Managing Airbnb properties requires a significant time commitment from owners and managers. Common tasks like coordinating with guests, cleaning teams, and handling maintenance requests can be very manual and time-consuming. This leaves less time for other important strategic tasks.

A well-designed property management tool can help streamline routine processes and automate repetitive tasks. This allows managers to save up to 20 hours every week that was previously spent on manual work.

In this detailed guide, we will explore the typical tasks involved in Airbnb property management and how automating them through a software tool like Airbnb Property Manager can significantly reduce time spent on the job. By the end, you’ll understand exactly how the tool saves time and how those savings can be reinvested.

Common Tasks in Airbnb Property Management

Let’s start with an overview of common daily and weekly tasks involved in managing an Airbnb property:

• Responding to guest messages for booking inquiries, check-in details, local recommendations etc. This takes 30-60 minutes daily on average.
• Coordinating cleanings with cleaning teams. This involves scheduling, tracking cleanings, and chasing for status updates. About 2 hours are spent weekly on cleaning coordination alone.
• Managing maintenance requests from guests about issues like WiFi outage, broken amenities etc. Requests have to be logged, assigned to contractors, and tracked to closure. 1-2 hours per week.
• Checking guests in and out during their stay. This involves sending arrival instructions, meeting them to handover keys, and being available for any check-in or check-out issues. About 30 minutes daily spent here.
• Taking and uploading new property photos, writing descriptions for listings, and handling calendar availability. A minimum of 4 hours is needed weekly for listing maintenance.
• Accepting and responding to bookings, sending confirmations and collecting payments. Around 1 hour per day on booking related tasks.

Adding up all the time, a typical manager spends 10-15 hours every week just on routine tasks like communication, cleaning coordination, maintenance management and booking workflows. This leaves little time for other strategic priorities.

Time Consuming Manual Processes

Let’s dig deeper into two processes that are especially time-consuming in their manual form – cleaning scheduling and maintenance requests.

Cleaning Scheduling

Without a management system, cleaning scheduling requires:

• Checking availability calendars manually to see open dates between bookings
• Sending availabilities to cleaners individually through chat/email
• Updating availabilities each time a new booking comes in
• Chasing cleaners for status updates after each cleaning
• Manually rescheduling if a booking changes

This repetitive data entry and back-and-forth communication takes 2+ hours per week spent just coordinating cleaners. Create an app similar to Airbnb with Zipprr.

Maintenance Requests

For each maintenance issues:

• Guest has to call/message details of the issue
• Manager records issue details manually in a spreadsheet
• Issue has to be assigned to correct contractor manually
• Manager checks multiple times for updates till resolution
• Recording resolution details back in spreadsheet

With just a few requests in a month, this process ends up taking 2-3 hours each month in repetitive documentation alone.

As you can see, common tasks like cleaning scheduling and maintenance involve way too much manual data entry and coordination if not handled through a centralized system. This wastes a significant amount of a manager’s valuable time.

Property Management Software Overview

Airbnb Property Manager is a cloud-based software designed specifically for Airbnb property managers. Some of its key features include:

• Centralized guest messaging to handle all communication in one place
• Contact profiles for guests, cleaners, and contractors
• Calendar to manage all bookings, cleaning schedules, tasks seamlessly
• Online guest profiles to store payment details, IDs etc. digitally
• Automated check-in emails, digital keys for contactless arrival
• Online maintenance request forms for instant logging of issues
• Integrations with payments, smart locks for automated check-ins
• Performance reports, business analytics for data-driven decisions

The tool handles all the tedious manual tasks involved in day-to-day operations so managers can focus on strategic initiatives. Let’s explore some features in more depth.

Streamlined Communication

Airbnb centralized guest messaging allows:

• Guests to message managers instantly for any booking inquiries, during/post stay
• Standard booking confirmations and pre-arrival emails to be sent automatically
• Templates for common questions like WiFi access, check-in instructions etc.
• All conversations visible to managers anytime from any device

This eliminates the need for calling guests individually or exchanging multiple emails/texts. Standard communications are automated while any custom needs can be handled within the same unified thread.

Another great benefit is visibility – managers can instantly see all ongoing conversations, share workload across team members, and get a holistic view of the guest experience.

