Shut the Front Door: Why Guest Access Can Make or Break a Stay, with dormakaba

Speaker 3 0:00

Somebody has waited and saved for this amazing vacation, right? They planned, they've got their notes where they're going, who they're gonna visit, what restaurants they're gonna go to. They don't get in the door. It's over.

Speaker 5 0:10

Your guest gets locked out and that's their first stay with you, they're never staying with you again. They're not typically gonna give you a second chance.

Alex Husner 0:17

People get nervous about staying in in somebody else's house, right? And not that what we're doing is new. Vacation rentals have been around for a long time. But it becomes a lot safer when you know that codes are being changed and there's not keys floating around there or any nefarious business. Before we get back to today's episode, let's talk about the moment that can shape a guest's entire stay: getting through the front door. They've traveled all day, the kids are tired, everyone's carrying luggage, and when they arrive, one of two things happens. The door opens or your phone rings. And that's a lot riding on a block. It's why we want you to know about Dormakaba. They manufacture commercial grade access control systems built to perform in hotels, airports, schools, and specifically for vacation rentals. These aren't consumer smart locks with a different logo. They're engineered for the realities of hospitality, including salt air, postal humidity, outdoor exposure, and the constant turnover that comes with short-term rentals. In fact, some derma couple locks have been operating on Oceanfront properties for more than two decades. Guest codes can be generated directly from reservations and automatically expire at checkout. Staff access is traceable so you can see who entered, where, and when, and you can manage more than the front door. Pool gates, amenity spaces, common areas, and owner closets can all be connected through one system. For properties without a front desk, that means no key handoffs, no lockboxes hanging from railings, and no shared code that should have been changed last season. Their newest lock, the Sapphire Evo, takes it even further by building the controller directly into the lock. There's no separate hub sitting in a closet where it can be unplugged or tampered with. Access may be the first part of the guest experience, but it shouldn't be the first problem of their stay. If you're ready to take security and access control more seriously, visit Dormakava to learn more about their products. Click the link in the description. Now back to the show. Welcome to Alex and Any, the Real Women of Vacation Reynolds. I'm Alex, and I am doing a solo episode today. Annie couldn't make it this afternoon, but we are very excited to have two special guests on the show today. We've got Don Keith Lee who from Dormakaba and Matt Sayed from Secure Lodging Systems. And we're going to be talking about all things guest access control and how that impacts guest experience and owner trust and just really making a vacation the best that it can be. So welcome to the show, guys.

Speaker 5 2:41

Great to be here. Thanks for having us.

Alex Husner 2:43

Before we get started, let's just do a little bit of introductions. Don, why don't you start first? I know you've been in the industry for quite a while now, and people probably know you from the trade show. But for the many listeners we have that don't go to conferences, uh maybe just share a little bit about your background and vacation rentals.

Speaker 3 2:59

Okay. Well, I'm so happy to be here today. Thank you. And uh I have been in the vacation rental business for about five years. What a great industry it is. I'm I'm just thrilled. And I started out at Point Central, which is a smart home automation company. You know, they sold locks and thermostats and other connected devices with a really robust software and a great team behind it. And that's kind of where I learned the vacation rental industry, um how property managers operate, how they're using technology, how they're tying things together. Everything just their goal is to give a better guest experience. I actually did some consulting um in between roles for a small PMS that was really focused on AI. So I kind of got another perspective on the technology side of guest communications. But what is really like where I thrive is like relationships and bringing people together. And I used to sit across the floor at the exhibit hall from Mark Chamy and the Dormakaba group, and I've lost many sales to them. So I'm really happy to be here because I've learned there is a difference. I am now working for a manufacturing company. So I've been with Dormakaba now just for about eight months, and um, I'm really learning more about what it's like to represent a product that is built to create a good solution.

Alex Husner 4:17

Yeah, and it's cool. I mean, process of getting to learn more about Dormacaba and talking with your team. You know, it's Dormakaba is a huge company too. To be honest, I thought that it was a company just for vacation rentals, but you quickly corrected that. That I mean, it's it's a it's a huge company.

Speaker 3 4:34

Yes. Um, Alex, we have like 160 years of experience. We operate in 130 countries. Like I didn't think it's crazy, right? And I when I met them, I, you know, I knew they had, I heard tanks. Their locks are tanks, but I thought a lock was a lock.

