Short-term rentals can leave you with a consistent flow of guests opting in and out of your listings. While this can keep you absolutely busy, there are some effective ways by which you can minimise your workload.
If done correctly, you’ll end up with a happy set of guests and homeowners too. Having said that, it will take a little while for you to set things in motion even when you’re employing the right strategies.
However, most of it will simply be polishing what you are currently doing. In addition to that, you’ll also be able to expand your business to scale better heights and reach probable clients faster.
9 Ways to Delegate Your Vacation Rental Management Tasks
- Maintain an Optimized Listing
This is the first step to planning and implementation. Maintaining an optimized listing gives you a clear perspective on your property and improves your conversion rate as well. In other words, there’s less confusion regarding the queries you get right from the start. Remember to re-optimize your listings frequently, at least semi-annually.
- Setup Automated Software
There are various software and apps on the market that come with useful automation features. They save you time by automating various aspects of the management process, including up to 90% of guest communication.
Some other software tools also allow you to create messages that will automatically be sent to your staff updating them regarding any new bookings or canceled reservations. Ensure you use auto-management tools that don’t need frequent maintenance and updating in order to save you time and effort.
- Setup Hostfully
An electronic guidebook is the best to help your guests make the most of their stay while saving paper in addition to reducing your time and effort. It also makes things more professional and organised on your front. This resource Hostfully will not need much updating and maintenance. What’s more? You can plan your guidebook to be sent to your guests via Guesty a couple of days before check-in.
- Setup NoiseAware
This software is so that your neighbors are equally satisfied with your service along with your guests. This precise, little gadget notifies you when the noise level in your home exceeds a certain limit and when it starts creating a nuisance for the neighbors.
By recognising and addressing this issue right at the start, you will save yourself time, money, and effort in the long run. After the initial setup, all you need to do is send a message or make a phone call to your guest if you receive an alert regarding an exceeded noise limit.
- Setup PriceLabs
Maximising occupancy and regulating night rates is the crux of any Airbnb business. And in order to do that, you need a smart pricing tool as well. The best one happens to be PriceLabs in this regard.
These tools automatically update your calendar in addition to offering multiple customizations like enabling a guest to make a one-night booking or cancellation.
It also increases your nightly minimum for reservations far into the future. This resource takes about a minute of monitoring each week after the initial setup which is pretty much automatic.
- Install an Electronic Lock
An electronic lock is more than a necessity in today’s times, especially in Airbnb listings. Companies like Slickspaces and VirtualKEY have features like a keyless entry that makes guest access hassle-free and removes the need to coordinate key exchanges between parties. This works by giving each guest a unique code that allows them access to the rental. This code expires upon checkout so that the property remains safe and secure.
- Hire a Cleaner
This is, perhaps, the most crucial part of the entire process of automating your Airbnb process. In addition to being a cleaner, they must be responsible, punctual, efficient, and reliable to be able to do this job to the optimum best. Hiring the right people for this job will lift a huge burden off of your shoulders which will keep your involvement minimal.
In addition to that, a cleaner must be able to look after other aspects as well as changing bed linens, purchasing and restocking consumables and disposable amenities.
Do not consider budget here since their job is extremely demanding and time-consuming. Consider this as an investment for your business which will only fetch you maximum returns in the future.
- Low-quality cleaning
- Late or missed cleanings
- Use of stained or mismatched linens
- Lack of attention to details, like folded towels and presentation
- Failure to complete essential tasks specific to vacation rentals like restocking supplies, checking for damage, and opening windows so your guest can enter to natural light.
All of these aspects will take a heavy toll on your time and your business.
- Have an Emergency Contact
This is an aspect that most people usually overlook. True that you may be the homeowner, but you cannot do everything by yourself which may get in the way of your regular management responsibilities. Under such rare circumstances, it is best to have a backup of an emergency contact that is equally familiar with the property as you are.
This can be a member of your staff or a separately appointed person who will back you up as an emergency contact in times of need. This will save you the trouble of rushing to find a temporary replacement if an emergency comes up.
- Hire a Repairs and Maintenance Team
Every homeowner wants their property to be in the best shape at all times, but that is seldom possible. Sometimes, things tend to go differently than planned and not in a pleasant way.
In such scenarios, you need to have a repair and maintenance team at your beck and call. You will have to strike a deal with them to summon them during weekends, off-hours, and during urgencies whenever the time calls for it.
This may be a little daunting at the beginning, especially with the recruiting, hiring, and assembling of such a reliable team. But once it’s set up it is worth every effort and always better than your guests having a bad experience.
In addition to that, you can even hire local handymen to come to aid for smaller issues instantly. Here are some common issues and the professionals to hire accordingly.
- Issues with Wi-Fi or cable– Emergency contact or handyman, that is only after you’ve already done some troubleshooting and assured everything is properly plugged in
- Issues with heating or A/C – HVAC repairman
- No hot water – plumber
- Clogged drains – plumber
- No light – electrician
- Lock issues – locksmith
Summing it up:
Managing properties cannot completely rely on technology without a bit of human touch. However, one can always employ technology to speed up the process thereby minimising the effort and increasing the accuracy of the process in the long run.
Using these resources in the right manner will save you a huge chunk of time and effort which can be used to take on more listings and expanding your business over a period of time.
