Airbnb Automation: How To Maximize Efficiency of Your Business

From managing bookings to keeping the property clean, there are a lot of responsibilities that need to be met to ensure smooth operations of your Airbnb. If the workload is getting overwhelming and you’re unable to save time to focus on strategic aspects of your business, then Airbnb Automation could offer you the relief you need.

Most people believe that Airbnb Automation is only a viable option for hosts with large or multiple properties. However, even managing a small vacation rental is a challenging task, and automating the operations with the help of a vacation rental software can help you in increasing your revenue. Moreover, it has been observed that automating your Airbnb vacation rental can increase the occupancy of your rooms by 80%.

When handling the operations of an Airbnb, multiple tasks are repeatedly conducted. For example, sending emails, answering guests’ queries, adjusting the price and availability of rooms, etc. Airbnb Automation is the process of predicting these recurring tasks and optimizing how they are carried out, to save time and cost.

Crucial Home Security Devices for Airbnb: Ensuring Guest Safety and Trust

There are few steps to Airbnb Automation. Together, these can create a better customer experience for your guests, while enhancing efficiency:

Use automation for communication purposes.
Modernize check-in processes with automation.
Use automation to increase reviews.
Cleanings can be automated too.
Upgrade your Airbnb with smart amenities.
Start using vacation rental software.

Use Automation For Communication Purposes

Communicating with guests is a time-consuming process that often frustrates property owners and as a result frustrates guests. However, answering queries from potential and existing customers is crucial in maintaining a good reputation on Airbnb.

Remember, your response rate with which you reply to messages plays a significant role in deciding whether you are qualified for Airbnb’s ‘Superhost’ status. Keeping a high response rate can lead to increased guest occupancy.

Some ways in which you can automate your Airbnb Guest Communication are:

Standard Response Templates

Most customers have similar queries when making a booking at an Airbnb. These questions can be regarding booking confirmation, property location, parking facility, etc. Framing replies for all the FAQs and saving them in a document to be used later can help increase your response rate.

Email Autoresponder For Airbnb

Most people are unaware of the autoresponder feature of email service providers. By setting up standard automated messages for the emails received, you can ensure that the messages from your guests are addressed on time. Keeping a separate email address for this task could help in keeping track of the messages.

You could use the autoresponder to send a personalized welcome email to customers that book your property. It needs to include a warm greeting, information about their check-in, and so on.

For example a mail could be, “Hello, thank you for choosing our Airbnb vacation rental for your stay. I am currently unavailable to reply to messages at the moment and I will respond to you as soon as possible. For the time being, kindly review our list of frequently asked questions, hopefully, you’ll find what you’re looking for. If the topic of your discussion is urgent, kindly give us a call at…”.

Vacation Rental Software With Automated Messaging

Vacation Rental Softwares offer many features to hosts for Airbnb Automation. They develop effective and innovative automation features to ease the business lives of hosts and to facilitate a more effective operating system. Automated messaging is one such feature that is provided and is responsible for ensuring smooth guest communication.

For example, Hosty provides vacation rental software with automated messaging that is highly efficient and unifies various guest communication aspects of Airbnb management.

It is a globally popular vacation rental software that offers exceptional messaging automation features like:

Saved reply templates to the clients to help them write personalized standard messages for different guest queries. These templates can be created, saved and pinned to the dashboard.
Automated messaging feature ensures that informative messages regarding booking are automatically sent to the guests.

Concierge Services

By signing up for concierge services to handle all guest communication, you can ensure there is always someone available to answer guest queries. Concierge services are professional and provide customer-oriented communication.

Modernize Check-In Processes With Automation

Airbnb hosts find it difficult to be present physically at the property for every guest’s check-in. However, you must wonder how can a guest check-in if they have not received the key? By automating the key exchange or check-in process at your Airbnb, you can offer a hassle-free keys management for your guests and you. There are various unique ways to use automation for your check-in process, including;

Lockboxes

A Lockbox is a cheap and old school method of automating the check-in process for your Airbnbs. You can buy lockboxes at any nearby hardware store and install it at a location on the property accessible to the guests. To automate the process, all you need to do is provide the guests with the location of the lockbox and the code required to open it and extract the key. Also, provide them with information regarding the return of the key during the check-out.

