Posts Tagged ‘staging’

Firing Your Vacation Rental Cleaner

June 5th, 2019 | By Moxie Girl Team

As a vacation rental, Airbnb, and Vrbo home owner, you know there are a lot of things that need attention in order to make your vacation rental business a success. One of most important things on your list is being certain your vacation rental home is made guest-ready between bookings. Many vacation rental home owners depend on an outside service to attend to those “turns” on their behalf, and guests definitely pay attention to cleanliness – as well as presentation ( or “staging” as we like to call it.)

 

Now, if you’re working with an established team of vacation rental specialists (such as Moxie Girl) chances are you are completely satisfied with your service and feel you’re getting the most bang for your buck. But what if the team or individual you’ve hired to take care of this crucial task just isn’t performing to your standards?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of continuing to use a service we’re not completely satisfied with, for many reasons. We tend to be discomforted by “being the boss” – or we haven’t gotten around to finding a replacement.  Lots of people don’t even like the thought of confrontation, much less having to fire someone. So we “live with it” – and grow resentful.

Moxie Girl is here to tell you that you shouldn’t “settle” when it comes to the care of your vacation rental home. Business is business and your rental home IS your business, so that makes you the boss, whether you like it or not. Rather than let your resentment build, here’s a cut-and-dried method to rectifying the situation in a professional manner.

Step 1 – Communicate

We assume you did, at the beginning of your relationship with your vacation rental cleaner, agree on the services that the cleaner would provide and how things should look and feel in your vacation rental when they’ve done their job. Perhaps your needs changed somewhere along the way and the info didn’t reach the cleaner? Or maybe your vacation rental cleaner is just “missing” some things that are turning up via bad reviews on your AirBnB or other vacation rental platform.

You must clearly communicate your requirements and be sure to highlight those things that are particular “sticking points” to you. If you’re one of the many people who would prefer to avoid a face-to-face confrontation, email works! (And you’ll have documentation for future reference – either in letting your current vacation rental home cleaner go and/or in hiring a new one – BONUS!)

With all of your needs clearly communicated, asks your vacation rental home cleaner the big question: Going forward, will you meet these requirements? If the answer is “yes” – great! But do make it clear that these things are “musts” and that you’ll be keeping an eye on the situation and if the agreement isn’t kept, you’ll be forced to hire a different vacation rental home cleaner.

Now, it IS possible that your vacation rental cleaner can’t or won’t agree they can come through for you, so you really should have a back-up plan ready. We won’t lie, Moxie Girl has turned away a few clients with VERY detailed and specifically-detailed needs. (Hey, we’re a team currently responsible for well over 150 vacation rental homes Valley-wide and now servicing Sedona. We just can’t GUARANTEE that the throw pillows on your sofa are going to be exactly 1.5” apart, with the smaller points of the triangle print facing north, dude.)

So, if your vacation rental cleaner says “no,” they’ve basically just fired themselves and now you don’t have to. You do, however, need to get your back-up plan into action. If you have a vacation rental, Airbnb, and Vrbo in the Phoenix metro area, now servicing Sedona, Moxie Girl would love to talk to you! Just click for a FREE CONSULTATION.)

Step 2 – Set an Agreement (They Said Yes)

So the answer was “yes, we will do that.” Great! Now you’ve both got a renewed understanding as to how things will be done at your vacation rental home and everything should be smooth sailing from here on out.

As part of this agreement, you might require that pics of the vacation rental home be sent to you, showing that everything has been completed according to your requirements. This is not uncommon, especially in cases where the vacation rental home owner resides out of state.

If going forward you find that vacation rental cleaner isn’t keeping their end of the agreement, all you need is present them with the documentation and again, they’ve just fired themselves. Next!

Well THAT Was Easy!

Easier, anyway. We repeat: It’s crucial to have a Plan B when it comes to firing your vacation rental cleaner – you definitely don’t want to interrupt your booking calendar simply because there’s no one to turn it for you in between guests. Chances are that if you were unhappy, you probably did at least a little bit of searching for alternatives.

When interviewing a new vacation rental cleaner, you can pull out that list of requirements from Step 1 and let it be Step 1 in your interviewing process as well. It may also be helpful to think back to when you hired that last vacation rental cleaner – the one that just fired themselves. In retrospect, was there anything you feel you should’ve asked (or handled differently) during that process? Here’s your chance to improve your communication and make sure your NEW vacation rental cleaning company is on the same page.

Moxie Girl leads the way in the care of vacation rental homes, Airbnb, and Vrbo throughout the Phoenix area and now servicing Sedona. Not only have we made vacation rental home care our priority, we guarantee our work and we guarantee same-day turns for our valued clients! CLICK here to see how we can help you achieve the goals you’ve set for your vacation rental home.

Moxie Saves the Holiday Weekend for your vacation rental, Airbnb, and Vrbo!

May 28th, 2019 | By Moxie Girl Team

Moxie Girl is always thrilled that you love our services and recommend us to your family, friends, and associates!

We received a call recently from a friend telling us she had recommended Moxie to a friend of hers who was converting his Paradise Valley home to a vacation rental and may need our help stocking the home for guests. As it turned out, he REALLY needed help!

We got a call at 11 am from the property owner and found out that the “cart” was actually well ahead of the “horses.” The owner had already booked the home for the holiday weekend and there were five guys on their way – TODAY!

Moxie to the Rescue!

Moxie Girl rose to the challenge and went to the home immediately for a walk-through.  Although the homeowner had pillaged a few scant items from his other properties, the house still needed, oh…just about EVERYTHING!

Making our long list of “must-haves” based on Moxie’s vast experience in the vacation rental industry, Moxie Girl told the owner they’d be back in a few hours with everything he would need.  Have you ever really thought about the things you might need to use in the course of even a weekend? Here’s a partial list of what was purchased that day:

Kitchen – Cookware, dishes, drinkware, utensils, coffee maker, toaster, knives, dish towels, hot pads

Bathrooms – Towels, bathmats, toilet paper, wastebaskets, plungers

Basic Necessities – Hand soap, paper towels, tissues, trash bags, CORKSCREW (Gasp! Imagine settling in and not being able to open the wine!)

Done and Done!

Like a pink tornado, Moxies was off, scooping up all the items on her list and was back to the home, unpacked and made the vacation rental guest-ready by 4 pm!  Just in time for the guys to start enjoying the holiday weekend!

While we don’t encourage waiting until the very last minute to stock your vacation rental home, you can be confident that with our extensive vacation rental, Airbnb, and Vrbo know-how, Moxie Girl is always the best choice, no matter when you call! Click for a FREE CONSULTATION!