Running a vacation rental business might sound like it is fairly easy on the face of it. Just buy a property, get it looking presentable, rent it out, and collect the money. Rinse and repeat. However, there is so much more to consider including marketing the property, managing bookings, updating channel listings, dealing with customer enquiries, and so on.
What if we told you that by using vacation rental software, you will have the perfect solution to handling all of that from one centralized location on your computer or mobile device? Take a look at what this kind of software will provide for you.
Unified Inbox
As you probably know, trying to keep on top of all your emails and SMS messages on top of all enquiries from the many booking channels that you have listed your properties on is quite the task.
With vacation rental software, you can keep all of your guest communications in one place. Instead of navigating your way to each different communication method, this centralized inbox will allow you to efficiently respond to all customers quickly so that you never miss a potential booking.
Multi-Calendar & Channel Manager
As well as keeping all of your communication centralized, good quality vacation rental software will also keep all of your bookings in one place too. Whenever somebody makes a reservation or cancels a booking through a booking channel, your multi-calendar will automatically update across all other booking channels.
This not only gives you a more convenient way to manage your bookings but also ensures that there is no chance of double bookings occurring. This centralized calendar also means that whenever somebody enquires as to the availability of your properties, you can simply open it up to see the real-time availability of each of your properties.
Additionally, from the channel manager, you will be able to block particular dates and even change the prices of your properties. Any changes that you make will be synced across all booking channels saving you time and effort. The great thing about this is that you will never have to worry about having your property listed in too many places or having too many properties to manage.
For a free channel manager, go to Lodgify.com and read about their vacation rental solution.
Automation Tools
Another fantastic benefit of using vacation rental software, like iGMS, is the excellent automation tools that you will be able to make use of. You can set automatic messages to be sent to anybody that books your rental, use automatic pricing to offer a discount on properties during the gaps in their availability, and have the software automatically apply specific payment rules to each property.
Mobile App
The great thing is that you do not even have to be tied to your office to be able to benefit from all of the above. An app will allow you to have access to every tool that you need which means that you can manage your vacation rental business when you are on the go. The app will allow connecting using your mobile device where you can enjoy the unified inbox, channel manager and multi-calendar in mobile format.
See practicalecommerce.com for more information about practical mobile app solutions and how they help.
Financial Solutions
As in any line of business, dealing with the financial aspect is always one of the most time-consuming. Countless spreadsheets and numerous hours can be spent figuring out how much you and any homeowners are owed for each booking and that is before commissions are taken by booking channels, and the various taxes have to be deducted.
Using vacation rental software, much of this can all be done automatically for you. It will handle the payment processing side of things by charging and accepting payments from guests. You can also set it up to automatically calculate what everybody is owed – including the taxman.
Growth Solutions
Want to build your own vacation booking website? Discover more channels to list your properties on? Or analyze the performance of the properties that you have listed? Then vacation rental software will have the tools and features that you need to help grow your business.
Operational Solutions
In summary, vacation rental software gives you everything that you need to vastly improve the operational aspects of your vacation rental business. From the centralized calendar, channel manager, and inbox to a variety of tools that can help you to organize your team, give you reports on the performance of your business, and innovative app, this type of software is going to make your job a million times easier.
Furthermore, you can even integrate any third-party applications that you have already been using in the day to day running of your business.
- Save Time
- Maximize Profitability
- Eliminate Human-Error
- Build a Brand and Credibility
- Guarantee Guest Satisfaction
