Airbnb Management Software: 7 Ways to Grow Your Business

When it comes to vacation rental property management, you, as a host, might always be on the lookout for new ways to increase the efficiency of your operations.

In recent years, the popularity of Airbnb has skyrocketed. To meet the growing needs of travelers and the intensifying competition, Airbnb hosts have become a lot busier. The data shows that each year more and more people are taking the plunge to start their own vacation rental business. Thus, as an Airbnb host, you might find it even more challenging to increase your 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. 

If you are still on the fence about using software, consider the following 7 key benefits it can offer your business.

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, Airbnb hosts send about 2,500 messages per month in response to guests’ inquiries. Meanwhile, over 70% of these messages can be automated by using Airbnb management software.

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 having your responses automated, you can reply to more inquiries and, thus, generate more bookings.

Airbnb management software can also trigger automated messages at predefined times. This allows you to contact guests and keep them informed even when you are physically unable to respond to them. On top of that, some Airbnb management software solutions offer mobile apps so that you can operate on the go and reply promptly to guests.

Another overwhelming 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. This means that you can free up time that you can use to concentrate more on activities to scale your business.

2. Grow the Number of Your Reviews

Most Airbnb guests don’t bother to leave reviews after their checkout. In fact, studies have shown that only 20% of guests take the time to leave reviews without being prompted by hosts. If you want to grow your 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.

Experienced hosts know why the number of reviews matters. Getting more reviews will not only make you look more trustworthy in the eyes of potential guests, but it will also help you to boost your 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. The good news is that Airbnb management software with the automated reviews feature can make crafting reviews a piece of cake.

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. Another time-saving perk is that iGMS allows you to send reviews automatically right via the system.

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, for example, the number of reviews, response rate, etc. 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 listing.

Using 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, helping your listing to move to the top of the search results.

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. You can finally forget about spreadsheets to track your bookings, as a vacation rental software solution will synchronize information from all the channels you use in one place.

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.

6. Coordinate Your Teams More Efficiently

The greatest benefit of using Airbnb management 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 drastically boost productivity and reach your business goals faster.

Airbnb management software 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. Cleanings will be scheduled after every guest’s checkout and your cleaners will get notified automatically. What’s more important, 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 over. 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 automation does not eliminate all the hard work of managing an Airbnb business, it can make many things a lot easier. Automation is the future of Airbnb management. So, if you want your Airbnb business to remain competitive, now is the time to adopt Airbnb management software.

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 HomeAway, Vrbo and other platforms. 

Key benefits: 

• Unified inbox and automated triggered messaging ensure flawless communication and improve the guest experience.
• Review management feature allows receiving feedback from your guests by automating the process of leaving reviews.
• Multiple accounts management eliminates the need to log in and out constantly.
• Cleaning and team management automation helps to schedule tasks automatically and track their performance via the software.
• The Reporting feature helps you to stay on top of your business results.