Airbnb Management Software: Why Use It and How to Choose One

Airbnb management software is a great solution for busy hosts looking to ease their workload. At the same time, it helps increase the efficiency of short-term rental business operations.

In recent years, the popularity of Airbnb has skyrocketed. To keep up with the intensifying competition on the top online travel agencies, Airbnb hosts have become a lot busier. More and more people are taking the plunge to start their own vacation rental business. Thus, Airbnb hosts find it even more challenging to increase ROI without increasing costs.

To cope with a load of tasks and stay ahead of the curve, most of the rental property owners have already opted for business automation. 

Learn about the top 7 benefits that Airbnb management software can offer your business and how to choose the right solution for yourself.

1. Ensure Flawless Guest Communication

Airbnb guests expect on-demand customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Responding to messages at all hours of the day can eat away at your time. To handle guest communication, you might already have considered extending your team. Though, it might not be necessary if you automate communication with guests.

In fact, an Airbnb host sends about 2,500 messages per month in response to guests’ inquiries. Meanwhile, Airbnb management software can automate over 70% of these messages.

Automated responses ensure flawless communication with your guests. Current and potential guests will receive instant and accurate responses to their inquiries at any time of the day.

By automating your responses, you can reply to more inquiries and get more bookings.

Airbnb management software can also trigger automated messages at a predefined date and time. This allows you to keep your guests informed even when you are physically unable to respond to them. On top of that, some Airbnb management software solutions offer mobile apps allowing you to communicate with your guests on the go.

Another time-consuming task is to keep up with inquiries received from multiple accounts. Airbnb management software with a Unified inbox feature will organize all your messages in one place. This way you can send responses right from the software without logging in to your Airbnb accounts.

With automation, you will be able to deliver better customer service with less effort. For example, vacation rental software such as iGMS helps hosts save 70% of their time on communication each month. iGMS automated messaging and Unified inbox will free up your time so you can concentrate more on activities to scale your business.

A high response rate can bring you one step closer to receiving Airbnb Superhost status. By becoming a Superhost, you’ll be able to generate more bookings and, consequently, higher profit. To further refine your guest communication strategy, check out our other helpful resources: 

Airbnb Communication Strategy: 7 Rules for Glowing Reviews

The Art of Airbnb Messaging: 8 Proven Ways to Enhance the Guest Experience

How to Write a Vacation Rental Welcome Letter 

Airbnb Welcome Book: How to Create a Comprehensive Guide for Your Guests

2. Grow the Number of Your Reviews

Most Airbnb guests don’t bother to leave reviews after their checkout. Recent studies have shown that only 20% of guests take the time to leave reviews without Airbnb’s reminders. If you want to grow the number of guest reviews, you should be the one to make the first move. Once you leave feedback for your guests, Airbnb will prompt them to review you in return.

The more reviews you have, the more trustworthy you’ll look in the eyes of potential guests. Additionally, a large number of positive reviews is crucial for a better position in the search results.

However, busy hosts don’t have much time for leaving reviews. Moreover, writing reviews doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Airbnb management software with the automated reviews feature can make the process of composing reviews a lot easier.

For example, iGMS vacation rental software enables you to create templates for guest reviews using predefined elements. This means that you won’t have to write reviews from scratch for every guest. Don’t worry, there won’t be any difference between an automated review and the one written by you. Another time-saving perk is that iGMS allows you to send reviews automatically right via the system. This feature is extremely convenient for hosts managing multiple listings across different vacation rental platforms. 

To learn the best practices of creating guest reviews, as well as tactics to increase their number, explore this list of our useful articles:

How to Write Airbnb Guest Reviews [Examples Included]

Generating Vacation Rental Reviews With Post-Departure Emails [Full Guide and Templates]

Bad Airbnb Reviews: How to Turn Them into Your Weapon

Airbnb Guest Reviews: An iGMS Formula of Happiness

3. Boost Your Airbnb Ranking

Setting up a listing on Airbnb is not enough to make your business profitable. To evoke the interest of potential guests, your listing should be visible on the first pages of the search results. Airbnb uses a search ranking algorithm to help make it easier for guests to find the right listings for their needs.

It takes into account various aspects of your listing, such as the number of reviews, response rate, and so on. Updating your calendar on a regular basis is also essential for ranking high on Airbnb. However, if you manage multiple Airbnb rentals manually, it’s hard to pay proper attention to every aspect of your listings.

Vacation rental management software can have a positive impact on ranking factors. For example, by automating your replies, you can reduce your response time and enhance your response rate. In addition, reviews automation can bring you more positive reviews. It will help your listing to move to the top of the search results.

Find out how to improve your ranking on Airbnb by reading these dedicated articles: 

Airbnb SEO: 10 Proven Tips to Boost Your Ranking

Airbnb Ranking: 7 Techniques to Boost Your Airbnb Traffic

10 Unique Tips to Ranking Among Airbnb’s Best Listings

4. Synchronize Your Calendar in Real-Time

If your property is listed on more than one platform, keeping your calendars in sync to avoid double-bookings can turn into a real headache. That’s why finding the solution to keep all your bookings in order can be a lifesaver.