Alex Husner 4:50

It's not really how it worked. Yeah, no, that's great. And Matt, a little bit about you and your background.

Speaker 5 4:56

Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Matt Said. I'm with Secure Lodging Systems. Just a little bit about what we do. Uh, so Secure Lodging Systems is a leading access control provider with over 20 years' experience working in the hospitality industry. We primarily work across Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest as a Dormacaba distributor. We really specialize in the installation, integration, training, and support of electronic locking systems for resorts, condotels, vacation rental properties, and of course, property management companies. So DormaCappa builds the technology and hardware, which is the best in the business, and we deliver it as a complete, fully operational working solution tailored to how your property actually runs. So from day one, your team has a system that works and a local partner who stands behind it, who's there for servicing or any questions or training that may be needed. About me personally, so I help manage uh some of our secure lodging systems, uh territories with regards to Dormacaba. So I do sales, operations, account management, things of that nature, as well as project manager and project management and technical related support as well. So I really have a whole different list of duties I do day-to-day.

– What makes Dormakaba different in access control

Alex Husner 6:17

Very cool. So you you've seen the product from a different, a little bit of a different lens, right? So that that's kind of that's why we thought this was a great idea to have you on to give a little bit of a different perspective. But before we go into too much more, I wanted to just get a little bit more information out of you, Don, about Dormakaba, because you know, again, just like myself, I thought that it was a lot company just for vacation rentals. But is there anything else you want to share about the company, maybe that our listeners might not know? I mean, we see you guys at the shows, but maybe a little bit about what makes Dormakaba different.

Speaker 3 6:48

Sure. And one thing I certainly want to mention is people hear Caba locks, Caba locks. Well, Caba and Irma merged about 10 years ago. Um, and it's quite a powerhouse now. Like we provide locks for airports, government building, hospital, hotels, every type of facility that needs access anywhere. That's what really matters, is we've got the know-how and the security behind any access point there is. And that's kind of like what we're different. And then taking it to the vacation rental side, it's more about guests, housekeeping, maintenance, vendors, property managers, homeowners. Like you're you're treating all these customers at all these levels that just want to get in the door. High turnover environments, vacation rentals, right? Like there's a lot of people coming and going. We have to focus that our locks will work in a coastal environment, like you know, where there's ocean, salt water, we need corrosion protection. But then we've also have locks in many mountains where there's no cell signal, no Wi-Fi signal. Also, there's extreme temperatures. It's cold, it's hot, it's sunny, it's not, right? So we certainly um have to make sure we can handle those different environments, different types of doors. We have hardware that will work in exit doors. We have a lot of managers that will have a boutique hotel. So there might be a part-time restaurant, nobody at the front desk. We just want to make sure the guests can get in the property. If we have a huge backing behind us that knows how to make the product work, we make the product custom to what our property managers' needs are.

Alex Husner 8:17

Gotcha.

– What makes vacation rental access different from other industries

Alex Husner 8:18

And so you guys actually have developed products specifically for vacation rentals. I assume partly because of some of the things that you described there about different climates and uh cell service and those types of things. But those sets of criteria could apply for the airports and government buildings and other things that you work in. So, what makes the vacation rental product so different that you had to develop something specific for this industry?

Speaker 3 8:43

Because it's all about the property managers have two customers underneath them, right? Or maybe three. They might have an HOA or an AOAL, right? Somebody managing the building or owning the building. They have the owners that they want to bring into their portfolio. So we have to make sure the owners are happy that they're letting a guest come and stay in their home. But every day the owners are dealing with the guests. So it's different than a hospital where people are just in and out and they're not staying overnight unless they're the patient. Our whole goal is easy access for the guests, security for the homeowners, but operational efficiency for the property managers. It's about we have to provide flexibility. And with vacationers, like I want to have a code for my door. My kids want to use a phone to get in the door, right? Times are changing. We got we have to stay up with what's happening.

– Working with homeowners, HOAs, and associations

Alex Husner 9:30

Yeah, for sure. I know when I worked here in the Myrtle Beach market for many years, a lot of the condo associations back then, and I think a lot of them still now, even today, they actually didn't allow for any digital locks. I mean, it was hard keys only. And when different suppliers would come into our office, they would just be, you know, completely surprised that it made us look really old school that we had all these keys on the wall. But everybody in the market unfortunately had to do that because the HOA, you know, wouldn't wouldn't allow them to. But do you guys ever get involved in those conversations of trying to get the the HOAs or the associations to agree to move forward with this more modern solution?

