How Vacation Resort Solutions Closed the Communications Gap with Kigo Operations Manager

A little over two years ago, Brandy Perry and her husband established Vacation Resort Solutions with a grand total of one property to manage. Today they’re at 60, with plans to quickly scale to over 400. According to Perry, the couple’s confidence in their continued growth is largely based on the remarkable efficiency that Kigo software has brought to their business – Kigo Operations Manager (KOM) in particular.

“My fellow vacation property managers will understand when I say that emails, phone calls and texts can quickly and completely bury you in this job,” Perry says. “Without KOM, it would be impossible for us to grow while providing great customer service, without continually adding more staff. And labor comes directly out of the bottom line.”

Kigo designed KOM as a “command center” for vacation rental businesses. Its dashboard provides a birds-eye view of everything that’s going on – from expenses, to communications, to maintenance, turns and beyond.

But the thing Perry values most about KOM is how it streamlines communications with staff, vendors, guests and owners – replacing a scattered mess of sticky notes, emails and voice mails with a centralized, organized communication and task management system. Any tasks or work items can be added, and KOM supports multiple users who can each log in with their own account.

“KOM makes life better for everyone,” says Perry. “It eliminates misunderstandings and missed communications that can lead to problems like overlooked turns or unhappy guests. And it keeps a record in one place of all the communications that have gone back and forth.”

Clean connection

Vacation Resort Solutions currently uses six different cleaning crews, and there will be more as the company fulfills its growth plans. Perry says that even at the company’s current modest size, communications would be “daunting” without KOM.

“KOM works on mobile devices, so my crews get all their instructions via email and text message in the app,” explains Perry. “They know exactly what their assignments are, and when check-outs and check-ins are happening. And they can get right back to us with any questions. My inspectors are in the loop as well. Nobody wants to check into a unit and find guests still there or the room not clean, and KOM makes it easy to avoid this. It’s an incredibly efficient way to stay in touch with the people who work with and for you.” KOM incorporates maintenance scheduling and dispatch in addition to turn management. It also has a powerful notification system to keep employees up-to-date.

Kigo Operations Manager and the guest experience

Perry says her company goes out of its way to stay in touch with guests before, during and after their stay. This eliminates confusion at check-in and helps ensure a pleasant stay that will result in good reviews, which Perry says they consistently achieve with the help of Kigo solutions.

“Some of the information guests need is printed and at the property when they get there,” says Perry. “But we also convey all information for the stay via the Kigo Guest App, such as the door code, Wi-Fi name and password, special instructions, that sort of thing. This is very convenient for guests, but it also saves a lot of phone calls back and forth and potential frustration that can compromise an otherwise happy experience. Yes, we try to always answer our phones, but it’s better if you can avoid confusion in the first place."

“We also contact guests mid-stay using the app just to see how things are going, whether they’re having a good time, or need anything. KOM and the Guest App make it easy to go the extra mile with this sort of communication, and it makes them feel valued and more likely to leave a great review. I can’t say enough about how much Kigo Operations Manager and Kigo in general have contributed to our early success.”

Though Perry’s favorite feature of KOM is the communications ability featured in this article, there’s even more to it. KOM is a full operations management system that can take your business to the next level. Read about it and request a free demo.