Luckily, automated channel management can relieve your anxiety about receiving double-bookings. Utilizing a software solution will help you manage your rentals listed on multiple channels within one dashboard. Once you receive a reservation on one of the platforms you use, the property’s availability will be changed for other platforms too via your Airbnb management software. The same goes for making alterations. Should you or your guests make any changes to the reservation, they will be applied across all your platforms automatically.

5. Manage Multiple Airbnb Accounts

When managing more than one Airbnb property, you know how annoying switching between multiple accounts can be. Airbnb management software can eliminate the constant need to log in and log out of your accounts.

Regardless of the number of listings you have, Airbnb management software will organize them in a single Multi-calendar. This way you can keep track of all your bookings in one place. What’s more, you will be able to make adjustments to your calendar or update your listing right via the dashboard.

To avoid falling behind, it’s essential to always improve your managerial skills and knowledge. Read our dedicated article to learn how to handle your multiple accounts and listings like an expert:

6. Coordinate Your Teams More Efficiently

The greatest benefit of using Airbnb software is that it allows you to grow your business without increasing the headcount. Automation helps you to make the most out of what you already have.

Whether you manage your rental yourself or have a team, with Airbnb management software such as iGMS you can boost productivity and reach your business goals faster.

iGMS ensures the smooth coordination of your teams or subcontractors. You can invite your support staff to join your software system and schedule and send work orders to each team member.

By utilizing software, you can create automated schedules. Moreover, with some tools like iGMS,  you can also auto-assign cleaners to specific properties. Cleanings will be scheduled after every guest’s checkout and your cleaners will get notified automatically. You can monitor who’s busy and who has already completed a job. This means you won’t have to deal with missed cleanings or unresolved maintenance issues anymore.

7. Save Time on Routine Operations

Time is your most valuable currency! So, it makes sense to use it wisely. Doing routine and time-consuming operations over and over again is unlikely to help you grow your business. The days of manual assignment and supervision of all routine tasks are long gone. Today, Airbnb hosts can achieve much better results by using software that saves time.

Automating daily operations will allow you to devote more time to activities that will scale your business. In turn, scaling your business is crucial for increasing profitability.

While Airbnb management software does not eliminate all the hard work of running an Airbnb business, it can make many things a lot easier. 

To get savvier with business automation, feel free to explore these helpful guides: 

Vacation Rental Management: 8-Step Guide to Business Automation

Airbnb Automation: 6 Ways To Put Your Business on Autopilot

How to Find the Best Airbnb Management Software for Your Business

Airbnb management software is a tool that you will use on a daily basis. That’s why you should devote some time to find the right solution that suits your needs. Follow these steps to select the best option available in the market.

1. 1. Identify your needs and goals. Identify which areas of your business you struggle with the most: guest communication, calendars syncing, or other routine activities. Your needs and goals will help you understand what features to look for when choosing an Airbnb management software, or a vacation rental software if you manage listings on other platforms as well. 
   2. Compare different options. Dig deeper to identify the pros and cons of various tools. The best idea would be to check reviews from real users on comparison websites such as Capterra, GetApp, G2 Crowd, etc. Read reviews to find out what kind of experience they had when using these software tools. 
   3. Try it before you buy it. Before you make the final decision, you should try the options that you’ve selected in action. This way you’ll learn more about the functionalities of each tool and see what downsides they have. Although reviews might give you a general understanding of how each software works, you won’t know for sure which one will be effective for your business. Sign up for various options and put their features to the test by performing your daily operations.

To make your search for the best Airbnb management tool easier, check out these helpful articles:  

Free Vacation Rental Software: How to Find the Best Solution

New E-book: How to Choose the Airbnb Software for Your Business

Put Your Business on Autopilot with iGMS

How about implementing an all-in-one vacation rental software solution to tackle your routine tasks? Check out iGMS, a vacation rental software solution for professional hosts that can put your business on autopilot. 

With iGMS, you can manage all your Airbnb accounts via a single dashboard and connect your listings from other vacation rental sites. In addition to Airbnb, iGMS is also seamlessly integrated with Booking.com, Vrbo/HomeAway, and other platforms. 

Key features and your benefits: 

• Unified inbox and automated triggered messaging ensure flawless guest communication. 
• Guest management from direct bookings functionality allows the handling of inquiries from guests who booked with a host directly. 
• Review management module enables automation of creating and sending reviews.
• Multiple accounts management eliminates the need to switch between accounts. You’ll be able to manage your properties within a single interface.
• Cleaning and team management automation helps to create automatic schedules and track the performance via the software.
• Reporting toolkit helps you to stay on top of your business results.

 

Conclusion 

Airbnb management software and automation tools are indispensable assets for busy hosts. Not only can they increase the efficiency of your business, but they can also help cut down on your expenses. Airbnb management software doesn’t require big investments or expanding your team. At the same time, it helps keep your business under control by handling routine operations. If you haven’t opted for Airbnb management software yet, it’s high time you joined thousands of other hosts who are already making the most of what business automation offers.