FlipKey is focused on helping vacation rental managers collect and manage guest reviews and is constantly developing new tools to help maximize the value of this powerful social asset. Today, we are happy to announce the launch of FlipKey Alerts.

What are FlipKey Alerts?
Research shows 81% of vacation rental reviews are positive, 16% neutral and only 3% are of a negative nature.

The fact is, consumers love the vacation rental product; however, there will always be a few voices you simply can’t satisfy. In some situations these negative reviews are justified, but in most cases the second side to the story gives a more accurate picture.

With the Response feature, FlipKey allows managers to respond to all reviews and provide context or more information (such as maintenance improvements) to a guest review. Now with FlipKey Alerts, FlipKey sends an alert message as soon as a negative review is submitted to help managers efficiently respond to negative reviews.

Benefits of FlipKey Alerts:

• Immediate email notification of negative reviews
• Direct link to the FlipKey Response tool to allow managers to post a public response to provide more context to the guest’s opinion
• FlipKey customer service outreach within 48 hours if the review has not been responded to

Early Example of a manager response to negative review alert:
Ladybug Cabin - Carolina Mornings (Click to view)

Scrolling to the bottom of the page, we see the first review is not positive. However, the manager’s response highlights Carolina Mornings commitment to quality, responsiveness to guest feedback and counter opinion. Suddenly, when put into context this first review does not seem particularly negative and provides credibility to the four subsequent positive reviews.

If you are an existing FlipKey user or are considering using FlipKey and you have any questions regarding FlipKey Alerts, feel free to call us at 877-FLIPKEY.

Managing your online reputation means more than collecting and displaying verified guest reviews of your vacation rental properties. An additional component is the ability to engage in direct dialogue with your past guests by using FlipKey’s ‘Manager Response’ feature.

By responding to guest reviews, managers are taking the next step and engaging in a public dialogue with their consumers, a powerful tactic and integral part of maintaining a company’s consumer brand. In an industry hungry for more consumer confidence, vacation rental managers can benefit substantially from this.

Below are several examples from managers that are using the ‘Manager Response’ tool on FlipKey to effectively engage their current consumers and present themselves to prospective guests.

Clarifications and Additional Property Details
Using the Response feature, property managers clarify information in their guest reviews and provide additional details about the property. Franconia Notch Vacations uses the Manager Response to clarify the maximum occupancy of the home and the repercussions of breaking these rental rules.


A response from Franconia Notch Vacations in Franconia, NH clarifies information in this guest review.

Addressing Specific Guest Experiences
Here Escape 2 Florida Homes responds to a guest review and provides specific information about the pool and the hot tub in this vacation home. By displaying this public dialogue, future consumers learn how diligent this property manager is about customer service and the satisfaction of their guests.

Escape 2 Florida Homes in the Orlando, FL area uses the Manager Response to address specific guest information and highlight their hospitality services.

Thanking Your Guests on a Public Forum
Vacation property managers also use the Manager Response tool simply to publicly thank their guests. With this personal response, Surfside Realty demonstrates the hands-on nature of vacation rentals and includes the direct email of their guest services coordinator. Responding and creating a guest-manager dialogue on a third-party site adds to the trusted nature of the verified guest review.

Surfside Realty, Myrtle Beach, SC thanking a guest for their review.

Managing your reputation online does more than increase consumer confidence - it also helps you manage consumer expectations. With the help of guest reviews and direct dialogue with the Manager Response, vacation rental managers can add more to their property listings and services information. More information provides potential guests with a better sense of each home, making it easier to match a guest’s expectations with the right property and create a better vacation experience.

FlipKey’s mission is simple - help increase the presence of vacation rentals as a mainstream lodging option. At FlipKey we have managed our own vacation rentals and we have stayed, as guests, in other’s vacation homes. Our intimacy with the product is acute and we are confident that, in most circumstances, the vacation rental experience is superior to alternative lodging options.

The problem is that vacationers demand ‘predictability’. When consumers plan a trip with a hotel stay there is no pre-booking anxiety. Consumers are confident that there is staff on site for check-in, a standard TV with basic cable in the room, clean towels and a phone that with a press of the “0″ button connects them with the front desk if there are any problems. Inherently, the vacation rental experience is not afforded the same consistency and predictability.

Prospective guests want to know:
- Is the home as nice as the advertisement claims?
- How do I get my keys?
- What happens if something goes wrong?
- Is there a deposit? How much is it? How do I get it back?
- Who manages the home?

Vacation rentals are a unique product with a unique consumer process. The industry’s uniqueness is it’s strength and advantage. The missing piece of the equation is the voices of past vacation rental guests singing the praises of not only the vacation rental experience, but of the specific company and home they stayed in. If consumers want predictability, then lets provide them with the most powerful resource we can offer - “honest words and reviews from our past guests”.

