Corporate Housing Providers Blog – - Advice, News, and More

I was delighted with CHPA’s choice for their annual conference this year, located at the Hotel del Coronadoin San Diego, CA. The Hotel del Coronado is a National Historic Landmark with over 120 years of experience in the hospitality industry. According to the website, Rand McNally recognized the Hotel Del Coronado for having “more fame and historical significance than perhaps any hotel in North America.” The hotel has been featured several times in Travel and Leisure magazine. It was in the classic film Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe. Eleven U.S. Presidents have visited The Del, starting with Benjamin Harrison in 1891. If you love historic landmarks, you will enjoy this year’s location for the 2010 CHPA Annual Conference. And if you do go, here are three lectures you won’t want to miss:

Social Media & Your Brand, Maryellen Ferring, Upsell Training. Everyone complains about gimmicky giveaways at conferences, but secretly I love them. They make excellent gifts for the ladies back at the office, besides making excellent mementos for the trip itself. I’ll often scurry past booths twice to pick up extras. If you like giveaways too, you’ll love the super-interactive Maryellen Ferring. According to her website, Maryellen does a lot of group exercises, giveaways, and incorporates props into her speech. And really, who could be more appropriate for a speech about the necessity of interacting with customers via social marketing than someone who thinks in a way that incorporates their audience into a lecture?
Selling Made Strong, Terri Norvell, Further Performance Group. One of the things that really struck me about Terri Norvell’s website was that she is president of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. Which I would think would be a pretty difficult position to acquire and keep. Really, with her position I would have liked to have seen her included in the SEO panel that CHPA put together. And while she’s done product management for Frito-Lay and 7-11, she’s also been general manager of a temporary housing company, and been vice president of marketing and training for a property management and development firm. If you like super-focused lectures, then Terri Norvell is for you.
Increasing Your Sales Team’s Closing Percentage, Joe Porpiglia, D & D Consulting and Training. Joe Porpiglia seems to have all of the concrete, real world tools necessary for running a corporate housing company. Things I liked about Joe: he’s been married to his wife for 38 years, he worked his way up from a part time sales clerk at Greenbelt Cooperative, and what’s more, he seems to have been consistently promoted in every position he’s ever held, at least, according to his website. From what I can tell about Joe Propiglia, he has real experience in corporate housing and he’s in it for the long haul. If you’re looking for practical advice you can take back to your company, I would gamble on Joe Porpiglia.

On February 7, 2010, there will be a Super Bowl in Miami, FL. Every hotel room and corporate apartment is going to be booked, and not just by the 75,540 attendees who will be flocking to the stadium. There are also the cheerleaders, the high school dance teams, the Super Bowl Half Time Show performers, not to mention the NFL Teams themselves. And on top of that, every local restaurant, bar, and performance venue will be bringing in entertainment of their own, hoping to capture some of that extra business.

Here’s the catch: Any stay less than 7 months in Florida gets hit with the sales tax. And there’s something else you should be aware of… Although there are local corporate providers in Tampa (See SCH’s Tampa page), your best bet once you’ve exhausted this resource is the private owner. However, beware: Florida is facing the highest rate of foreclosure of any state in the US, at 18.81% as of last March. Which means two things:
1.) Many, many private owners are looking to rent out their second home to corporate housing.
2.) Be extra careful whom you rent from, so that your tenants don’t end up getting locked out of their apartment by the bank.

Here are some options for marketing your corporate apartment:
1.) Auction it off on eBay.
2.) Craig’s List. In this case, it’s not a bargain hunter’s paradise.
3.) Shop Corporate Housing.

Many states offer film incentives now, which can be lucrative to the corporate housing industry.

When British Columbia and in particular Vancouver offer huge tax incentives for filmmakers to move their business there, the money followed.

Now it seems like every state in the union is trying to get a piece of the pie. Michigan has had substantial success with landing new film contracts. SAG, or the the Screen Actors Guild, lists film incentives by state. If you want to get a step ahead of the ball, you may want to check out their website and figure out which states are offering the biggest incentives this year.

It isn’t just actors that land work in these states. The carpentry business will also see demand, and in our case, the corporate housing industry gets slammed with requests.

LA 411 and New York 411 both offer comprehensive lists of hotels, however there aren’t many providers listed. If you do business on either coast it might be worthwhile to list there.