Speaker 3 10:09

I want to say almost every day because we're also not the cheapest, right? It's about a return on investment. And to get an owner to say, I'm gonna spend this much money on my door and to let a guest come and stay, we have to provide that value to them. Like we talked about early, our locks, we have locks on doors that have lasted 20 years and they come with a five-year warranty, but they'll stay and we will take care of it. So we we do we work with homeowners, we work with HOAs often, and then we tie it into you know with property managers and rental companies that aren't even managing the outside doors, right? It's often a total mixture of different customer types that we're

– Managing access across complex condo and resort environments

Speaker 3 10:51

working with.

Alex Husner 10:51

Yeah, got it. Okay, and so Matt, with secure lodging systems, you help property managers when they've decided, okay, we're gonna move forward with Dorma Kaba. You actually help with the installation.

Speaker 5 11:03

Yeah, the full cycle. So installation, support, training, and and really making sure that the product and Dorma Cabba runs seamlessly. That's kind of my role. With regards to like an HOA board or AOAO board in Hawaii, they have specific needs that they're looking for. A lot of them want a consistent look throughout the property. That's super important. They don't want, you know, a dozen different locks on each door. You've got 150 doors, and there's you know, 20 different locks, lock types floating around. It doesn't look good. It's not a consistent look. A lot of properties also want the ability to have a master key system. So with Dormacaba locks, there's a master key system as well that we can put in place. So there's a physical key. If there's an absolute emergency, someone can get in, as well as we can create codes. So an HOA, for example, the strata manager, resident manager, they have a master code that's tied to them that they can use to get into the properties. Security can be given a code, and of course, the guests, the guests get their own unique codes. And if I could just paint a quick picture for you, say we're working with a property in Hawaii or on in the Pacific Northwest, they have a hundred different owners at that property. Uh, maybe 50 of the owners are with a property management company that operate a front desk on the property. 20 of the owners are you know running their own operations, and then uh the other 30 are with various property management companies. The Dormacaba hardware and locks can be tailored to each one of those different entities within that property. So that's really unique. An owner is not tied to one specific person. So, for example, if you have a property with 100 owners and you have a card lock system, they are tied to that card lock system. With Oracode, our vacation rental locks, they're not tied to that specific company that installed uh or person or entity that installed that card lock system. They can change property managers, they can manage the locks themselves. There's an Oracode live dashboard where we can have them set up so they can log in and run it independently, or they can hire a property manager and we can create them an account. Or if the HOA has a front desk that's managing and they want to work through that, they can have their lock added there. So it really fits the needs of everyone uh under the umbrella of that property.

Alex Husner 13:27

Gotcha. That makes sense. Is there a way that if if the HOA or association mandated that they have to have a hard key, but a property manager wants to be able to use codes for guests, is there a lock that can accomplish both?

Speaker 5 13:41

Yeah, great, great question. Yeah. So the specific lock is called an Aura code 660. We also have our Sapphire Evo. They're specifically designed for the vacation rental space. Uh that lock allows you to have a hard key for typically for emergencies or you know, for uh a master key system for a stratum manager, but it's also there's there's a keypad, so it's a coded lock. So every guest gets their own unique code that starts when their stay starts and expires when their stay ends. Anyone on site that needs a code, security, stratum manager, they get their own unique code. The property managers can create, if there's property managers involved, they can create unique codes for their staff. So every different user has their own unique code tied to them. So if you need to audit the lock, you want to see who's entering your property, you can pull up your dashboard on a secure site, log in, and see exactly what codes are being used, at what times you can see when the keys are being used. So it's a really flexible solution.

Alex Husner 14:38

Yeah, I mean, that's that sounds like the perfect answer for if you've still got the association that's being stringent on you in terms of what you're allowed to do, but still accomplishing what you know we're all here to do, which is uh improve the guest experience and keep the properties secure.

