Automating your VRBO Listing | Top Tips for VRBO Automation

Just like any other vacation rental business, managing operational costs and repetitive tasks can be difficult, especially while staying competitive with other vacation rentals. It comes as no surprise that automation changes the way vacation rentals work making it easier for hosts to do less and focus more on growing their vacation rental business.

Today, more and more host automate their listings and streamline everything from bookings to check-ins, keyless entries to guest reviews, and more while increasing their profits and revenue. Automation has become the new norm and era for vacation rentals as it delivers maximum efficiency while providing a positive and smooth experience to guests. Not to mention, automation is the future to further keep up with guests' expectations.

That being said, let's dig deeper:

• Why automate your VRBO listing?
• What are the top tips for VRBO automation?

Why Automate your VRBO Listing?

Cut down costs and more revenue

Managing one or more vacation rentals, especially on your own takes a lot of effort, time, and costs. However, if you invest in vacation rental software with automation tools, you reduce the workload on your hands and be able to focus more on scaling your business which leads to more revenue.

In fact, you also save more time, receive more bookings, cut down costs on staff and improve the guest experience.

No more double bookings

Double bookings can be due to human errors or overseeing bookings, whether hosts allowing guests to check out late or early check-ins, hosting long-term stays with flexible plans, or listing the same property on multiple sites. Either way, double bookings negatively impact your VRBO ranking leading to a negative impact on your revenue. In addition, double bookings cause host cancellations which quickly lead to unhappy guests and the return of full refunds.

That being said, rest assured with automation booking tools, reservations will automatically sync with your calendar on one dashboard allowing you to manage bookings efficiently.

Enhance guest experience

Ideally, the guest communication process takes a loads amount of the host's time and the guest expects the host to always respond immediately from the moment prior to booking, after the guest check in to leaving the vacation rental. Moreover, it can also be overwhelming and may miss out on guest messages resulting in negative reviews and a downfall in the vacation rental business.

That being said, automating guest communication improves the guest experience, saves time, and ensures quality automated messages.

Standardized operations

With automation tools, the host can juggle multiple standard operations at the same time while lessening the risk of missing key steps. For instance, when a guest checks out, automation software such as Breezeway, TurnoverBnB, etc automatically assigns and coordinates with the cleaning staff to ensure that the vacation rental is clean and checked before the new guest checks in.

High-quality performance reports and tracking

Preparing financial accounting and reporting monthly is a huge challenge for the host especially having to figure out which vacation rentals earn more revenue. However, thanks to automated generated performance reports, hosts can assess and track business profitability and not lose sight of property management KPIs.

What are The Top Tips for VRBO Automation?

1. Electronic Contract and Signature

Ideally, vacation rental agreements have not been fully adopted however they are worth considering to further protect and highlight the importance of house rules. At the same time, keep in mind, that disclosing agreements prior to guest bookings is the best practice. That being said, the amount of paperwork required to be signed by both parties can be a hassle and may result in a turnoff to guests.

By automating contracts and e-signatures with Hostaway's integration with Zaiper not only do you reduce paperwork and legal liability but also save time as well as support sustainable tourism.

2. Self Check-in

Self check-ins have been considered the new norm and continuously win over traditional check-ins. Not only self check-ins are convenient, but it also saves time, builds trust, and eliminate stress and hassle for both parties. With self check-ins, property managers are not required to meet and greet and hand over keys to each and every guest.

That being said, automation tools like smart locks and guest screening improve the guest experience as well as protect your vacation rental from possible damages and theft.

3. Instant Guest Communication

One of the important aspects of vacation rental automation is guest communication. A streamlined and automated guest communication allows you to effectively communicate with guests whether it is for inquiries, reviews, welcome guidebooks, promoting amenities, or simply just keeping in touch with your loyal guests for future marketing promotions and discounts.

Keep in mind, that automating guest communication benefits you by generating a better guest experience and building first impressions leading to positive reviews. Moreover, you can customize and schedule automated messages and not be overwhelmed with guest messages resulting in saving time.

4. Guest Reviews

As vacation rentals grow and become increasingly competitive, guest reviews are now vital as they establish credibility with travelers. However, a lot of guests do forget this step especially after checking out from the vacation rental.

That being said, with automation you can easily customize, request, and respond to reviews from guests that not only will save time but help you collect more 5-star reviews and improve your SEO ranking.

5. Vacation Rental Software

Vacation rentals have seamlessly become popular over the years and are therefore constantly growing. The ideal goal as a professional host is to save time and costs when managing your vacation rental business. For that to happen, it requires the right vacation rental management software like Hostaway to automate repetitive tasks and manage all your listings on one dashboard.

Keep in mind, that the right vacation rental software like Hostaway benefits you from double bookings, time management, guest and staff communication, and so much more that allows you to focus on other tasks like social media marketing, revenue management, etc.

6. Accurate Accounting and Reporting

Like any business, accurate accounting and reporting are vital for creating budgets and forecasts as it allows you to assess and track the financial stability and performance of your business which leads to better vacation rental management.

Not only does it help to save time and costs by automating accounting solutions using tools such as Quickbooks, Ximplifi, or BookingTrust but also automatically organized important invoices, incomes, and outgoing receipts allowing you to pay taxes and business transactions on time making it simple and convenient.

7. Dynamic Pricing Tools

It is safe to say that dealing with a large number of data or trends can be complex and overwhelming. The right automation tools such as dynamic pricing and the right integrations allow to effectively adjust prices based on real-time market demand and supply taking into account seasonal trends, special events, and holiday predictions. This means that it will not be required to constantly adjust rates every time and that pricing decisions will be based on facts and not feelings.

Moreover, not only do you save time with revenue management automation but also increase profits by optimizing your pricing while staying competitive.