How Conversational AI is Revolutionizing Short-Term Rental Companies
Operating property managers are always looking for ways to improve their services and costs to defend their margins. And they should.
A way to do this is with AI - and not through a Chatbot - but with Conversational AI.
Opposed to a Chatbot, which will only answer every interaction if it has a pre-defined response pre-given - Conversational AI is entirely different. Conversational AI can learn from each single interaction, even reach out to the short term company steakholder to pro-actively to flag missing information - while keeping the guests on the line.
This is especially important in Small and Mid-sized portfolios that are typically ran with tight resource spend to ensure profitability and balancing great guest experience and owner satisfaction.
The Problem: Overwhelmed Teams and Inefficiencies
For property management companies managing portfolios between 50 and 500 units, the sheer volume of guest communications can take up as much as 60% of staff time.
This results in:
- delays
- frustrated guests
- frustrated staff (everyday performing repetitive non-high value tasks)
- and missed opportunities to upsell services like airport transfers or local tours
And a recent study by Sprout Social found that 40% of consumers expect a response within the first hour, and 79% expect an answer within the first 24 hours. While this data pertains to social media interactions, it reflects a broader expectation for timely communication across various channels., making it harder for traditional systems to keep up, especially if the management companies are running a tight ship in terms of staffing.
In the hospitality industry, prompt responses to guest inquiries are crucial for maintaining satisfaction and securing bookings. A study by Sprout Social found that 40% of consumers expect a response within the first hour, and 79% expect an answer within the first 24 hours. While this data pertains to social media interactions, it reflects a broader expectation for timely communication across various channels.
Another report by Shiji Group highlighted that the hospitality sector has significantly enhanced its responsiveness to online reviews, cutting the average response time to 3 days and boosting overall guest satisfaction. This means the industry is finally recognising AND executing on the importance of timely responses in meeting guest expectations.
Our Solution: Automating 80% of Guest Communications
With that in mind, we have been implementing conversational AI in Short-Term Rental companies in the last 4 months to automate 80% of Guest Communication. Here's what we are taking off many team's plate:
- Answering the inevitable FAQs regarding:
- check-in
- check-out
- access to the property
- parking in the area
- in-house amenities (ex: hairdryer, towels, bedsheets, A/C, stove, pots, shower gel, etc)
- Clearly explaining/ reminding House rules to the guests so there are no misalignments in regards to any inconvenience caused (ex. Noise, damages, trash rules when wildlife present, etc)
- Increasing Commission Revenue on Tours & Activities:
- Proactively asking the guests if they need transfers
- Answering inquiries about equipment rentals, partner tour offers, etc
- Checking prices and availability for desired offers
- Book or send immediate request to the partner
- Setup a direct online payment link when needed so the guests commit and win the sale right there.
-> A client of ours in Tampa, FL, managing just under 300 units, was doing most of this manually with his small team and saw online response times drop by 80% and review scores on the staff rise by 20% within just 2 months. They
(currently working on the case study)
Our systems don't just answer questions—they integrate with booking platforms and operational tools, ensuring seamless communication, service delivery and we deem is most important on a first stage: visibility to the business.
The Results: A Boost in Efficiency and Revenue
The benefits of automation extend beyond saving time.
For Salgadeiras Suites, a client in Lisbon, Portugal, that was struggling with answering to clients timely, we automated guest communication and crosselling tours / transport activities. The latter drove a 25% increase in local tour bookings in only 45 days effectively making them a nearly passive revenue stream.
Management was able to reduce costs by cutting overhead and the staff was able to refocus on higher-value tasks, including building relationships with clients and ensuring much better guest experience and tailored experience.
The team reported a significant morale boost, with fewer repetitive tasks and more opportunities to focus on strategic initiatives.
Our Conclusion: Your takeaway
By adopting conversational AI, property managers can reduce operational inefficiencies, massively improve guest satisfaction, and unlock new revenue streams.
And for companies managing between 6 up until 300 properties, this isn’t just a tech upgrade—it’s a real strategic advantage.
Where do you stand at the moment?
We bring in fast ROI automations that result in massive savings for short-term property management firms.
Contact us today to start your journey or ask SAL (our AI Assistant) any questions you might have!
Thanks for reading
Pedro