Vacation rental property management software is a significant outlay, but it’s also the backbone of your tech stack, and definitely worth it if it will save you time and money. To get the most value from your investment, it’s important to make sure you’re making the most of all the features.
Here are the top four ways that managers can get the most benefit from their PMS:
1. Share PMS data with owners to improve relationships
Any robust PMS collates a whole host of useful data. Using their dashboard, vacation rental managers can gain valuable insight into KPIs and other business performance metrics. This kind of operational information can also be used to keep owners happy. Many want to be updated on how their properties are performing and to monitor nightly rates and occupancy in real-time.
However, according to data analysis carried out on our customer base, only a third of property managers with fewer than 20 properties give owners a login to their owner dashboard, whereas 100% of our property managers with 100 properties or more offer owner login options. What’s most telling is that, when offered the functionality, 80% of property owners actively use it.
To get the most out of a PMS, property managers should exploit the data that is available to them and share relevant information with their customers via an owner login dashboard to make them feel empowered and part of the journey. This level of transparency is essential both for establishing owner loyalty, and as a recruitment tool for growing your portfolio.
These days, most PMS platforms offer an Owner Login feature, but many have limited functionality or lack customization controls, so it pays to use discernment here.
2. Test the PMS’s integrated architecture to understand the true time savings
Vacation rental property management software is useful to the extent that it saves you your most precious resource: time.
Testing the PMS’s integrated architecture — the way in which one user action triggers a host of automated responses across the platform and your direct booking site — will give you a clearer idea of how much time the system will really save you and how intuitive it is to use.
In most cases, a decent PMS will typically perform 3 or 4 other related follow-on actions automatically for each user action. However, systems that employ powerful integrated architecture can often do 8 to 10 follow-on actions — in many instances significantly more.
Every extra action performed by the PMS is more time back for the vacation rental manager!
Many PMS solutions cater to Property Managers with small portfolios. However, Integrated Architecture increases in importance when there’s growth and a need for a more robust platform, and having to make a switch midstream can be costly.
3. Commit to continual training
It’s not enough to just set up a property management software and forget about it. Apart from the fact that property management software features change over time, for property managers, the onboarding process is often very full-on. Scheduling training and refreshing knowledge is vital to improve workflows and exploit everything the PMS has to offer.
4. Collaborate with the PMS provider for software developments
Your vacation rental property management software doesn’t offer the features you need? Speak to your PMS provider because that’s something they’ll definitely want to know. Good ones are always keen to collaborate with clients because they are constantly striving to improve their software, whether it’s a tweak to existing functionality, a small add-on feature, or a fuller solution.
However, when requesting developments, understand that if it is not an update that will benefit the platforms’ users at large then the work will likely need to be funded by you at a fair price. Most providers will know that many of their best ideas come from their customers though and are happy to receive suggestions so that you can get the very best property management system possible.
If you are considering switching PMS, or investing in one for the first time, make sure it fits your needs. Contact us for a demo today for a guided tour of 365Villas comprehensive platform.