Speaker 4 14:55

My name is Miller Hawkins. I'm the president and broker in charge of Boo Realty, as well as the Atlantic Resort Group. Both are under the Monarch Collective umbrella. I was asked several years ago while I was on the VRMA board of what my exit strategy is. Kind of hit me of, you know, I'm approaching 60 years old at the time and I'm not ready to retire now, but at some point I've got to have an exit strategy. I was introduced to the Monarch Collective a little over three years ago. I did not want to sell and give them the keys and leave. I wanted to stay on board for three, four, five years. And that's what their MO is. They don't want to buy a company from somebody and automatically go in and assume operations. They basically said from the get-go that when we do partner with a company, we work with you and support you in your current role as president to uh make life easier for you. We will support you and work alongside of you until the day comes when you do decide to leave. Before acquisition to after acquisition, as far as the brand, nothing has changed at all. The only thing they've done is support it. They brought in the resources, but they brought in the support team, everything on the back end marketing, revenue management, financial accounting, everything. They want to free up our time so we can grow our company, run our company like we've done without the burden of all the back office things. We have grown a number of owners. We've grown financially. The loyalty and the attitude with our owners, the attitude with our guests, the attitudes with our employees has done nothing but go up. The advice I would give to a vacation rental owner who is remotely thinking about selling their business in the next five years. Don't wait until that time to start the conversation with the Monarch Collective. Reach out to them now. They have an acquisitions team that will fly to your location, they will meet with you, they will get to know your business. I strongly suggest you reach out to the Monarch Collective now. The best business decision I ever made was to buy Bu Realty back in '95. The second best decision I have ever made was to partner with the Monarch Collective the way we did.

Speaker 2 17:00

If you're curious about what the next chapter for your vacation rental business could look like, Monarch Collective offers a free, no pressure conversation to help you explore your options. No strings attached, just a straight conversation with people who deeply understand this industry. Visit gomonarch.com slash partnerships to

– How vacation rental access control has evolved

Speaker 2 17:20

learn more.

Alex Husner 17:20

You've been in this business for or this industry for a long time, Matt. I mean, what have you seen as the evolution of access control within short-term rentals?

Speaker 5 17:30

Yeah, well, I still work with properties today that have hard keys and they've had hard keys since the existence of the property. And it's a struggle. It's a daily struggle because keys are getting lost. Yes, they're taking keys. They have to call the locksmith to cut new keys or drill out a cylinder. It's just, it's really a mess. So when we come on board and we bring them a tailored solution that works for their property, it's like the light at the end of the tunnel. They're there, they see it, and they love it. And it's because the four different entities of a property. So Don kind of touched on this. There's an HOA board or AO board. There's, of course, the guest that needs to get into the property, it needs to be convenient and safe for them and secure. There's the owner of the vacation rental. And then, of course, there's a property management company. So our lock and Dorma Kaba can fit all the needs of each of those entities.

– The challenges with hard keys and inconsistent lock systems

Alex Husner 18:20

Yeah, very cool. Makes sense. When you walk into a condo resort or a vacation property, what are you normally finding on the doors today?

Speaker 5 18:30

Yeah. So a lot of the time I see a whole bunch of different locks. It's not a consistent look. There's some residential cheap locks, there's some locks they bought from Amazon, there's some locks that you've never heard of that are from wherever China or wherever the manufacturer is. And it it doesn't look aesthetically nice, and it's not consistent. So when you're spending, when a guest is spending, say, five, six hundred dollars a night at a property, and they walk in and there's all these different locks, and some of the locks work, some of them don't. It's a real eyesore. So that's what I'm seeing. And then I'm also seeing hard keys. So people that are using uh hard keys to run their property, which is not safe. I mean, anyone can copy a hard key, but that's like 20, 30 years in the past now. Where we are at today is guest customers, they expect a safe and secure property when they arrive at their destination. They want to be able to enter the property with ease. And a guest, you know, they would think that they're getting their own unique code for that state. Where I'm seeing some of the say residential locks that are out there, people are recycling the codes, which is obviously a liability. You don't want to be doing that. So with Oracode and Dorma Cava, every guest, every person who enters that property has their own unique code that is tied to them. So it's great for accountability and auditing purposes.

– Commercial-grade vs. residential-grade locks

Alex Husner 19:55

Yeah. And I mean, what's the difference between commercial grade versus residential grade?