The Michigan Film Office offers a list of corporate housing providers in the area. If you’re able to find corporate housing in Alaska, the Alaska Film Office has a list of accommodations as well.

One enterprising Michigan provider has even named themselves Film Crew Homes and seem to specialize only in film industry bookings.

There’s also the opportunity to house the film industry on a short-term basis during major film festivals such as South by Southwest, or Sundance. Sundance Accommodations Office should be able to offer some suggestions.

If you go on any production company forum, you realize that people in the film industry have long memories for people and events. Make a good impression, and you may end up criss-crossing the country with future productions.

Tweets can be a useful way of managing your online reputation, as well as minimizing damage during a crisis.

There’s been a lot of buzz (or should I say chirps?) on The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal’s Small Business sections about using twitter to expand sales and marketing efforts.

All of the articles emphasize that Twitter can, to quote the Times, “shorten the emotional distance between businesses and their customers.” Many small businesses are hiring out the project or hiring consultants to train them. Of the two, the latter option seems more viable in the long run as it is really the owner/employees who need to be making that connection with their customers.

I think what’s most important to corporate housing providers is that Twitter can minimize the damage during a crisis. So if, say, there’s damage to the water main of an apartment complex where you have several units or more, you can connect with all of the residents at once through the use of Twitter. You can also monitor what’s being said about your business and respond to the individual tweets. For now, this can be very time consuming for business owners to do, however, all of this could change shortly Twitter is developing business apps that can streamline the process and make it more efficient, and the products should be out shortly.

McGraw-Hill Research analyzed the performance of 600 companies during the recession that lasted in the early eighties.  The study went from 1980-1985, and showed the B2B firms that either kept their advertising budget static or increased their advertising during the recession averaged higher sales growth both during the recession and for the three years following the recession.  If you’re thinking about eliminating or cutting your corporate housing advertising budget this year, here are four questions you may want to ask yourself:
1.    What is my Share of Voice?  What is my Share of Market?  The term Share of Voice, as defined by the SEO Glossay Online, “refers to the relative exposure of an advertiser within a defined market sector over a period of time.”  The Share of Voice and the Share of Market exist as a ratio such that, when SOV is greater than SOM, the market share will most likely increase over the next year.  This is key in a recession because, as Advertising Age magazine writes, “Recessions offer what may be unprecedented opportunities to market in an environment of relatively less noise, as others cut back.”  Because everyone is cutting back on their share of voice, it becomes easier for small providers to be heard, and to increase their share of market.
2.    Who are our economy-priced competitors?  Win back your clients from extended stay hotels.  When it comes to choosing economy-priced brands in a time of recession, how many consumers are really happy with their new brands?  What is the barrier to purchase?  Chances are it’s not price, it’s value.  And that’s where advertising during a recession comes into play.  After all, allocating money to advertising helps to build your brand identity and reinforce the value that you are offering your clients.
3.    How can I adjust my product portfolio?  Harvard Business Week writes, “Marketers must reforecast demand for each item in their product lines as consumers trade down to models that stress good value, such as cars with fewer options. Tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products, and weaker items in product lines should be pruned.”  How does this translate to the corporate housing industry?  You can quote units with economical furniture packages, and you can promote rather than just offer two twin beds in a bedroom.
4.    Who are my existing customers?  Try not to be all things to all people.  You have a niche, a brand identity that is different from every other provider out there.  Reward the loyalty of your existing customer base by offering them discounts for longevity and repeat business.  By doing this you will not only garner their business, but you can also put into action a system of getting referrals as well.

Cutting your advertising budget is a risky proposition.  Smarter marketing is what’s needed.  Think of how Proctor and Gamble survived the Great Depression (Ivory Soap) or how Wal-Mart dominates the retail scene during a recession.  Shop Corporate Housing can help increase your share of voice and reach your targeted customer base.  For more information, call 727-331-6261.

How will staycations affect vacation rentals?

Perhaps it was 9/11 that began to the slow descent of what was once a nation of xenophiles.  For whatever reason, the age of the staycation has begun.   What is a staycation?  Wikipedia defines a staycation as a vacation taken close to one’s home.  A quick search on google will tell you, that as gas prices rose to historic highs last year, the staycation became more and more prevalent. The question is how did this affect the vacation rental market?

