:
   • Lodgify provides a user-friendly website builder specifically tailored for vacation rental owners. Even those without extensive technical knowledge can create professional-looking websites for their properties. This is essential for attracting potential guests and showcasing your rentals effectively.
   • Full disclosure – I do know my way around a website back end from my “day job” and I am not afraid of technology. So, I was able to build the original TFS site in a weekend using the included templates and then adding all my listing data and uploading the photos. As I always kept my listing copywriting on a separate document, it was easy to copy and paste into the back end. Plus I have a ton of professional photos where I own the copyright it made the site look professional from the start.
   • Another great option is if you want to work with a custom website creator for your direct booking site like ibooked.online, then you can easily plug into the channel manager and PMS options only. A side note that iBooked.online is also have a fantastic Black Friday sale here on a custom direct booking website. Click here for details.
2. Channel Management and Booking Integration:
   • Lodgify offers robust channel management capabilities, allowing you to synchronize your property listings across various booking channels such as Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO and others. This streamlines the booking process, reduces the risk of overbooking, and ensures that your availability and rates are consistent across platforms.
   • Over the years, we have needed to tweak the professional connections – yes I am looking at you Booking.com – and Lodgify support have had to intervene a few times. But I can count the issues we have had on one hand – or maybe two.
3. Reservation Management and Payment Processing:
   • Lodgify simplifies reservation management by centralizing bookings and inquiries in one platform. It often includes tools for managing rates, availability, and guest communications. Additionally, the platform may offer secure payment processing, making it convenient for both you and your guests.
   • By far, this is my most used part of the site – the multi calendar. I can see at a glance all of my calendars and I am often using this to recommend to potential guests which one of my properties they should look at. Plus I can see if there are “holes” that need attention or seasonal pricing that needs to be adjusted.
   • I use STRIPE to collect the revenue from direct bookings and also Booking.com, VRBO and Google Vacation Rentals. It is pretty seamless so no real complaints. [Side Note – Google Vacation Rentals will be HUGE in the next few years. Lodgify allows you to connect to this platform directly which is a GAME CHANGER for your direct bookings. ]
4. Automated Communication and Guest Experience:
   • The software may include features for automated communication, such as sending pre-arrival instructions, welcome messages, and post-stay feedback requests. Providing a seamless and well-managed guest experience is crucial in the hospitality industry, and Lodgify aims to enhance this aspect through automation.
   • This feature we have had the most issues with – it is very complex. I have lots of automated messages with different triggers so I do push the tech team on features. I was having odd issues with mails going out at the wrong time and now I am still having an issue with messages that are pre-translated not having the same message as my English only. But this will mature in time I am sure. But really – guest messagings should NEVER be set and forget. You should always be monitoring the guest journey and tweaking the wording in line with what feedback you get from guests.
5. Data and Analytics Insights:
   • Lodgify typically provides analytics and reporting features that help you track the performance of your vacation rental business. These insights can include occupancy rates, revenue tracking, and guest demographics. Analyzing this data can inform your business decisions, allowing you to optimize your pricing, marketing strategies, and overall property management.
   • This is a project I am working on with an outside SEO consultant right now. So I will report back as to how it is going in a future post. Lodgify does allow you to tweak the metadata and HTML if you know what you are doing. Or better yet, hire an expert – it isn’t expensive. Drop me a line if you want any referrals.

Tech-Stack extras

A shout out here for the additional plug-ins and connected tools that I use with my site. I have connected up quite a few tools that really help the business. Below are a few of them in my tech stack so read on while I open my tech kimono so you can take a peek….

Dynamic Pricing

If you are not using a dynamic Pricing option -you ARE leaving money on the table. I have tested many of them. I am currently using Beyond and PriceLabs on my Tokyo Family Stays site. Both are great and have pros and cons. This is a post for another day but they both seamlessly work with Lodgify. Wheelhouse is also a great option for dynamic pricing for using with Lodgify.

Zapier and Airtable and Mailchimp

I use these little tools to automate my mailing list updates. Each time a guest makes a booking and I have their email address – a little “zap” runs in the background to suck out the booking data into my Airtable of all bookings and then the email address is “zapped” into MailChimp. It is a super fast way to grow the list. Another option is to use the integrated StayFi but I haven’t turned that function on yet – mostly as the hardware needed to run StayFi is not plug and play in Japan. This is a work in progress.

Another feature I have on my Lodgify site is a “lead magnet” plug in. Lodgify allows you to customise the site if you know what you are doing. This time, I use a third party plug in that allows me to add a “pop-up” and offer a free PDF of the ”7 Essential Tokyo Trip Preparation Websites Recommended by Local Pro Hosts” in exchange for an email address. This then funnels straight into my Mailchimp guest database ready to receive all of my nurturing emails. Again, an email marketing campaign is an essential tool for your direct booking strategy. Read these posts for juicy tips to boost your direct bookings.

Final Thoughts

Before making a decision of course, it’s advisable to check for the most recent reviews, features, and pricing plans for Lodgify – consider your specific business needs and preferences to ensure that Lodgify aligns with your goals for managing short-term rentals effectively. It works for us but of course we know it is not for everyone!

If you would like a tour of my dashboard, please reach out for a free 15 minute call. Here is the calendar link to book in.

_{disclaimer: We may receive a small introduction fee from the vendor. This will not affect any prices that you are charged. But I will only recommend vendors that I know and love and ones that I have used for myself as a customer.}