Speaker 5 20:01

Commercial grade, so our Dormacaba lock, the Oracle 660 mortis is a grade one hardware lock. So it has the highest rating for durability in the industry. For durability and robustness, it's an absolute and in our industry we call it a tank because it just lasts forever. The batteries last you know, year and a half, two years. That's what I see. It's three double AA batteries, super easy to change. Uh, with a residential lock, like you know, one that you buy from Home Depot, for example, it's meant for a residential use. It's not rent, it's not meant for a high turnover commercial environment with new guests coming every three, four days. Those locks don't hold up, and I see it all the time. The batteries die every month. Sometimes there's certain designs of the lock where the deadbolt is drawing the battery life when it retracts and detracts. And the dead when the batteries die, sometimes the deadbolt gets stuck half in the door and half out. So the door is completely unusable. It's an emergency locksmith service, the guest gets locked out, they gotta go to a hotel last minute. It's an $800 fee for the owner because now their guest is locked out, they have nowhere to stay, they get a poor review on Airbnb. Where Dorma Cappa really differs is one is the batteries last forever, it's super robust. Each guest gets their own unique code, and there's a hard key too. If there's ever any emergency where someone can't get in, there's a hard key. And if they're one of our customers at Secure Lodging Systems or Dorma Kava, Dorma Kava is a 24-hour hotline. And for me personally, like all my customers have my cell phone in. My my boss, the president of the company, Rob, they have his cell phone number. We give that to our customers because we stand behind Dorma Kava's

– Phasing access-control upgrades across a portfolio

Speaker 5 21:43

products.

Alex Husner 21:43

That makes sense. I mean, it's your business is their business, their business is your business. So it's important to believe in who you're standing behind. Um and I'll put this question out there, but I'm not sure, Don, maybe if you want to take it or if this would be better for Matt. But I hear this often. That companies say, okay, if they're, you know, it's a condo resort or a vacational company in Myrtle Beach, for example, that they've decided they are going to take this on, but they don't want to do the full inventory at once if they've got, you know, a few hundred properties. So they're going to do 20 doors at a time. What does that look like, you know, if you take that approach?

Speaker 3 22:19

Um, first of all, it's a very seasonal business. We're generally, you know, not able to do installations in the summertime at a beach property, right? Or we're not able to install during ski season in a mountain area. So we're very flexible. Um we can do if it's 100 properties, we can do 20 this month, 20 next month, but there might be time that we want to get it all done. So they're on one platform, making their life easier, um, enhancing that operational efficiency. But phases happen all the time. It's it's, you know, it's it's not a small investment, but it's a long-term good return on that investment.

– Why the vacation starts at the front door

Alex Husner 22:55

Yeah, absolutely. And another question too, Don, there's a good line that came up in one of our other conversations about, you know, as we look at guest experience and where locks fall in that conversation, that the lock is actually where the vacation begins, and which is a great way of saying it. And it's like it's either gonna begin on a good note or a bad note. Um, so maybe explain kind of Dormakawa's philosophy on that.

Speaker 3 23:20

Well, you know, I'll give you a setting too. Somebody has waited and saved for this amazing vacation, right? They've saved, they've planned, they've got their notes where they're going, who they're gonna visit, what restaurants they're gonna go to. They've spent some money, they've got their kids in the car, they get off an airport, everybody's tired, they're pulling into their vacation home. They're so excited, they just want to go put on their swimsuits and jump in the water and grab some sun, grab some sunscreen and jump in the water, right? If they don't get in the door, it's over. So we don't even want the guests to ever have to think about am I going to get in the door? If your guests are thinking about are they gonna get in the door, they're staying at the wrong place. A guest should be able to put their code in, start their vacation.

Alex Husner 23:59

That's what

– Access control and the professionalization of vacation rentals

Alex Husner 24:00

we'll provide. We talk about this on the show a lot too of professionalization within the industry and you know what we can all collectively do to you know make some things more standard. And, you know, from my perspective, I think the lock is certainly one of those areas that, you know, if you have a consistent experience, whether somebody's staying in Myrtle Beach or Gatlinburg or Hawaii, that it it just it it builds trust with customers. I mean, we're used to when we go to hotels that we get the hotel key. It's done matter what color the key is, but it's the exact same experience, you know, as long as they're using a hotel key to get in there. I mean, that's access control, just in a different way of doing it. But where do you guys see locks being able to help in professionalization? And is that something even that that you guys talk about?

Speaker 3 24:45

I have one more thing to add is you know, Dormakaba wants to integrate with strong partners. Most other providers of services that allow access or allow adjustments of things within the vacation rental property, we are integrated with. We're integrated with the PMS companies. Our goal in the vacation rental space is to provide a good vacation, right? Which is a which is an experience, which, you know, I tell people sometimes, I'm not a doctor, but I help people live longer, right? Because vacations get you away from the stuff. We all need to get away from the stuff. So how can we be, you know, you say professionalism, let's all work together to provide this. That's what we're here for, right?

