Do I need holiday rental software?
Key Takeaways
- At some point, most holiday rental owners question if they need a software.
- There are Pros and Cons to software, and what suits you, may not suit another
- Software saves time, provides guest experiences, improves team morale.
- It helps you stay on top of your business and helps you attract guests.
- However software has a cost, it requires time to set up and train your team.
- It's hard to change to a different process, and it's hard to lose control.
So you run a holiday rental business. Whether you have 1 property or 1000, at some point you're going to question, do I need a holiday rental software?
So let's look at the Pros and Cons.
If you run a holiday rental business, then there will be tasks that take up your time, or the time of your team.
If you can find a software that can reduce the time spent on these tasks, whilst improving your business, then give it a go :)
Do I need holiday rental software?
This is an important question for anyone in the holiday rental industry.
Let's break down what we mean by holiday rental software.
What is holiday rental software?
In its most simplistic terms, holiday rental software is an ever evolving piece of software that is designed to make it easier to run a property management business.
The first complexity comes from the name. There are so many names for the same software.
You may hear terms like PMS, which is short for Property Management Software, Holiday Rental Management Software, Vacation Rental Software and holiday rental booking system.
To add complexity, the software is sometimes refered to by one of its tools, like booking engines and booking calendars.
Are all holiday rental software the same?
In short, no.
The next complexity comes from the very nature of software.
Every piece of software is designed by one or more software technicians, who each bring their own ideas, knowledge and skills, and are influenced by different people, situations, clients and legal systems.
The result is that every holiday rental software is different.
Each holiday rental software offers different tools and features, created in line with what the developers and owners of the software thought was important.
And even the features that have the same name, such as a full connection to Booking.com, will be set up, refreshed and managed in completely different ways.
Add onto this the skillset, knowledge and experience of the technicians, who will each have their own ideas of the best process, and their own capabilities to update the software code over time.
Why use holiday rental software?
The idea is to use a software that is going to make your life easier.
However, it doesn't always work out that way.
That's in part because every holiday rental company is different, with its own needs and demands.
And because it's such a fast changing industry, that there are always new ideas and legislation and expectations that impact how easy it is to run a business.
Pros of holiday rental software
What are the advantages of using holiday rental software?
Let's break down the top 5.
- Gain time. Choosing the right software can automate time-consuming processes, giving precious time back to you and your team.
- Provide a better guest experience. Holiday rental software can manage your guests' needs, to ensure they have the information they need, when they need it.
- Keep your team happy. Software undertakes the boring, complicated and time-consuming tasks, so your team can focus on the more interesting aspects of their roles.
- Stay on top of your business. Software manages all your bookings, guest and property information in one place, with views and reports to show exactly what you need to know, in an instant.
- Attract guests. Software can work in partnership with different places to promote your properties to potential guests, from channels like Airbnb, to your own website.
Cons of holiday rental software
What are the disadvantages of using holiday rental software? Let's break down the top 5.
- The cost. It's unlikely to be free, no matter what the sale person says.
- The set up time. Much as everyone would like it, software needs time to be set up.
- Training time. Even with a system as intuitive and easy to use as Bookster, it will take time for you to learn how to use it, and how to learn new features.
- Choosing the wrong software. Not every software will suit your business, so if you make the wrong choices, it will cause problems.
- You have to make changes. Change is hard. It requires effort, time and energy. Sometimes that feels like too much compared to continuing in the comfort of what you know.
- It's hard to lose control. When you've been working your own system for years, you know everything about every task. When working with a new system, you have to relinquish those tasks to the software, and that requires trust.
The conclusion - do you need holiday rental software?
Ultimately the answer to this depends on you, your business and your guests.
If you run a holiday rental business, then there will be tasks that take up your time, or the time of your team.
If you can find a software that can reduce the time and effort spent on these tasks, whilst improving your business, then give it a go :)
Good luck!
Running a holiday rental business is time-consuming.
A holiday rental software can really help to reduce the time it takes to manage your business, but be aware, all software companies are different, so it will take time to find the right software for you.
