Bluetent

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I had my own Southern California vacation rental management company.

What is your position?

I was the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bluetent?

Initially, it was that I wanted to be able to communicate with my guests via email in an effective and pretty way, and that developed into having them also redesign my website and manage my full online image and presence.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They helped me set up an email program, where I was able to email my prospective guests and existing guests. For prospective guests, I wanted to try to generate more revenue, more bookings, and have them convert into customers. With my existing customers, send them relevant information about their stay, and things to do while they're in town, to build a relationship with them.

Once they redesigned my website, it was creating my full online presence and personality, making sure that my website was fully optimized and findable, working with my pay-per-click, and all of my online marketing budget.

How did you come to work with Bluetent?

I was actually at an industry conference. I interviewed them as well as some other companies that offered similar services.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I've probably spent close to $80,000 to $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began five or six years ago. The work with them is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

For client happiness, they really did a good job of listening for exactly what it was that I wanted to create for my company, and then followed through on executing that. Our online bookings increased by more than 100 percent after we implemented the new website, and we were definitely able to generate more revenue and get more business because of the improvements that Bluetent has made for our business.

What distinguishes Bluetent from other providers?

I'd say their knowledge of the vacation rental industry, and their willingness to work with other systems so that I can choose which other vendors I want to work with, and they work together cohesively. Bluetent really tries to solve the challenges that your business is facing, and do what's best for the business, not what's best for their revenue.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

When we first implemented the email marketing program, it was awesome, but I think it could use some updating now. There's bigger and better tools out there. Everything else is going well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We provide travel insurance to all the vacation rental management industry, and partner with Bluetent in a number of common client relationships.

What is your position?

I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bluetent?

I hired them to do all of our online marketing, and redo our website. We had them redo everything another company had just done less than 24 months before.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They provided web design, marketing campaigns, SEO [search engine optimization], PPC [pay per click], and email marketing.

How did you come to work with Bluetent?

We had initially gone with another agency, and realized that we hadn't made the right choice. We actually looked at Bluetent and realized the advantages quickly. Primarily, they were related to the relationship, attentiveness, and the responsiveness they showed as a supplier, rather than the work itself. They're just a great partner.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The website for the vacation rental company was around $95,000. I believe our monthly services are around $8,000 to $9,000 a month, not counting the PPC budget. For my travel insurance business, I don't have a financial arrangement with Bluetent. We encourage all of our clients to consider them, and they're very supportive of us and our product as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the fall of 2012. The launch took place in April 2013, I believe, and we're still currently working with them. The relationship there has grown to the point where they are a real strong partner and support for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

As a vendor partner, they've probably assisted us with either introduction or help to consummate a sale on 20 vacation rental company contracts that we have. We partner on seminars all around the country, so it's sort of hard to count that up specifically. We do a lot together, and we value them as the strongest and the best partnership we have in the vendor arena.

What distinguishes Bluetent from other providers?

I think that they have the absolute best talent and skill in our vacation rental space, but that's probably not the most important feature. You just can't substitute their attitude, engagement, and responsiveness and, as I say, they were a partner. With other providers, I would have to call and ask what they were doing for us.

Bluetent is on the point. They take the initiative, lead the call, and report to us. It's just an entirely different style of relationship. They're very attentive, engaged, and accountable. We used two of the largest providers in the vacation rental space before we got to Bluetent, and they both failed in that aspect of the relationship. Bluetent's personal level of involvement, and the depth of the relationship is exceptional.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I really don't think so, and I'm not making that judgment on my own. I certainly was not engaged in the day-to-day. I'm relying upon my general manager, my director of marketing, those who worked closely with them, and the rapport, feeling, and happiness that they had. We didn't have any negative experiences.

They've taught us a lot. I don't there's anything that I could suggest that we weren't perfectly happy with, and I hear that around the country. They've got some really satisfied users.