– What happens when operators cut corners on guest access

Alex Husner 25:26

Right, right. Yeah. No, that's that's a good, that's a good perspective on it for sure. I can only imagine that companies, when they're thinking about doing this, one, I mean, it is an investment, and you have to figure out, you know, if the company's paying for it, if the owner's paying for it, if you're doing it in those phased approaches, those are all important decisions to think about. But probably some operators decide, let's just try and see if we can do it at low cost and do it on our own and maybe just go find some locks at Home Depot. But Matt, I'll I'll throw this one to you. What's do you have any horror stories of property managers that tried to cut corners and it didn't work out so well?

Speaker 5 26:03

Absolutely. And I get those calls unfortunately weekly from from vacation rental owners, like independent owners, and also property managers. And sometimes I get the call, you know, it's it's Saturday morning at 8 a.m. And they call me and they say, Hey, I got your number from so-and-so, or I heard that you guys supplied Dorma Cabba. Last night, my guest got locked out. The lock failed. I don't know what's wrong with it. I bought it two months ago, I bought it from Home Depot. It's failed. Can you help me? I hear this a lot, and I it's not something I like to hear, but it's just a reality of the business is when people are putting residential locks on commercial properties, vacation rentals, it's usually a recipe for disaster, right? And also from a homeowner, vacation rental owner perspective, your guest gets locked out and that's their first stay with you, they're never staying with you again. They're not typically going to give you a second chance after getting locked out. Upon, you know, they take a red eye flight to Hawaii with their kids and their family, they're exhausted, they arrive to the property and they can't get in. And it's, you know, say, say it's five in the morning. So I you know, I get those calls often. And typically what happens is I have our locksmith there the next day, uh, depending on the area, if that's Hawaii, if that's the Pacific Northwest, I have our locksmith there the next day. They're putting on a dormant cabal lock, and I train them on how the software works, which is super simple. It's just a secure online site where they can generate codes, audit the lock, manage their lock, and they're off to the races. I'll I'll hear from them every now and again, but the locks are so durable and robust that it really just makes their life super easy.

Alex Husner 27:42

That that certainly makes sense.

Speaker 3 27:44

Alex, can you jump in on that one? Yeah, please. Yeah. So I just uh attended a conference and I had some conversations with customers that have had Dormakablocks like for a really long time. And I was talking to a female coworker and I was like, wow, you know, this reminds me of the shoes. Like I have bought shoes for $20 at Target. I've been in a hurry, I need a pair of black shoes. And then I open up my closet and I say, How many pairs, Dawn, of black shoes do you need? Right. So no, it's like making the investment. Don't buy the cheap shoes. Buy a pair that look good, but they're comfortable and they're gonna stay there for a really long time. If I would have saved all that money on those other, those other ones that don't work, you get what you pay for.

Alex Husner 28:25

Yeah. No, it's it's it's definitely true. So what does it look like? I'm a say I'm a property manager here in Myrtle Beach. I've got 200 properties and I'm interested in exploring locks, or maybe I'm interested in just changing locks. Maybe I've I've got another solution that I'm not happy with. My guests are constantly calling me and I'm getting bad reviews. What does that process look like for you to engage with that type of a customer?

Speaker 3 28:47

We're not gonna just mail you a lock. We're gonna look at the property. Matt's gonna come and look at your doors. We're gonna look at every single door, whether it's, you know, a guest, what does a guest door look like? What does your pool gate look like? What does your exit door look like? What does your clubhouse look like? We're gonna look at those doors. And if we aren't there to do it, we will take photos, we will do measurements. We're not gonna ever just make a lock to go on a door. We want to try to retrofit it. So if you have a deadbolt, we're gonna try to replace it with a deadbolt. If you have a mortise, we're gonna try to replace it with a mortise. We're gonna do what's the most secure solution, and we're not gonna put our lock on a door that's that's broken. We spend a lot of time explaining how things need to be done the right way. We have uh several different types of credentials we offer in the vacation round space. It's codes. Codes are easy, but we have some new things coming that are being developed. And we have RFID, which is key cards or FOBs. Some property managers want FOBs for their employees. Codes are certainly the most popular. We have different types of locks. We have lock boxes, we have all types of solutions, and things are constantly being developed at Dormacaba. Our slogan is for every place that matters, so we're gonna make it work. I love that.