Third party guest reviews (via TripAdvisor) have been cited to increase hotel conversion rates by 100% (click here for more info). If a hotel can yield higher occupancy from reviews of its simple and predictable product, imagine what trusted reviews can do for vacation rentals!

FlipKey has begun to offer the vacation rental industry the power of transparency and the increased consumer confidence that comes with it. By offering the first advanced guest review platform specific to the industry, FlipKey is helping vacation rental managers collect robust guest reviews from verified guests and helping future travelers discover the vacation rental experience.

FlipKey is a relatively new service, but in the 30 days since opening our doors, a number of the industry’s leading management companies have begun using our free guest review and management tools. See some examples below:

Wondering where a great vacation rental is available in the Disney, Orlando area? Read the reviews collected by these Orlando/Kissimmee based vacation rental management companies:
All-Star Vacation Homes (Orlando, FL)
Escape 2 Florida Homes (Orlando, FL)
Imagine Vacation Homes (Orlando, FL)

Planning to get a few families together for some golf and seaside fun in Myrtle Beach, SC? See what guests (including me) had to say about specific homes managed by Surfside Realty:
Surfside Realty (Myrtle Beach, SC)

Ski season may be over, but homes are already being reserved for the fall foliage in Franconia, NH. Read some of the reviews from the vacationers who have stayed in the large family homes managed by Franconia Vacation Rentals:
Franconia Vacation Rentals (Franconia, NH)

Looking to escape the hustle and bustle of Boston and enjoy some rest and relaxation by the beach? Cape Cod is your spot for beaches, golf, shopping, whale watching, deep sea fishing and more. Take a look at what past guests had to say about Cape Cod vacation homes:
Cape Cod Rentals (East Orleans, MA)

Ever been to Northern Michigan? Holiday Vacation Rentals in Harbor Springs manages wonderful places to stay while visiting one of the most beautiful resort towns in America. Miles of Lake Michigan beaches have been called the “Riviera of the Midwest”. Check their homes with guest reviews here:
Holiday Vacation Rentals (Harbor Springs, MI)

Carolina Mornings not only boasts reviews from pasts guests, the owners of the properties have been involved as well. What better way to understand exactly what a property offers than hearing directly from the owner?
Carolina Mornings (Asheville, NC)

This is only the beginning of how powerful verified guest reviews will be for the vacation rental industry. By offering tools for collecting, managing and distributing guest reviews online, FlipKey is here to help educate consumers on the incredible experience of a vacation home rental. If you are a property manager looking to get started leveraging guest reviews with Flipkey, apply for the FlipKey verified program here.

At the Eastern VRMA Conference in Myrtle Beach last week, FlipKey was lucky enough to be hosted by Surfside Realty. Surfside Realty is located in Myrtle Beach, SC and manages over 400 vacation rentals.

Representing some of the best properties in the region and maintaining a robust staff to ensure top-tier customer service, Surfside has begun using FlipKey to leverage the wonderful experiences and words of their past guests. With these guest reviews, Surfside Realty will attract new guests, instill a sense of confidence and excitement in the pre-booking process and ultimately set itself apart from neighboring hotels and other lodging competition.

Our experience with Surfside Realty and our vacation rental home was second to none. The check-in process was seamless and when we walked into the home (the “Royal Palm“) we couldn’t believe it. We found ourselves in one of the nicest ocean front homes we have ever had the privilege of experiencing.

Of course, we were too excited to keep our words to ourselves so we gladly responded to the “Invitation to leave a review” that was sent through the FlipKey Reputation Manager.

To see all reviews of Surfside Realty click here.

Below is a sample of my review and a few pictures we took at the Royal Palm.

My Review of the Royal Palm - Surfside Realty (Myrtle Beach)

View from the back deck leading out to the ocean at Surfside Beach.

The master bedroom with incredible views of the ocean.

Bryan giving thanks with a view of the Royal Palm from the beach.

Thanks again to Kim Raines and Surfside Realty for providing us with a wonderful stay. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the home and in Myrtle Beach and can’t wait to come back!

As of today, FlipKey has opened its doors. Please visit our new homepage at www.flipkey.com and explore how FlipKey can help you collect verified reviews and manage your internet-based Reputation.

Why was FlipKey created?
After managing our own vacation rentals we discovered a lack of trust and consumer awareness among prospective guests searching for vacation rentals. Guests needed assurances that our vacation homes were as advertised and that we, as managers/owners, were legitimate business operators.

Fact is, the majority of vacationers LOVE vacation rentals. The experience is more personal, often more economical and affords a unique travel experience. The majority of our guests had a great time and would send us emails saying as much.

