Do you use essential automations to manage your rental property?
Automation is a game-changer for property management. It can save time, cut costs, boost efficiency, improve the guest experience, and more. However, you’ll only see those benefits with the right automation software. With so many options, finding the best automations for your rental property can be tricky.
If you’re looking for the best automations for your property, you’re in the right place. This post will cover the six must-have automations for property managers. Before we get into that, let’s examine why you need automation for your rental property.
Why should you use property management automation?
Wondering why you need the right automation for your property? Here are the top benefits you could see with the must-have automations for property managers:
Boost efficiency
Automation can make you and your team more efficient. Instead of manually responding to guest communication, checking in/out guests, scheduling housekeeping, and more, automation software can do it all for you.
Increased efficiency can also help you do more with less staff. Ron Whitfield, President/Partner of Scenic Stays, says, “Automation helps us be more efficient. That’s a big thing for us these days. It’s very hard to find staffing and good people. Having the right automation can help us run more efficiently with fewer staff members.”
Reduce errors
Another benefit of automation is that it reduces mistakes. Manually managing property management tasks (like scheduling, work orders, or inspections) makes it easy for your team to forget to do something, incorrectly enter a number, or make other errors.
Fixing these errors can be time-consuming and costly. Plus, mistakes can hurt the guest/tenant experience. With automation, you don’t have to do these property tasks manually. Instead, the software can do it for you – reducing errors and saving time and money.
Increase consistency
Along with reducing errors, automation can improve consistency. Even when your team follows your process, there can be inconsistencies in housekeeping, guest check-in/out, guest communication, and more. These inconsistencies can lead to a negative guest experience.
With automation, the software does everything the same every time. Increased consistency means you can delight guests every time – leading to more repeat bookings and increased revenue.
What are the must-have automations for property managers?
Now that you know some of the benefits of the right automations for property managers, here are six must-have automations:
1. Housekeeping scheduling
The first must-have automation for property managers is housekeeping scheduling. To manually manage housekeeping scheduling, your team has to schedule cleaning after every guest checks out. If a guest checks out early and the incoming guest requested an early check-in, manually coordinating with cleaners can be hard to manage on busy check in days.
This manual housekeeping scheduling is time-consuming for your team. It’s also easy for your team to forget to schedule housekeeping or miss early check-ins/outs. If your team forgets any housekeeping scheduling tasks, guests could arrive to a dirty room.
With housekeeping scheduling automation, your team doesn’t have to manage scheduling. Instead, the automation software automatically schedules post-check-out cleaning when a guest books their stay. The software automatically alerts your team and housekeepers if a guest checks out early. That way, your team can have more time to clean the room or let guests check-in early.
Housekeeping scheduling automation reduces your team’s workload while helping you delight guests.
2. Maintenance
Another must-have is maintenance automation. When manually managing maintenance, your team has to collect work orders, assign them to team members, and ensure maintenance is done on time. Plus, your team has to remember to schedule and conduct preventive maintenance to keep equipment in good shape.
With so many tasks to manage, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. But, slow work order resolution can lead to unhappy guests and tenants. Forgetting preventive maintenance can lead to early equipment failure and high operating costs.
Maintenance automation software can make sure everything is done correctly and on time. This software can automatically collect and assign work orders. It can also automatically remind team members to complete their maintenance tasks. With maintenance automation software, you can also schedule preventive maintenance and get automated reminders to do preventative maintenance.
Automating maintenance can help you stay on top of property maintenance to keep guests/tenants happy, keep equipment in good shape, and reduce maintenance expenses.
3. Guest check-in/out
Along with maintenance, you should also automate your guest check-in/out process. Manually checking in/out guests can waste half an hour or more of your team’s time per guest. During the busy season, your team can spend all day just checking in/out guests – instead of focusing on everything else they need to do.
This manual check-in/out process is also frustrating for guests. Instead of enjoying their rental, guests have to spend time traveling to your office, checking in, and returning to their rental. Manually checking in guests creates a poor first impression – leading to little repeat business or good reviews.
