Running a vacation rental requires a significant amount of time and effort. As a property manager, if you are looking to run multiple short-term rentals, it is critical to be on top of all the properties. However, it is going to be nearly impossible to keep track of everything.
While the obvious steps include delegating tasks to hired help or to a virtual assistant and having a dedicated cleaning service to keep things flowing smoothly, there are other processes to automate your Airbnb to ensure it runs smoothly. This article looks at ways you can automate processes in your Airbnb so that it runs smoothly, like a well-oiled machine.
What Is Airbnb Automation?
In a nutshell, Airbnb Automation is the process of efficiently organizing daily and repetitive tasks to minimize time and costs associated with it. Some of the most recurring tasks that can very easily be automated are:
- Responding to guest’s messages
- Updating the property’s booking calendar
- Coordinating with cleaning staff
- Comparing and making adjustments to nightly prices
- Writing guest reviews
- Responding to guest reviews
Why Must You Automate Your Airbnb?
There are multiple benefits of automating your Airbnb, listed below are a few of them.
- Saves time
- Increases your occupancy rate hence revenue
- Allows for quick responses for guest booking requests and messages
- Increases efficiency
- Expedites growth of property, service, and portfolio
So basically, when you automate certain routine activities that are essential to keep your Airbnb running smoothly you take time away from boring tasks giving yourself more time to make key decisions and focus on other important things such as increasing your revenue and growing your portfolio.
The Top 10 Airbnb Automation Tips?
1. Automate your welcome email:
Send your guests an automated welcome email with all the information they need to be able to navigate their stay. The trick is to have enough information and not too much because you might end up confusing your guests. Consider the following pointers when drafting your welcome email:
- Keep sentences clear and precise.
- Have a heading for every new section in your email.
- Links to your website, other resources such as an online welcome book help keep the email body short and relevant while giving guests the option of going ahead to read it or saving it for later.
We recommend using Intelli Messaging by Zapier to automate guest messaging.
2. Automate scheduled messages:
If you find yourself having to type out responses for the same questions every time a new guest makes an inquiry or checks in to your property which most long-time hosts claim tends to take up a lot of valuable time and can be quite monotonous, this one is for you.
Use Airbnb’s scheduled messages such as check-in and check-out messages and to send reminders. This feature removes the need to type out these emails or even to copy-paste templates for your guests’ questions. To find out how more about how this works read our blog article on Airbnb Scheduled Messages.
Additionally, you can use Airbnb’s quick replies feature to create responses for frequently asked questions such as Wi-Fi passwords, directions, best places to eat, etc.
3. Automate your check-in processes:
This really is an easy win for you and your guests. This means that guests are not forced to check-in at a strict schedule and you don’t have to be up until all hours of the night for your guests to come. Additionally, if you use the right product, you can be warned of when the guests check in to your property. You could use this as a trigger to send an automated welcome mail/SMS.
We recommend using smart locks such as TTLock, Akiles, and Omnitech. All these electronic locks are accessible either via an app or other cloud-based systems which can be accessed through your phone.
4. Use smart devices throughout your home:
Turning your home into a smart home has many benefits starting from the ability to cut costs to 5-star reviews. It also gives you a lot of control over the appliances in your home where you can turn on and off appliances and troubleshoot problems related to connected appliances remotely.We recommend, Operto, LYNX, and Dack as key software solutions that help automate your home and have remote access to appliances and other smart equipment around the house.
5. Automate pricing management
The pricing and occupancy mix is a crucial part if not the most crucial part of your vacation rental business. Zero occupancy means no business. It’s as simple as that. Needless to say, this crucial point of decision-making can make or break your business. So, it only makes sense to automate this process and trust the experts in the field to make those key decisions.
We recommend Beyond Pricing, PriceLabs, WheelHouse, and DPGO. These pricing software solutions make important decisions on the best rate to rent out rooms based on location, amenities, etc. Fear not, it takes into account your set minimum nightly rate for your property when doing. To make things better they even update the room rates in your respective booking engines.
6. Use accounting software:
It goes without saying that keeping track of the income and expenses of your Airbnb can be as taxing (no pun intended) as it is important. Automating the process would give you ample time and save you from a lot of money-related mistakes that are bound to happen. Find out more on our blog article about Airbnb bookkeeping and accounting.
We recommend, our trusted partners, Quickbooks by Zapier, and Console Cloud for all your accounting needs.
7. Use a Cleaning Service:
One of the services that most property owners and managers feel comfortable outsourcing is the cleaning of properties. It is absolutely imperative that you maintain a clean and hygienic vacation rental to keep guests coming to your Airbnb. While you may already be hiring a cleaning service did you know that it is also possible to monitor the process remotely? To find out more read our blog articles about vacation rental cleaning tips and tricks.
We recommend Doinn and Properly these solutions provide comprehensive solutions on recruiting, managing, and monitoring the cleanliness and offer comprehensive guidelines and checklists for the cleaning staff to make sure all the needs of your property are met cleanliness-wise.
8. Invest in a property management system (PMS):
A PMS provides a centralized system to organize, schedule, and perform day-to-day functions involved in running your Airbnb. Some functions that can be automated by a PMS are:
- Bookings
- Check-in and check-out
- Point of sale integration
- Inventory supply management
For more details on assessing a property management system read our article on how to evaluate vacation rental property management systems.
9. Arm your Airbnb with security devices
Having security devices such as security cameras and noise monitoring devices can save you a lot of trouble. Be informed of loud noises that may disturb your neighbors or parties that your guests decide to throw with noise monitoring devices. Security cameras though must be kept outside your property and can come in use to monitor any suspicious guest activity or damages done to the outside of your property or neighboring properties.
10. Automate Guest Reviews
One area that most hosts don’t even look at mostly because of the lack of knowledge is automating guest reviews. While it is important to respond to every review you get it can be as important to review guests because guests get a prompt telling them you’ve reviewed them, and the curiosity factor (“What did the host say about me?”) will encourage them to leave you a review.
There are software solutions that use template-based automatic positive guest reviews. But you can also use it to automate negative guest reviews, and it sets it so that the negative reviews go out 20 seconds before the review window closes so that the guests can’t retaliate. How cool is that?
Are You Looking To Automate Your Processes In Your Airbnb?
At Hostaway, we have a network of home automation partners that make amazing Airbnb automation tools. Learn more about our integrated systems by visiting our marketplace. To find out more about how Hostaway helps property owners and managers all over the world with tailormade solutions to suit their needs, request a free demo.
