Uplisting has helped Chris scale his property business, provide a seamless guest experience and increase business efficiency.
Chris Hayes is the director of CopperHouse Property, a serviced accommodation business. Founded in 2018, CopperHouse Property started with just one property. Today, CopperHouse Property has over 40 properties spanning various locations, and is moving into aparthotels.
When Chris Hayes founded CopperHouse Property in 2018, he relied on numerous external systems and apps to manage different aspects of his property management business. Dealing with too many platforms quickly became time-consuming, and Chris soon found these platforms could not cope with the large amounts of data his company produced as it grew.
“When we got to around 30 properties, there was too much data in the systems we were using, slowing them down. As there was so much data, certain automation would fail.
If something didn’t work because of a capacity issue, we’d have to identify that and fix it manually. In the worst-case scenario, our guests would be negatively impacted by that. For example, if an automation didn’t fire off to send guests their information email, the guests would have to call us, then we’d have to send it manually again and fix the issue.”
Not only was relying on various systems time-consuming, but it was also directly affecting the guest experience, which at worst resulted in negative reviews.
Chris had been using vacation rental management system Tokeet, but he quickly found that Tokeet could not manage guests through the booking journey efficiently. The main limitations included a lack of automated messaging and unreliable booking widgets.
The final straw was increasing prices.
“Our website hosting costs were increasing quite excessively. All our listings, photos, copy and everything else sat within an external website to Tokeet, and then we had Tokeet widgets in there. We needed a system to accommodate aparthotels, and Tokeet doesn’t do that.”
Put simply, Chris needed a property management system that could support his plans to scale into aparthotels without affecting the guest experience - all at a reasonable, fixed price.
When researching different channel management systems, Chris came across Uplisting. Several aspects of Uplisting stood out to Chris, but most importantly, he was looking for one centralized platform that allowed him to support his plans to scale.
Chris decided to do a free trial to work out whether Uplisting would work for his business and scope out their requirements.
“We had different apps for this, different apps for that. It came down to capacity, and that’s where Uplisting came in. We saw Uplisting as a platform that could get rid of those external bolt-on systems and give our guests a much more consistent and professional treatment.
The utopia moment for me was after going to a conference and seeing all the other PMS systems and channel managers, and realizing that they all fell short when I compared them to Uplisting.”
Uplisting’s automation tools and direct booking engine mean Chris doesn’t have to worry about miscommunication with guests or system failure, resulting in additional manual work. Features such as channel management, automated guest messaging and a unified inbox ensure Chris’s service is streamlined and straightforward for his guests.
“From an automation and systemization point of view, we felt Uplisting could take care of the entire guest services operation, whereas other platforms certainly have limitations.
With Uplisting, we know that if we were launching a property today, we could take a guest today. They would get treated exactly the same, with exactly the same professionalism and efficiency, as a listing we launched months ago.”
Not only does Uplisting offer features to enhance the guest experience, but it also supports Chris’s plans to grow at speed and in a short amount of time.
“Uplisting is scalable. We can throw as many more units into it quickly, which is what we’re doing with aparthotels. And the system can cope with that without impacting the guest experience. It’s really efficient and easy to get a property live.
When you scale quite quickly, there’s a risk. The risk is that the standard of services can be impacted. And I think that’s why Uplisting was important for us.”
There were many positive results for the team at CopperHouse Property.
Using Uplisting to automate guest services and sync listings across various channels, Chris can provide a seamless experience for his guests. From the moment guests book to the moment they check out, Chris feels confident his guests are looked after - and the team has more time to focus on driving other areas of the business.
“From a guest experience point of view, Uplisting feels clean, professional and straightforward. From a resourcing point of view, very little manual input is required. And what that means for us is that we don’t waste resources managing guests for the journey manually.
My favorite thing about Uplisting is automating the guest experience from end to end. Every single touchpoint of the guest is automated.”
Another huge win for Chris is increased efficiency. With the ability to manage listings across various channels from one centralized platform, Chris found he was able to streamline efficiency and, as a result, save time.
“If you’ve got a brand new listing, Uplisting takes all the information from Airbnb, and all the amenities come in. It’s almost instant, as soon as you launch a list, and then you already have a website built for it with the capacity to direct book straightaway. It’s cheap as well, so we don’t have to pay for expensive website hosting.”
What did this mean for Chris and his team? Chris now has confidence that his business provides the best possible booking experience. He no longer has to worry about his guests not receiving check-in information or risk the chance of a double booking. Instead, he knows his guests are looked after from start to finish.
“The main thing Uplisting has given me is the confidence that it’s working. I haven’t got concerns about all the capacity issues; I feel confident my guests will receive the communications at the right time, and they’re managed consistently and professionally from when they inquire or book, right through until they check out.”
Finally, Chris has found Uplisting’s adaptable approach particularly beneficial. As a property management platform that is regularly improving and adapting to meet the ever-changing needs of property managers, Chris believes Uplisting is a long-term solution for his property management business.
“It’s been a real game-changer for our business. Me and the whole team have been really impressed with Uplisting so far. We’re excited about its future because Uplisting makes regular improvements, which is really impressive. It’s not just that they’re making many improvements; it’s that those improvements are game-changing.”
Too many external apps, systems and platforms to manage property business
Systems unable to cope with large amounts of data
Guest experience directly affected by miscommunication
Streamlined property management with all-in-one channel manager
Ability to upload unlimited listings and scale portfolio
Enhanced guest experience from start to finish, including automated messaging
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From reliable channel management to direct bookings to guest messaging to virtually every other aspect of your property business - there's Uplisting.
