So our regular lives have changed so much recently, both personally and professionally.
We have had to stop our plans, travel and ultimately our daily lives. However, this doesn’t mean that our desire to travel has disappeared, but just that it must be postponed for now. But… Watch out for when they come back – We will ALL want to travel at the same time!
When this is over, the world will be even more eager to travel and enjoy the time lost. That’s when owners have to be ready to receive the flood of bookings and offer the best service to their guests in the most cost-effective way possible.
Over the last few days, we’ve been thinking about what activities you can do now to be as well prepared as possible when it starts again.
At the same time, we are continuing to develop and release updates:
- Feratel registration forms
- NUKI smart locks go into BETA today
- BestFewo.de is now live via API
Lots is happening! We are also working on major updates around Statistics and Finance.
But now to the real topic: Sustainable measures for your success with Smoobu.
Maintaining a holiday management software such as Smoobu is essential for efficient and profitable management. Now more than ever, it’s important to highlight our property on the booking portals and optimise the experience for our guests.
Take advantage of this time to get to know and explore all the functionalities offered by Smoobu and get the most out of the software.
Start by reviewing these points:
- Have you already created your website with Smoobu? Become a professional host. Invest time in creating content on your site and promote your website on your social networks. Optimise the content of your website, it’s time to upload your best images. They are still the number one drawcard to attract your guests.
- Create your electronic guest folder. We have received overwhelming feedback from both guests and hosts. Give your guests personalised information immediately after booking, from arrival information to presentation of the hosts, to videos about the surroundings. And most importantly, the possibility to sell additional service or products completely free of charge. Here is an example
- Automatically set up your availability for Airbnb, Booking.com and co., always automatically bookable in advance! So you can save bookings already for the coming year. Also reduce your minimum stays if possible
- List on other portals. Focus on those with the most bookings like Airbnb, booking.com, Expedia, Atraveo, etc.
- It’s time to streamline communication with your guests: Create your automatic message templates when you haven’t already done so, and manage all your messages efficiently and quickly from Smoobu.
- Information on the current Corona situation. This is done on the portals, the website and the communication with regular guests. Put your cleaning and hygiene in the foreground. Offer rental without contact.
- Look around at our integrations. Do you use Dynamic Pricing tools? Don’t get left behind by your competition. Start being competitive now in your pricing. Integrate to your Smoobu account tools like BeyondPricing or Pricelabs that offer an excellent solution based on location data and demand in your area so you always have the best prices. Visit our dynamic pricing guides here.
- Have you already created discount codes? To help you increase direct bookings, now at Smoobu you can also create different offers for your guests through discount coupons on your website. You can create gift vouchers for specific low occupancy periods and offers for specific dates. You can also take the opportunity to send your former guests an invitation with a small gift to return to the place they enjoyed so much. Remember that you have all their data stored in Smoobu’s CRM.
- Use the automated online check-in! With Smoobu it’s very easy to save time when registering your guests’ data. You can use our online check-in tool that includes optional signature, attachments and pdf / txt download for our hosts. To activate it just click on Settings – Check in online in your Smoobu account. This way you can send the registration form to your guests. You can also forget about this task and automate the Online Check-in process by creating your Chekin.io account in Smoobu. Here’s how.
- Have you thought about Smart Lock solutions? Integrate the fully automatic lock solutions from Igloohome or Nuki with us now!
- Discover all the external integrations that Smoobu offers to provide additional services to your guests with gift vouchers for the use of luggage delivery apps in the area with LuggageHero and Nannybag.
Here is our “Smoobu Challenge”
If you still need to set up any of these items in your Smoobu account, now is the time! Tell us in the comments of this post how you are taking advantage of these days of quarantine with Smoobu to fine-tune your vacation rental.
We will create a “Challenge” on Facebook and publish the best experiences. Help the community of owners like you, with ideas – together we will face what comes.
When everything is eventually back to normal, you will be ahead of the game to manage daily bookings – and make your accommodation special, resulting in repeat guests and word-of-mouth referrals.
Now is the time to make a difference by making the most of what Smoobu has to offer at no additional cost. For our part, we continue to work more than ever to create the best version of Smoobu ever. During this time we will regularly inform you about updates, plans and tips – it’s our investment for the future!
Help us, send us suggestions. Or tell us how you are coping with the current situation, also with a comment in this post.
Now start putting our advice into practice here in Smoobu. Make the most of these quarantine days!
Your Smoobu Team
I invite you to read here the official statement from our Directors and the first round of advice and tips.
