How to Solve Property Manager Problems
Short Term Rentalz editor Paul Stevens hosted a webinar in July 2022 to talk about the hospitality industry. He and the following contributors focused on reducing modern-day property manager problems:
● Property Protect founder and CEO Katie Birtch
● Uplisting co-founder Vince Breslin
● Cloudbeds Director of Product Marketing Shane Robbins
● Folio founder and CEO Amy Tang
Each contributor has a different expertise. The result was four unique perspectives that can help you become a better host. They discussed several problems property managers face during the webinar. So many, in fact, we couldn’t discuss them all in this blog.
Modern Innkeeper decided to break down one from each contributor and suggest ways you can overcome them to enhance the guest experience.
Birtch: Getting Pulled in Multiple Directions
Birtch founded and is the CEO of Property Protect, an insurance provider designed for vacation rentals and long-term rental properties. Aside from her business acumen, her experience as a vacation rental guest and owner makes her perspective quite valuable.
A significant pain point she mentioned is hosts getting pulled in multiple directions. For a hotel manager, this isn’t as big of a problem because that person has a full staff. But that’s not the case for vacation rental hosts. Some vacation rental hosts deal with the following on their own:
● Guests
● Handyman
● And more
As you know, hosts have a lot on their plate. So, what’s the solution?
Birtch suggests they manage this by growing their internal processes at the same rate as their vacation rental. She said, “A lot (of hosts) are scaling quickly without having the right processes in place. The right processes are going to be your make or break.”
Breslin: Adapting to Travelers’ Change in Behavior
Breslin co-founded Uplisting, a software vacation rental hosts can use to talk to guests, receive payment and much more.
On top of working on a solution to consolidate what hosts need on a single platform, Breslin pointed out this pain point: adapting to travelers’ behavior.
An eye-opening statistic he mentioned during the webinar was 30 percent of Airbnb bookings are now 30 days or longer.
The number of travelers staying places for longer is a good sign because hosts have an opportunity to fill up their calendars with less stays. They just have to make sure their vacation rental can accommodate guests for this long.
Breslin talked about how essential workspaces in vacation rentals are because guests who stay long will likely work. Creating a workspace in yours can make your vacation rental more desirable for the long-term guest.
Robbins: Guests’ Expectations Changing
Robbins’ employer Cloudbeds is an all-in-one software that has been hoteliers’ number one choice in 2022.
During the webinar, he detailed how guests’ expectations changing affects hosting practices. Citing a report he read, Robbins said a result of the pandemic is consumers’ expectations are six years ahead of where we are now.
Meaning even though we’re in 2022, consumers want what they’d get in 2028.
No matter what you do, nothing will put us six years into the future. However, there are software partners who can help you meet guests’ expectations.
Unlike big hotel chains that are struggling with this, Robbins said vacation rental hosts can implement new technology much faster because they control who helps them grow their business. Given that advice, identify your crucial areas of need, and team up with people and companies you can grow with.
Tang: Communicating with Guests
Tang founded Folio so hosts can communicate with guests easier. Therefore, it’s no surprise one of the property manager problems she pointed out was communicating with guests. She says the number of first-time guests (thank you digital nomads and remote workers) is a reason so many travelers are bombarding hosts with inquiries.
A software like Folio is an effective communication method between you and your guests and can consolidate the information your guests need (answers to their questions, house rules, etc.).
Using Folio or finding another way to improve your communication with guests is essential because, as Tang said, the demand for vacation rentals is going to continue to increase.
Watch the entire webinar here.
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