Property management automation: a good way to go further

Are you a short-term rental property manager looking to grow your business and compete with the best in the industry? You may have come across some so-called influencers who claim that automating your operations means you can sit back and watch the revenue roll into your bank account effortlessly. While the idea sounds appealing, it’s a bit more complex than that. Is property management automation a good idea?

At RentalReady, we have always emphasised that to develop your short and mid-term rental services and become a professional in the business, you must first establish well-defined workflows for each task involved. Only once these procedures are clearly identified can you determine which ones can be automated and how to do so effectively.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of automating your short-term rental management in the most thoughtful way possible, to help you successfully grow your business.

Table of contents

Defining effective workflows

Managing a short and mid-term rental business requires rigorous organisation and well-defined workflows. These processes ensure a memorable experience for travellers and the efficient and profitable management of your properties. Moreover, well-thought-out procedures allow new team members to assimilate them more easily, making them operational more quickly.

Onboarding new properties

*Is it important to show complete property ads to rent your Airbnb*

To be a significant player in the industry, you need to continuously increase the number of properties in your portfolio. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a method that makes the onboarding process of each new property as smooth as possible. This includes sharing documents and information between property owners and you or your team. Pricing strategy is also vital. Setting the right price at the right time will improve your performance and competitiveness.

Managing bookings

Booking management is another key procedure. It is essential to have a reliable and user-friendly system that allows you to track bookings, cancellations, and any changes that may occur (number of travellers, special requests, etc.). It is crucial to find a way to synchronise all requests from multiple platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, etc.) to minimise the risk of double bookings, a nightmare for any good manager. Centralising information about your bookings (dates, prices, communications with travellers) avoids repetitive tasks and saves you valuable time.

Welcoming guests

This is indeed a crucial step in managing your short-term rental properties. It is important to establish a clear and efficient check-in and check-out procedure. This may include sending detailed instructions to guests before their arrival, preparing a welcome booklet, and setting up a secure and convenient key handover system:

Scheduling on-site appointments for physical check-ins.
Providing a code in advance for opening a key box or smart lock, for example.

We also recommend finding a way to consolidate all your guests’ stay information for all your properties within a calendar accessible to your team:

Property onwers;
Cleaning staff;
Maintenance partners;
Etc.

This ensures that your guests will always enjoy a perfectly prepared place upon their arrival.

Property maintenance

Regular cleaning of properties is essential to ensure guest satisfaction. It is important to implement a detailed cleaning procedure, including post-departure cleaning and regular inspections. Additionally, a preventive and reactive maintenance plan should be developed to handle repairs and equipment upkeep. As a reputable property manager, you must ensure that each property is well-equipped and stocked to meet the needs of your guests. This includes managing supplies such as:

Sheets
Towels
Toilet paper
Soap
Cleaning products (dish soap, floor cleaner, laundry detergent, etc.)
Other

We also recommend establishing a regular inspection and restocking procedure for all provided products.

Communication with your guests

Clear and appropriate communication is essential for any good business relationship. Your guests will appreciate your guidance throughout their journey. Providing the right information at key points during their stay will undoubtedly result in positive reviews. Key messages include:

A booking confirmation with a warm thank you to your future guests.
A pre-arrival message with useful information about the journey, arrival, and property access.
A message to check that their arrival went smoothly and to remind them that you are available for any questions.
A pre-departure message to thank them again for their trust and to start gathering initial feedback on their stay.
A follow-up message a few days after their return home, in the form of a satisfaction survey, allows you to get detailed comments and highlight the most enthusiastic ones to attract new guests.

Establishing a precise procedure for sending messages to your guests saves time and builds your reputation as a professional short-term rental manager. This communication can be complemented by providing a phone number for a service or person capable of offering assistance at any time during the stay.

Good to Know: Whether in short-term rental or any other sector, improving a company’s performance necessarily involves establishing business processes.

Once you have identified workflows that allow you to manage your properties and their occupants efficiently, you will be pleased to learn that solutions exist to go even faster and further.

Tools for property management automation

Several tools exist for property management automation and they're quite easy to use — Several tools exist for property management automation and they’re quite easy to use

Channel manager

If you have at least one year of experience in short-term rental management, you might be using the tools provided by Airbnb. However, you may already be using software like Smoobu, Beds24, or SuperHote, among others. Let’s recall what a channel manager can offer in terms of time savings and organisation. A channel manager is an essential tool for any property manager business. It centralises and automates the management of bookings from multiple sites and platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, among others). By consolidating all the information about your various listings in one place, a good channel manager allows you to:

Centralise bookings: In other words, access all bookings in a single system. This provides an overview of all tasks to be completed for each of your properties (guest management, property management, payments, communication, etc.).
Keep your calendar up to date: Having your listings on various distribution channels exposes you to the risk of overbooking. By automatically synchronising all the platforms where your properties are listed into one unified calendar, the channel manager helps you avoid such issues.
Optimise your princing: With easy access to all the information about your listings, you can develop the best dynamic pricing strategy for your rental properties (adjusting rates based on demand, seasonality or local events).
Analyse your performance: Access to various indicators enables you to make informed decisions to grow your business.
Provide access to efficient customer support, available at any time.

PMS

A Property Management System (PMS) is a comprehensive software that offers numerous features for managing your short-term rental business through a single interface. Common solutions provided by a PMS include:

Editing and viewing all your calendars.
Managing bookings.
Managing your pricing.
Managing guest information.
Handling all data related to your properties.
Several additional features (booking engine, payment/deposit management, unified communication).

It’s worth noting that most PMSs come equipped with a channel manager, which synchronises all the booking platforms where your listings are present.

Other software and tools

Notion is a useful tool to use for team work.

There are also tools that provide additional features to automate repetitive tasks in various aspects of your business management:

To define workflows, document them and share them internally, you can use software such as Notion or ClickUp
After meeting with a client (a property owner wanting to entrust you with their property management), you can set up an online form for them to fill out with all the information you need.
To formalise a new collaboration, you can also use a digital contract with an electronic signature.

All-in-one approach with RentalReady

At RentalReady, we aim to position ourselves as a leading software in the PMS/Channel Manager market for short and mid/term rentals, with a unique all-in-one approach. Our solution was developed to meet the needs of GuestReady’s property management service (our parent company), which manages nearly 3,000 properties worldwide. Our tool is designed for international use and large companies with advanced needs. A comprehensive list of features is at your disposal for the overall management of your business.