The ROI Debate: Is Your Tech Stack Paying Off?
How to assess, optimize, and justify your tech investments in vacation rentals
Francois Gouelo
CEO & Co-Founder, Enso Connect
John An
Founder and CEO , TechTape
Webinar Overview
Are you managing multiple short-term rental listings? Your tech stack can be a powerful profit driver, or a hidden profit killer.
The short-term rental market is entrepreneurial and fragmented. There are 25+ software categories and countless tools with overlapping features as vendors expand to stand out. What begins as “efficiency” often becomes tool sprawl - higher costs, more friction, and shrinking margins.
That’s why we’ve invited John An from TechTape, a hospitality tech and revenue expert who has helped hundreds of vacation rental managers optimize their stacks and boost profit. John will show you how to quantify ROI on every tool, cut what doesn’t pay back, and build a lean, scalable system that works as hard as you do.
TL;DR
Why ROI is murky: Software costs are up, tools overlap, and AI isn’t free.
Framework: Audit your stack, designate primary vs. secondary systems, wire deep integrations, and measure time saved + automation ratio + revenue lift.
Real outcomes: Operators add $30–$80+ profit per property; Enso Connect processes $1.5M+/month in upsells.
EnsoAI (Copilot → AutoPilot): Built for hospitality messaging automation.
Next steps: Watch the recording, run the ROI calculator, book a TechTape consult, and see the EnsoAI AutoPilot in action.
Why Hospitality Tech ROI Feels Hard Right Now
Costs are rising: Industry reports show tech spend per property/month has grown from 2021 to 2024.
Bloat & overlap: Many operators run 6–15 tools across ~6 categories. Redundancy creeps in as PMSs expand features while point solutions proliferate.
AI adds COGS: Advanced AI (reasoning, grounding, multilingual) carries real compute costs; “free AI” is a myth.
Operational friction > license fees: The biggest ROI drain is often human time, rework, and context switching, not subscriptions.
The Framework: From Bloat to ROI
1) Run a stack audit (quarterly/bi-annual):
Inventory tools, owners, costs, usage, and overlapping features.
Decide the primary system per function (distribution/PMS, messaging, upsells, ops, RM/accounting).
Consolidate data into a single source of truth.
2) Integrate deeply (don’t just connect):
Prefer vendor-built deep integrations for reliability.
Where gaps remain, use no-code/low-code bridges to sync key fields and events back into your system of record.
3) Measure what matters (beyond fees):
Time saved / average handling time (AHT, first response SLAs).
Automation ratio (% of tasks/replies handled by AI and automation).
Revenue lift (upsells per reservation, attach rates).
Guest satisfaction (review distribution; aim ≥4.5 where 95% of listings sit).
4) Re-invest where ROI is proven:
It’s fine to pay more for a tool that saves hours or drives profit you keep 100% of.
The Tech ROI Metrics (with simple benchmarks)
Metric | Description | Data Source | How to measure (primary KPI) | Industry benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Time Saved | Less agent time per conversation and faster replies. | Guest messaging tools | Guest service team response time | AHT ↓ 20–40%; ≥85% first replies <15 min. |
Revenue Impact | Incremental $$ from upsells, fees, experiences | Stripe, Upselling tools | PLPM ($ per listing per month); | $30–$80 PLPM; 5–15% conversion; |
Guest Satisfaction | Guest sentiment, loyalty, reviews | Return guests (booking tools), OTA/Google reviews, sentiment from messaging tools | OTA rating | 4.7–4.9 review rating; |
Automation Ratio | Share of tasks handled by automation and AI | Automation tools | Automation ratio % | ≥60% |
Live Mini Teardown
Map tools by function and cost.
Pick primaries; demote or retire overlaps.
Close integration gaps; return data to PMS.
Set quarterly targets for automation ratio and response SLAs.
Track upsell profit per reservation, not just revenue.
Re-review in 90 days; repeat.
Case Snapshots
Upsells at scale: Enso Connect processes $1.5M+ per month in upsell volume across customers.
Per-reservation profit: +$30–$80+ is common when offers are timely and mobile-native.
Listing-level lift: Operators report ~$174/listing/month added revenue with streamlined guest journeys.
Ops time saved: Examples include 15+ hours/month reclaimed at finance close via automation.
Valuation Angle (If You’ll Ever Sell)
A clean, transferable stack with clear primaries, deep integrations, and documented automations is easier for a buyer to operate, and can support stronger multiples than a tangled web of tools and tribal knowledge.
Seasonality Without the Excuses
Track KPIs quarterly and annually, not just in peak months. If ratings dip in shoulder season, the fix is process and tooling - improve pre-stay comms, automate check-in prerequisites, and target off-season upsells.