Electronic Locks

Another effective option is using an electronic lock that opens with an easily changeable code combination. These boxes will enable you to generate a uniqueа code for different guest check-ins to maintain security.

Smart Door Lock

To take the security of your Airbnb to the next level, you can get modern smart door locks installed at your property. These locks open at the click of a button, on the connected smartphone. They only open with a wireless signal sent by phone with access to the lock.

The problem with smart locks is that in order to open the door, your guests must have a working smartphone with both network and battery. Moreover, smart locks have a single point of access. If there are two entrance doors to the property, then smart locks will have to be installed on both of them. Despite these disadvantages, the security, and efficiency offered by smart door locks has made it one of the most popular automated check-in methods.

Key Exchange

A more personalized Airbnb automation service would include setting up a key exchange location for your guests. You can contact the cafes nearby your property to keep the key with them till the guests arrive. The guests can visit the cafe during opening hours and collect the key.

Some of these functions can be trusted to Airbnb management companies, such as MasterHost.

Use Automation To Increase Reviews

An Airbnb vacation rental with a high number of positive reviews from guests will undoubtedly be positioned higher on the list on the Airbnb platform and will also be more attractive to the guests. Unfortunately, many guests forget to leave an Airbnb review after their stay unless something at the property appealed to them. You need to follow specific marketing strategies to increase the number of Airbnb reviews received for your vacation rental. One effective way to increase reviews is by writing reviews to your guests and responding to the guests feedback.

This small measure can make your guests feel valued and persuade them to leave a positive Airbnb review. But sending a review to every guest can seem like a hectic task if you have a busy schedule. Automating your guest reviews can take some burden off your shoulders and ensure customer satisfaction at the same time. Two ways to automate guest reviews are:

Set Templates For Guest Reviews

By saving templates for your guest reviews, Airbnb hosts can free up a lot of their time. You need some standard responses for different types of reviews, including the negative ones and those that give a 5-star rating. Saving these standard responses in a document will allow you to simply send your responses, without writing them every time.

Your reply to the guests must be professional and polite. If you need help with writing these templates, then you can find guest review examples on google to form better responses. You could also learn from other leading hosts on the platform.

Vacation Rental Software That Offers Automated Reviews

There is a 14 day period after a guest’s check-out, within which the host can write a review on Airbnb. Some vacation rental software providers offer an automated guest review feature to their clients. This feature enables the Airbnb host to rest, while the software automatically sends guest reviews and replies to customer reviews, without having to log in and out of your accounts on various booking platforms. These reviews are mainly framed by using predefined elements available in the form of templates in the software, saving you the writing time and effort.

Furthermore, with the help of a vacation rental software, you won’t ever have to miss sending a review for your guests as the software will send multiple reminders during the 14 days. It will also notify you once a guest reviews your Airbnb listing.

Cleanings Can Be Automated Too!

Keeping your Airbnb vacation rental clean is essential to ensure customer satisfaction, increased positive reviews, and boost in Airbnb occupancy. Customers obviously expect hygiene and high quality experience while staying out This is why you need a skilled third-party involvement to ensure that your Airbnb is immaculate at all times. You cannot be personally available every day to supervise or schedule the cleaning at your Airbnb. By automating the cleaning of your vacation rental, you can make sure that whenever your guests check-in for their stay, it is spotless.

Here are some ways by which you can employ automation to help you with cleanings.

Individual Cleaners

Small and medium-sized properties can be kept clean by an individual cleaner and you can get the work done at a low cost. However, considering that cleaning of your entire Airbnb vacation rental is running on the back of one person, it can be difficult to manage cleaning when they are unable to show up due to some unforeseeable reason. To be on the safe side, keep a list of individual cleaners at hand that can be contacted for emergency cleanings.

Hire Airbnb Cleaning Services

Airbnb cleaning services provide top-notch cleaning services to their clients. Airbnb cleaning teams come with the required cleaning products and essentials, and only need a few hours to make your Airbnb shine. They are trained and skilled to handle challenging cleaning jobs. Moreover, they effectively manage work and the absence of one cleaner in the team does not lead to delays. They are professionals at their work and ensure efficiency and punctuality.

However, their exceptional services come at a higher cost than that of individual cleaners, making them unfit candidates for small property hosts. They are compatible workers for luxury or five-star hotels.