Speaker 30:00

My name is Mike Nord. I'm the director of third-party partnerships at Inhabit. My role is basically to sign new partners and help them grow within our ecosystem. We've been integrated with Savvy going on about four years, and it's been a great partnership from the beginning. They're everything and anything that you want in a partner. We attract the most forward-thinking PMs, the ones that are tech savvy and the ones really looking to increase their direct booking presence. We're always looking for great new OTAs to come in and kind of help enhance that direct booking strategy. And Savvy's been the perfect partner to kind of help us encourage our PMs to get more direct bookings, retain their guests, and really keep more money in their pocket. PMs are really heavily reliant on a couple of channels. And so the industry in general have been hungry for another partner that can capture new travelers, capture new bookings. And so a partner like Savvy is exactly what PMs are looking for in terms of getting more of those direct bookings, getting more of those travelers, and retaining those travelers going forward. Right out of the gate, Eric has been in the industry a long time. He recruited some of the best talent in the industry to help him along the way. And I think that's part of the ingredients of what makes up a successful channel is having that industry knowledge within your staff. They came out of the gate knowing what they were doing, having a plan, and really going after it. I really appreciate the partnership that we've had with Savvy, watching them grow from sign-up to over 200 PMs. They basically set the record in terms of property management signups in their first year, and then they started getting the bookings. They backed up what they promised. They've been really incredible to work with, and I really look forward to what's next for both of our companies together. Would I recommend Savvy? Yes, I would definitely recommend Savvy to any property manager looking to get more control over their direct booking strategy, get more guests, keep those guests, get more repeat travelers. I think they're a great portal, easy to set up. So 100% I would recommend savvy.

– Evaluating doors, common areas, pool gates, and guest workflows

Alex Husner 31:53

If you're looking for a distribution partner that's actually built for you, not around you, check out savvy at savy.com/slash Alexandannie. From your perspective, Matt, is there anything different you would say compared to what Don said, or anything different that you're looking at when you go in to do that consultation?

Speaker 5 32:11

Yeah, absolutely. So when I first meet, say, a property manager that's operating 50 different locks at a given property, or I meet a stratum manager, we really look to understand their needs and understand the check-in and checkout process, what that looks like for that specific property. Then we do a super in-depth site survey. They're looking at their doors, looking at their exit doors. If they have common doors and pool gates, we have a solution for that. So we can tie it all together with their suite entry doors. So a code that works for the suite entry door for that specific guest at unit 101 will also the same code will work on their pool gates. So we really look at all of that, and then we come up with a game plan. We present a proposal to, say, that property manager or that AOAO board or that HOA board, strata board, resident manager, what have you. And we explain how we're going to change their world in terms of access control and how our solution is going to save them money long term and be a great ROI and keep their property safe and secure.

– New access technology built for vacation rentals

Alex Husner 33:14

Yeah. I mean, that that that's that's what it's all about. You know, I mean, looking back on the days of using keys, I mean, there's there's so much to the security part that is, you know, today's day and age, like people get nervous about you know staying in in somebody else's house, right? And not that what we're doing is new. Vacation rentals have been around for a long time, but the rise of Airbnb has kind of made people focus on that a little bit. Of it's weird letting people stay in your house or staying in other people's houses, but it uh it becomes a lot safer when you know that codes are being changed and there's not keys floating around there or any nefarious business. But is there any new technology that's coming out, Matt, that you're super excited about within Dormacaba?

Speaker 5 33:54

Absolutely. So the first thing that comes to mind is a Sapphire Evo VR by Dorma Kaba. So that lock is specifically built for the vacation rental industry. So it's a very modern, sleek-looking lock. You do custom codes, you can do there's a mobile key, there's uh Bluetooth, so BLE, and then there's also RFID fobs available. So we've already been installing them across Hawaii and and across the Pacific Northwest. Customers love it, right? Guests love it. Uh the multi-credential fully Wi-Fi enable lock really works in a lot of different aspects. Like, for example, if you're an owner, you may not want a code. You may just want a little key fob that attaches to your keychain. So every time you visit your property, say it's in Hawaii, you just tap the key fob. For guests, you may want them to have unique codes that expire at their stay. So we can offer that. You may want the guests to be able to use their cell phone to get in. We offer that. So that's a new up-and-coming product that I'm super excited about. Oh, and I should add one other thing. There's a physical key for that lock as well. So there's a physical, I should add that's important. So there's no way anyone's not getting in. There's a physical key that can be put off in a lockbox on the side. So for some reason the code doesn't work, the fob doesn't work, you know, maybe someone hit the front of the lock with a hammer. The locks are so durable, it would probably not do anything. But yeah, there's a key that can override that lock as well and get you in.