Check-in/out automation software saves time and creates a better guest experience. After guests make their reservation, this software can automatically send welcome info (like directions to the property, contact info, and check-in/out directions). When guests are ready to check-in, this software can automatically send guests a door code to access your rental. That way, guests can get straight to enjoying their vacation.
Automation software for check-in/out can automatically notify guests if their rental is ready early. This software can also inform guests if there’s a day before or after their scheduled stay available. Guests can then extend their stay at your rental – generating more revenue and creating a better guest experience.
With check-in/out automation, you can save time, boost the guest experience, and generate more revenue.
4. Inspections
Inspection automation is another must-have for property managers. With manual inspections, your team has to schedule inspections, assign an inspector, remind the inspector of the inspections, and ensure inspections are done thoroughly.
This manual inspection process is a time suck. And, it’s easy for your team or inspectors to forget crucial steps. Depending on the type of inspection, missed steps can lead to a dirty rental for guests. Or it can result in your assets needing repair or replacement sooner.
With inspection automation software, it’s easy for your team to stay on top of inspections. This software can automatically schedule inspections and send reminders. Inspection automation software can also have steps inspectors must follow – ensuring inspections are done to your standard every time.
By automating inspections, you can reduce repair/replacement costs and ensure your property is always ready to delight guests.
5. Guest/tenant communication
Automating guest/tenant communication is also a must-have for property managers. Good communication with guests/tenants is crucial to their satisfaction and retention.
But, manually managing calls, emails, texts, and other guest/tenant communication can be complicated. It’s easy to lose a guest/tenant message or not get important info to guests/tenants. This can lead to unresolved guest/tenant issues or guests/tenants feeling left out – both of which can cause low guest/tenant satisfaction and retention.
Automated guest/tenant communication can avoid these issues. Communication automation software can automatically consolidate all guest/tenant messages into one place – making it easier to keep track of everything. This software can also automatically send important info to guests/tenants.
Excellent guest/tenant communication can set your property apart from competitors. Communication automation software makes it easy to stay on top of communication and respond quickly – leading to happier guests and tenants.
6. Smart access control
The last must-have automation for property managers is smart access control. If you manually manage access control, your team has to let every guest/tenant onto your property and access amenities. Your team also has to help guests/tenants get into their unit if they lose a physical key.
Manual access control is time-consuming for your team. It can also be frustrating to guests/tenants. Keeping track of a physical key is almost as frustrating as being locked out of their unit.
With smart access control automation, your team doesn’t have to let guests/tenants in or worry about lost keys. Instead, the software can automatically manage access without keys. This software provides guests/tenants with keyless access methods (like a code or smartphone app). Thanks to this software, tenants/guests can access everything they need with only their smartphones.
When tenants/guests move or check out, the software automatically changes the access code without your team needing to do anything. The right smart access control automation can keep your property secure, save time, and create an outstanding guest/tenant experience.
Wrapping it up
Automation can help you manage your property better by cutting costs, saving time, and improving the guest/tenant experience. However, adopting the right automation is crucial to see these benefits.
The top 6 must-have automations for property managers are housekeeping scheduling, maintenance, guest check-in/out, inspections, tenant/guest communication, and smart access control.
If you’re looking for the best operations platform with the top automations, BeHome247 is the way to go. BeHome247 is the only unified operations platform for residential and hospitality rental properties. With BeHome247, you can seamlessly manage all aspects of operations, communications, and the guest/tenant experience.
Plus, BeHome247 automates your day-to-day operations – like housekeeping scheduling, maintenance, check-in/out, inspections, communication, access control, digital rental agreements, smart device management, vendor management, invoicing, and more.
Along with being full-featured, BeHome247 is also easy to use. Ron Whitfield, President/Partner of Scenic Stays, says, “BeHome247 is excellent technology that helps with consistency and efficiency. Unlike other systems, BeHome247 does everything in a very direct and effective manner. It’s not overcomplicated.”
Whether you’re looking for a few top automations or an entire operations platform, BeHome247 has what you need in one easy-to-use system.
Book your BeHome247 demo today to better manage your rental property with automation.
