Six Tips For Your First Peak Season
For most of us around the country we are well into the spring/summer peak season.
This is when you'll see your best utilization, highest rates, and if you're managing your business properly, highest profit margins.
If this is your first peak season as a Turo host here are six things I want you to think about today.
Monitor your daily rates weekly.
I think we're going to have another, albeit less severe, rental car shortage this year. Don't leave money on the table. If you're getting back to back bookings be sure to check the daily rates of your Turo competitors and the traditional rental car companies on a weekly basis (maybe even daily at times) and keep your rates as high as you can without causing your utilization to drop.
Turn on last-minute price boost.
This is an option you'll find in your pricing tab which lets you set a price boost of up to 10% for people who book a trip last minute with a pickup the same day. You WILL make this money during peak season. Grab it. Mine was at the maximum 10% all last summer and I made bank.
Take weekends to 2-day minimum.
You may already do this, but if not, peak season is the time to turn this option on. Don't play with 1-day trips on the weekends when you can stay booked with longer ones.
Set your holiday rates now.
Don't wait. Go ahead and take rates up now for Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, and 4th of July. I always take my rates up 20% (30% last summer) on those days and for the holidays that fall on weekends, take the whole weekend up. You don't want people booking for those dates in advance now without your higher rates being set. Make sure you adjust the holiday rates accordingly if you find you're able to keep taking rates higher as you approach them.
Turn off instant booking.
Peak season is where you're most likely to get "stacked" trip requests and have the ability to choose the very best trips with the highest earnings and best 5-star guests. Take advantage of this!
Turn off all discounts.
You don’t need to give money away to stay booked during the peak season. Turn off all discounts such as early-bird, multi-day, etc. By offering these during the peak you will just be leaving money on the table without really adding anything to your booking activity.