Introduction – Choosing the Model that’s Right for You
A short term rental business growing its portfolio hits a ceiling in its output from a bottlen between 50-200 properties messaging manually. PMCs face an important decision to make, outsource guest communications or invest in tools to support their current team. The decision taken fundamentally impacts service delivery. Explore each option, and decide which solution(s) best fits your business, growth rate and guest promise.
Challenges
Each model carries drawbacks. Within their own requirements, property managers should solve for delivering a consistent and repeatable level of service . Ensuring your information is machine readable, up-to-date and well kept contributes to smooth enablement.
Objectives
Understand which model(s) of communication fit your short term rental business. We’ll look at it based on internal resources, growth targets and market segment.
Takeaways
A PMS is indispensable working as the foundation of your communication hub. AI automation will make more sense for operators experiencing stronger margin pressures. The market shows otherwise when looking at its widespread adoption throughout the guest experience. Managed services offer a turnkey access to human capital, can be of tremendous value for fast growing operators.
The Three Models at a Glance
Centralised inbox
One inbox to rule them all. Several PMSs will help you manage guests messages across OTAs, SMS, email, WhatsApp etc. In some cases owner and internal communications are neatly segmented.
AI-led model
AI text messaging handles routine communications. Trained on past conversations, quasi-full automation is sped up, escalating only exceptions. Voice AI handles phone queries, is now gaining in momentum with fast adoption across hotels.
Call centre / managed service
Humans on shift (in-house or outsourced) handling guest communications 24/7, often with scripts of SLAs. Specialised managed services offer hospitality trained staff, with human agents offering a touch of empathy to conversations. Services such as Extenteam are specialist in the industry.
Centralised Inbox as your Hub
A good PMS works as a property manager’s primary dashboard consolidating communication channels. Depending on its use case, you’ll want to consider different factors.
If you choose to keep communication in-house, you’ll want a PMS with modern APIs. Having an extensive integration ecosystem to welcome automations will be key.
Opting to outsource communication? Ensure your service provider has a direct integration for smooth management remotely.
AI and Automation as a Force Multiplier
AI-led tools, allow for templates, learn your tone and store granular information about your property. With enough training, assisted typing turns to automated responses to routine questions. Reserving human escalation for complex scenarios.
What started as chatbots needing manual updating, has rapidly evolved to voice agents handling routine queries over the phone.
A focus on the information and tone is crucial when training to avoid hallucinations or an overly-robotic experience. Opting for an industry specific solution will ensure seamless adoption.
White glove voice AI services for short term rentals such as Short Stay Media’s CONCIAIRGE will do the heavy lifting for you. Testing, using your call recordings to tailor conversational flows to your operations.
The automation model is recommended for portfolios under margin pressure. Voice AI works well for teams needing to fill coverage gaps and frequently greeting guests speaking a foreign language.
Call Centre and Managed Services
Managed services offer human resources without the need for a hiring process. At onboarding, specialised services will go through an extensive process documenting everything about your property and service. Opting for a specialised service like Extenteam will ensure agents are hospitality trained.
Once set up is complete, property management companies can benefit from plug-and-play coverage increasing and shrinking agents as and when needed. Operators also benefit from the empathetic tone only humans can bring when faced with sensitive issues.
Managed services come with their own trade offs, often costing more on a per interaction basis. Understanding the deliverables of your Service Level Agreement is important should you go down that route. Transparency over quality control, pricing model, data privacy and strategy alignment are all elements to look at.
Call centres and managed services will align with fast growth operators needing extra hands at the flip of a switch. Owners requesting full phone coverage from operators will also benefit from managed services.
Hybrid Models: What Works in Practice
Typically, a combination of models are implemented to deliver an effective guest communication strategy. At the heart of it, a property management software holding a macro level view. Combinations will look like the following:
Unified Inbox + Automated for 80% of messages + Internal team for escalation
Unified Inbox + Automated messages and calls + Outsourced call handling team for emergencies
Most mature operators will pick a combination of tools and services. Layered systems where components plays to their strengths, support human agents in delivering a consistent experience.
Simplifying the Decision Making Process
Consider the following several elements before moving forward on a strategy:
-The average number of messages/ interactions per booking.
-Channels guest are contacting from, considering their timezone and native languages.
-Internal targets for response times and resolution rates.
-Growth targets and owner requirements.
-In-house capacity.
Conclusion
Scaling property managers must make an ongoing commitment to digital innovation. Short Stay Media can help PMCs make the most of their human resources by automating redundant tasks and handling calls. If you’d like to find out more, contact our in house SDR agent for a simultaneous demo and discovery.