Alex Husner 35:20

Gotcha. And Don, you were you were talking about the four entities that make up uh a vacation rental stay, and kind of where you your perspective sits in this. Can you unpack that a little bit?

Speaker 3 35:33

Well, sure. And and Matt had mentioned this as well. We have several types of customers, right? We've got property managers, we've got the HOA, which is also the AOAO in Hawaii. Those are like the second entity. We've got the guests, but we also got the homeowners. We've got to please everyone at times, all four people in one decision-making process. But we're here to help. We're consultative, we will listen, talk. This is the long sales cycle. Not everybody makes a decision overnight. Sometimes it takes a year or till the next season. We've got lots of customers with lots of needs, and we're here to listen and create a solution and make the hardware that fits what you need it to fit.

Alex Husner 36:10

Yeah, no, that's that's the right way to be looking at it. Well, I think we've covered a lot of bases today. And anybody who's you know been thinking about if they want to implement an access control system or again, if they're unhappy with the one that they're currently using, you know, we for sure recommend that they reach out to you guys. And I'm glad that you mentioned the that everybody calls you Kaba, because for the longest time I never understood that. I'm like, are people just being lazy and not saying the full name? But I didn't realize that it used to be a separate company. So that now makes sense when people say Kaba locks. But uh it's it's really cool what you guys have built, and I know has created a lot of value for property managers. We're heading into VRMA here very soon. What are you guys excited for? Are you doing any sessions or have a booth set up? Like how can people come in and meet you and hear more?

Speaker 3 36:58

Well, we've got our full sales team gonna be there, and we're gonna be at booth 1101. And please come see us. I know it's a huge event. It's in Nashville, that's exciting. Um, but we certainly will have locks there available to listen to you and see what would fit your needs. We're gonna be there, yes.

Alex Husner 37:14

Great. Well, Matt, I'm sad that you're not gonna be there. We'll have to get you to come to one of the next conferences with us. But thank you for sharing your experience, Matt, too. I think it's it's interesting to see a different perspective on you know, somebody who's who's buying this and installing this for across you know a lot of different companies. So obviously you stand behind it and seem very knowledgeable about something that Annie and I do not have a whole lot of knowledge about, but have learned a lot today about the locks. So this has been great. As far as how people engage with you, Matt, if they engage with Dorma Caba, is it automatic that you are part of now the deployment of it, or do they have to contract with you separately? How does that work?

Speaker 5 37:52

Yeah, so for sp certain areas we're exclusive distributors for for Dorma Caba products. So, you know, out in Hawaii, for example, for the vacation rental locks that Dorma Caba offers, we are the exclusive distributors for the state of Hawaii, as well as certain areas in the Pacific Northwest. If someone wants to reach us directly, uh that has a vacation rental property in Hawaii or has a vacation rental property in the Pacific Northwest or just has questions, you can visit us on our website, which is www.securelodging.com. Uh, and you can also reach out to me directly. I don't know if I can leave my email or anything.

Alex Husner 38:32

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 5 38:33

So my email is mattmat at secureodging.com. So you can also just email me directly. I'll give you my cell phone number. We can have a conversation. Uh even if you just have questions, I'm super open to discussing access access control and understanding your needs.

Alex Husner 38:52

Yeah, awesome. That sounds good. Um, Dawn, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you?

Speaker 3 38:57

Well, I am at dawn.keately. So it's D-A-W-N in the morning. Uh K-E-A-T-H-L-E-Y at dormacaba.com. And I'd like to say Matt and Secure Lodging Systems is a great partner to us. Um, we do offer service all over, um, but we work together. I mean, we're here to work together. And like I said, talk to us. We'll look at your property door by door, point by point, and we'll see what you're trying to solve and come up with a solution and present it to you. Awesome.

Alex Husner 39:32

Well, that sounds great, guys. Thank you both so much for joining today. And if you if anyone wants to get in touch with Annie and I, you can go to alex and anniepodcast.com. Until next time. Thanks, everybody.