The Problem:
Despite evidence of the wonderful experiences of our past guests, browsing consumers were skeptical. Prospective guests assumed our testimonials were written by us and not actual guests.

In addition, guests were often confused about how we would resolve potential problems like lost keys or an unexpected maintenance problem. Were we onsite or did we live 200 miles away? Did we have experience renting our homes before?

To effectively attract, book and yield a top nightly rate we needed “verified” reviews of each home and a way for guests to understand the difference between a professionally managed property and a unit managed directly by the owner.

The Solution:
FlipKey was created to help managers of all sizes collect verified guest reviews to establish a trusted internet-based reputation. The FlipKey Reputation Manager allows managers to easily invite past guests to share their vacation rental experience. Guest reviews are collected by FlipKey, verified for authenticity and then published on your website, FlipKey.com and any other marketing channels you may leverage.

FlipKey allows managers to publicly respond to reviews to thank guests for their positive experience or to address improvements. All replies are posted to the original reviews, so you can effectively manage your reputation and communicate the full value of your service.

[Click Here To See an Example]

On FlipKey.com, we reinforce consumer trust by informing users whether properties are “professionally managed.” By helping educate vacationers on the security and predictability afforded by professionally managed homes, we help consumers evaluate the relative benefits of renting from a property manager versus directly through an owner.

Who is using FlipKey?

“FlipKey is the first Reputation Solution designed for vacation rentals. As a webmaster I love that FlipKey offers free tools to port verified reviews and reputation to my clients’ sites.” - Trent Blizzard, CEO of Blizzard Marketing

Companies collecting verified guest reviews through FlipKey include:

All-Star Vacation Homes (Kissimmee, FL)
Franconia Notch Vacations (Franconia, NH)
Escape 2 Florida Homes (Clermont, FL)
Surfside Realty (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Imagine Vacation Homes (Orlando, FL)
And more…

*Click company name to view their FlipKey Front Deskâ„¢

What’s Next for FlipKey?

• FlipKey will soon enhance its service and features by offering integration with property management software services. This will make it even easier to collect this invaluable marketing asset.
• We will continually improve and expand FlipKey’s suite of Reputation Tools helping you go beyond guest reviews to improve/increase your reputation.
• Provide managers that have established a strong reputation through FlipKey guest reviews the opportunity to be featured on large affiliated travel sites.

If you manage vacation rentals and would like to join FlipKey, click here to learn more and apply.

If you happened to stop by www.flipkey.com today, you may have already seen our new temporary login page for the Beta. You may have also guessed what that means - FlipKey is officially entering Beta status!

Here is how the private Beta works. If you have already signed up for the FlipKey Badge Program, we have been hard at work preparing your Front Desk for you. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be sending out Beta login information to Rental Managers as soon as your Front Desks are ready. We received a tremendous number of sign-ups for the FlipKey Badge Program, so if you don’t hear from us right away, please know that we are working through the list and we will be in contact with you very soon. We will accommodate everybody who signs up. If you have not signed up, and you are a Vacation Rental Manager, please head over to the sign-up form. If you would like more information, please feel free to contact us at info@flipkey.com.

For those of you who are not Rental Managers and are itching to try out FlipKey, we will be opening up the site to the public in January. For now, if you haven’t already, please add your e-mail address to our notification list.

It’s been six months since we launched the FlipKey Blog. We use the blog to share our thoughts and research on the vacation rental industry in hopes of supporting a broader discussion on how to expand the vacation rental market. To date, over 100 people subscribe to the FlipKey Blog’s RSS feeds and over 2,000 people visit the blog every month to see what’s going on.

With that said, FlipKey is soon releasing its highly anticipated vacation rental Reputation Service. We will soon feature posts specific to FlipKey’s service, ways to leverage the service and ideas for future enhancements.

OK, OK…. but when is FlipKey actually launching?

• In the next two weeks, FlipKey will be releasing access to the FlipKey service to a select number of property managers. Over 100 property managers have signed up as FlipKey Charter members and we have selected 50 to kick the tires before we release FlipKey publicly. If you are dying to check it out email us at chartermember@flipkey.com.

• In January FlipKey will be releasing a new research report on Marketing Effectiveness in the vacation rental industry. FlipKey surveyed over 400 consumers that evaluated a vacation rental home in 2007 and collected and analyzed their thoughts and opinions - the results are fascinating.

• FlipKey will then open up its doors to the public in January. We will keep our readers current on our progress via the blog in the interim.

The excitement and growth of the vacation rental market is exciting. Every industry trade show we have attended this year has attracted record breaking attendance. New services are being introduced every month and consumers are increasingly beginning to prefer vacation rentals over traditional accommodations. 2008 is going to be a great year!