As your short-term rental business grows, manual processes become less and less sustainable. Tasks that were a breeze with one or two properties become impossible with 10 or 20.
But there are managers out there handling hundreds of properties. The burning question is how do they do it?
The key to scaling your Airbnb business is implementing property management software to automate all your key operations and tasks. These tools handle important areas of your work for you so your processes become faster and more consistent.
Our article looks at the tools you need to automate key management processes, including:
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Want to expand your portfolio without the growing pains? |
While short-term rental (STR) management businesses have different needs, the following types of software are essential for scaling.
A property management system (PMS) is a must-have for scaling your business. Once you list on multiple channels, they save you time by automatically updating your calendar and availability, and letting guests book online.
Managers usually combine a PMS with a channel manager which syncs all your online listings and lets you manage them in one place. If you edit property information on the main dashboard, the system updates them elsewhere. That way you can be confident your listings are up to date and consistent without having to constantly check.
The best property management software not only offers these automation tools but also streamlines how you manage your tech stack. They let you integrate with other essential software on our list so you can seamlessly move between tools and view information in one central location.
Managing property care includes syncing task management and team communication with your latest booking information, overseeing regular maintenance, and being responsive to issues as they arise. It’s also one of the most important areas of your operations, as it’s something both guests and homeowners will assess you on.
So, a dedicated property care platform like Breezeway plays an essential role in your business. You can use it to automate:
So, no more missed cleans, and since the schedules are a hands-off solution that communicate details with your housekeepers in the app, you can even start taking on more last-minute bookings.
That way, you keep rentals in pristine condition for each stay, reduce costs by helping ensure furniture and appliances last longer, and avoid risks like a wobbly step or faulty outdoor light leading to an accident.
With Breezeway, you can include representative photos for cleaners to check their work against, and require cleaners to upload photos so you can carry out remote inspections.
Property management care software like Breezeway helps you streamline even the tiniest details, like keeping track of toiletries.
The top property care management software saves you time and facilitates sustainable, scalable processes. Breezeway customer, Kristi Campbell of Vanwaw Corporate Rentals, says, “Breezeway has drastically saved us from missing cleans, equating to hundreds of dollars saved monthly. Before Breezeway, we had no clear way of scheduling tasks for cleaners.”
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Want to expand your portfolio without the growing pains? |
As your business grows, so does the number of guest questions and requests—which is a massive drain on your time and energy. So, you need a solution that reduces guest messaging, saves you all that manual work, and yet doesn’t negatively impact the guest experience.
You can automate most aspects of your guest communication with:
Digital guides and automated messaging can eliminate hours of unnecessary guest communication time.
One of our customers says Breezeway’s automation tools reduced guest calls by 58%. She adds that this hasn’t compromised the guest experience as, “Many times, a great experience simply means getting guests the information they need when they need it.”
When you have multiple properties and fluctuating demand, finding the optimal price to drive occupancy and revenue is an enormous challenge—but it’s absolutely fundamental to your business success.
This is where dynamic pricing tools come to the rescue—they analyze hundreds of data points in real-time, like demand, seasonality, and competitor rates, to calculate the best price point for each rental. Not only does this help optimize your nightly rates, but it saves you hours of work.
There are a few dynamic pricing tools worth considering:
All these integrate with your PMS so they can access your booking, guest, and property data to effectively calculate and apply the best prices.
Managing insurance and vetting each guest also limits your ability to focus on other areas of your business. But if you don’t do these tasks thoroughly, you can increase the risk of experiencing property and contents damage.
Automated insurance and guest screening software like Autohost, Safely, and SUPERHOG provide invaluable support. These tools perform background checks, identity verification, and risk assessments on guests for every stay and allow you to easily manage deposits, waivers, and insurance.
When it comes to scaling your Airbnb business, automation works best alongside a robust strategy. Here are some of the key ideas to bear in mind.
Relying solely on Airbnb listings to market your business could limit your growth—why list on only one online travel agency (OTA) when your target market probably uses a variety of platforms when researching where to stay?
Using a channel manager, you can list your rental properties on popular sites like Airbnb, Vrbo, and booking.com, as well as smaller niche sites. This allows you to expand your reach and protect yourself against the possibility of an OTA’s algorithm causing you to drop in their search rankings.
Quality service plays a vital role in maintaining high occupancy rates and attracting new property owners. A record of 5-star reviews acts as social proof that gives guests and owners the confidence to choose your services over others.
Property care is at the heart of quality service. If guests find stains or missing toiletries, they’ll feel unvalued or lose faith in your ability to look after them. That’s why you need a clear view across all your properties, so you can be sure your guests are always arriving to a clean, well-maintained vacation home.
Professional guest communication is also key. While automating messages helps you stay responsive, you can also craft a warm, helpful tone for your templates, and make sure you’ve covered every common question in your digital welcome book.
By not only making sure your guests have the information they need on directions, parking, property access, and WiFi access, but also making them feel special and welcome with your tone of voice, you can increase your number of top-rated reviews.
If you’re looking to grow your business, positive team morale should be a priority so you can retain your best staff and keep them motivated and productive.
Here are some ideas to consider:
Effective processes keep both guests and employees happy at your business.
When you’re performing tasks manually, there’s only so far your short-term rental business can grow. Your workload increases with each new property and it becomes a fight to stay on top of the properties you already manage.
Automating key aspects of your business, including your booking processes, cleaning operations, and guest messaging, empowers you to break through these limitations.
That way, you can add properties to your portfolio without it impacting your workflows or efficiency. You can simply replicate the processes you already use for existing rentals across your new ones. Then you’re freer to focus on big-picture ventures like a new marketing strategy or scaling your inventory even more.
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Want to expand your portfolio without the growing pains? |
Yes, Airbnb still offers fantastic business potential. While success depends on various factors like property location and amenities, many hosts continue to generate significant profit from their vacation rental businesses and successfully scale their operations.
The amount that Airbnb owners make varies widely according to factors such as their location, property type, and target guests. Conducting thorough market research and using tools like property care software for high-quality, efficient operations, and dynamic pricing tools for optimized rates, can increase your occupancy and result in consistent revenue throughout the year.