Automated Airbnb Cleanings Feature By Vacation Rental Software

The automated cleaning feature offered by vacation rental software is the link between a cleaner and the host. Once you automate your cleaning management, it becomes the software’s task to coordinate the cleaning schedule. This means that you do not have to worry about property cleanings, as they will be taken care of automatically.

The software automatically sends an email and push notification through the App to the cleaners, as soon as a guest checks-out of the property. The cleaning staff comes and makes the property ready for the next guest. After the work is completed, a notification is sent to the supervising host by the cleaner.

Upgrade Your Airbnb With Smart Amenities

For your Airbnb to stand out amongst competitors, it must offer something unique to its customers. Getting smart amenities installed at your Airbnb, can help you modernize the space and appeal to travelers.

People are often ready to pay a little extra for better facilities at an Airbnb. Thereby, installing smart amenities can increase the value of your vacation rental in the hospitality industry. As a bonus, you will make savings on cost when you optimally use the power supply. You will also be contributing to saving the planet.

Smart Home Temperature Units

When a guest enters a vacation rental, they expect to find refuge from the cold or hot weather of the city. Smart temperature units adjust the temperature inside your property and keep it ready for the guests’ arrival. Automation units provided by companies like Nest, automate the heating and cooling of Airbnb.

Moreover, installation of a smart thermostat will enable you to keep a check on the temperature. These units also offer the option to check the temperature via your smartphone. Smart amenities are more convenient for your guests, as they do not have to deal with complex functions of the appliances.

Install Sensors

Sensors in your property are essential to ensure the safety of your property and to save money on unnecessary expenditure on power and water. Sensors turn off electronic appliances when they are not in use, detect the presence of carbon monoxide in the property, and avoid water wastage by automatically turning the motor off when the water is overflowing from the storage tank. Moreover, fire sensors are a necessity in every Airbnb to keep the property from damage during a fire hazard.

Integrating rental software with smart sensors enables hosts to take required measures when a problem is detected. These sensors alert the host and can be adjusted to automatically prevent wastage. For example, HVAC units with sensors automatically stop cooling when the property door is open. Companies like SmartThings or IFTTT can be used for this purpose.

Google Wi-Fi

The Google Wi-Fi routers can be connected with your smartphone, to monitor the access of the internet and the connectivity inside your Airbnb. Even when not present at the property, you can easily manage and monitor devices that are granted access to use the internet from the property. You can keep the internet smoothly running by eliminating access to smartphones that are not owned by your guests or staff.

Moreover, you can make sure that your property appliances are connected and easily accessible to you.

Start Using Vacation Rental Software

The purpose of a vacation rental software is to make the work of Airbnb hosts easier, by automating various tasks involved in the operations. With the time and money saved, hosts can focus more on strategic planning, marketing and growth of their Airbnb portfolio.

If you have registered your property on multiple booking platforms, then it can be difficult to manage the calendars on all of them. If you are unable to change availability days and pricing, then there could be overbookings, double bookings or business loss. Calendar synchronization is one of the main challenges faced by Airbnb hosts, and a vacation rental software can automate the process and make the work quick, efficient and hassle-free.

By using a reliable vacation rental software, it is possible for you to move your business up a notch by employing efficient automation. Vacation rental software like Hosty provides a one-stop solution for Airbnb Automation of your listings. From automated communication to smart amenities, Hosty can help you significantly increase efficiency in all aspects of running your Airbnb.

Multi-Channel Management System: It synchronizes the bookings from all rental channels like Airbnb, Booking.com, and VRBO allowing you to avoid double bookings and keep your finger on the pulse of your portfolio’s performance.
Booking Management: Enables hosts to increase their revenue by keeping a tab on all the past and present reservations. It also offers a single dashboard to accept and decline reservations from different channels.
Airbnb Central Inbox: Makes messages from multiple accounts/listings available in one location.
Automations for Airbnb: Automates your guest communication, team tasks, reviews and much more to cut on repetitive tasks.
Airbnb Multi-Calendar: It is an integrated calendar overview for all your Airbnb listings.

Managing an Airbnb is a challenging job. Once you automate the repetitive tasks at your Airbnb, you can maximize efficiency and increase the revenue of your business.

At Hosty, we develop innovative features with a special focus on the convenience of Airbnb hosts. We offer a single and user-friendly dashboard that will help you manage all tasks of Airbnb Automation. To learn more about the features we offer, click here.