Bill Furlong, in his blog Escapia, compared vacation rentals from 2007 and 2008 by region.  Some regions saw losses of up to 30%!

While the vacation traveler only makes up a small percentage of sales for the average corporate housing provider, it’s still a sale nonetheless.  What’s more, as retirement accounts crashed with the stock market over the past year, retired couples who travel for extended periods of time have shortened their usual trips.  This means that corporate housing has lost out to the hotel industry in areas that see a lot of vacation rentals, like Florida.

Discounting your services can be addictive.

“Price-off deals are a drug.  Ask a drug-addicted brand manager what happened to his share of the market after the delirium of the deal subsided.  He will change the subject.  Ask him if the deal increased his profit.  Again he will change the subject.”
from Confessions of an Advertising Man, by David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy, of the great advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, describes price-off deals as a drug because the competition in the marketplace often becomes addicted to seeing who can undercut their neighbor in price.  Once the frenzy has subsided, and a new standard has been set for what the price will be, what is left?  According to Ogilvy, there will be less share of the market and less profit.  In this economy, it may be tempting to undercut the competition in price but ultimately this is not a good idea.  Once the new standard is set, it becomes more difficult to profit from the enterprise.

“The time has come to sound an alarm, to warn manufacturers what is going to happen to their brands if they spend so much on deals that there is no money left for advertising to build their brand.  Deals don’t build the kind of indestructible image which is the only thing that can make your brand part of the fabric of life.”
(from Confessions of an Advertising Man, by David Ogilvy)

What’s most important during a recession is not to cut your advertising budget.  As tempting as it may be, recessions are the time to build your brand.  It’s true that there may be a price correction as the industry adjusts to what the market will bear.  But do not get bogged down in trying to get ahead of your neighbor by lowering your prices alone.  What’s better is to build the perceived value of your brand, so that at any price your company seems like the better bargain.

Not all walls in China are great.

MOBILITY magazine and The New York Times each recently had an article about issues that have arisen with Chinese drywall. The drywall, which was imported from China during the housing boom and has been installed in many new luxury apartment buildings, can cause severe health problems to those that live near it.

It’s difficult to say how many homes may be affected. In The New York Times article, Arnold Levin, a Phildelphia lawyer said that, “There could be 60,000 to 100,000 homes that are worthless and have to be ripped completely down and rebuilt.” MOBILITY inflated the number to 300,000 homes.

It’s easier to create a timeline of when the drywall was installed and to gauge the number of complaints that the government has received thus far. The Times article went on to say that, “The product safety commission has received more than 1,300 complaints from 26 states, but the bulk are from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia, where hurricanes led to an unprecedented housing boom in 2006 and 2007.” MOBILITY stated that the drywall was found in a home constructed as early as 2001, but both sources agree that the majority of homes that contain the offensive product were constructed somewhere between 2004 and 2007.

What can a provider do if they believe their tenant is being affected by Chinese drywall? The only thing to do, of course,is to move them, but who pays for the cost? The Times article elaborated on the ongoing lawsuits related to the Chinese drywall conundrum and it stated the difficulty of finding legal remedy to the situation or even of clearly delineating who is at fault. Unfortunately for now, providers who have tenants made ill by Chinese drywall may end up with a sizeable bill.

The NBTA, or National Business Travel Association, has begun compiling a list of preferred vendors who specialize in environment responsibility– they’ve only gotten as far as rental car agencies, but a carefully planned approach of the NBTA by, say CHPA, could produce a list of preferred corporate housing vendors. Why should we do this? Take note of the “Recipient List” on the last two pages, which outlines the companies that receive this bulletin by the NBTA.

Top-of-the-line furnished executive apartment providers are constantly pitted against each other to find the most cutting edge interior design. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the new movement in interior design is called “Rough Luxe” and focuses on found objects, reclaimed materials, and imperfection in general. In a previous blog, I discussed shopping at thrift stores for finds in furniture– no I wasn’t kidding. In the future refurbishing a unique item will go a lot further with the jet-setting executive crowd than cookie cutter design. Major designers in the field of Rough Luxe include Bill Sofield and Raw-Edges. Miami’s Art Basel this year awarded its top prizes to designers who, in the words of the Journal, created works that “drew attention to the maker’s hand.” Top design stores in Manhattan such as Matter and Moss are carrying elements of the design.