Previously, just coordinating communication used take 30-60 minutes daily due to manual contact tracking. Through automation and centralization, this time is reduced to under 15 minutes per day.

Automated Cleaning Scheduling

Airbnb schedules cleanings automatically based on:

• Bookings added to the centralized calendar
• Standard cleaning intervals set for each property
• Cleaners’ availability uploaded to their profiles

When a booking is made, cleanings before and after are automatically scheduled. The scheduler considers cleaners’ availability and optimizes the schedule. Cleaners simply accept assigned tasks from their mobile app.

Managers can still make manual changes easily from the calendar. But automatically generating the initial schedule based on predefined rules saves over 2 hours per week spent on repetitive cleaning coordination calls/emails previously.

Cleaners also save time since tasks are digitally assigned, and they have a clear schedule of all cleanings for a property in one view. Overall communication and scheduling efficiency improves significantly.

Online Maintenance Requests

Guests can now log any issues directly from their online profile dashboard through a centralized request form. Requests are instantly sent to managers, who can then:

• Assign to the correct contractor/team based on issue type
• Add notes and attach reference files/pictures
• Track status updates from initial logging to resolution
• Archive completed requests for future reference

Contractors get notified of assigned tasks on their mobile app and can update status and add notes. This full digital workflow is way faster than phone calls for logging, assigning and tracking issues previously.

Over months, just this request automation saves 1-2 hours per week spent on repetitive manual documentation alone through elimination of data entry and faster resolution tracking.

Digital Guest Profiles

Guest profiles are automatically generated on first booking and capture important details needed for a seamless stay experience like:

• Personal details, payment methods, ID photos
• Preferred unit type, special requests if any
• Previous stays, reviews they have left
• Questions asked, notes from communications

This digital profile means no more filling forms or chasing missing info during checks. Payment can be directly collected at the time of booking through integrated gateways.

Previous manual data entry for each new guest used take 15-30 minutes. Now profiles generate automatically with payment collection, saving significant recurring effort over time.

Automated Check-ins

On arrival date, guests receive pre-formatted emails with:

• Welcome message and check-in instructions
• Digital room keys through smart lock integrations
• Airport transfer details if earlier coordination was needed

They can simply use their smartphone to unlock the unit door without any greeting calls or key handovers needed.

Likewise automated check-out happens through email reminding them to drop keys in the box before departure.

This contactless “self-service” experience saves 30 minutes daily spent previously on greeting guests during check-ins and check-outs. Over time the accumulated saving is substantial.

Centralized Calendar

The unified calendar forms the nerve center of operations management. It provides a single view of:

• All past, present and upcoming bookings
• Cleaning schedules color coded for each property
• Recurring maintenance tasks
• Team member schedules to check availability
• Company-wide holidays and staff vacation days

Scheduling a task or rearranging the schedule takes just one click. Conflicts are avoided proactively through built-in logic that optimizes all moving parts together.

No more juggling multiple tools or spreadsheets to align cleaning, tasks, bookings, shifts. Managers now have full visibility and control in one centralized dashboard saving 30-60 minutes per week previously spent coordinating schedules.

Real-time Dashboard

The dashboard delivers power-packed insights through configurable widgets and filters like:

• Bookings dashboard with occupancy trends, upcoming reservations
• Revenue trends with comparisons to previous periods
• Task completion tracking to monitor SLA adherence
• Team member performance metrics on tasks handled
• Guest satisfaction reports from automated surveys

Managers get a data-drive pulse of the business anytime on their devices. Staying on top of bookings, revenues, operations has never been easier.

Decision making is made fact-based looking at trends over periods rather than relying on memory alone. This promotes continuous improvement.

By centralizing monitoring and reporting, about 1 hour per week is saved that was previously spent in manual data compilation from various sources.

Analytics and Reporting

Airbnb offers several built-in reports to keep managers informed:

Monthly performance report – Shows financial metrics like overall revenue, channel-wise bookings, etc. Comparisons to past months help identify trends.

Guest satisfaction analysis – Automated surveys capture feedback. Reports flag any drop in ratings to address issues proactively.

Channel performance tracking – Reports booking numbers and revenues from each marketing channel to optimize spending.

Unit performance comparison – Compare bookings and revenue for different units to maximize returns through better pricing or upgrades.

Team activity tracking – Monitor time spent by team members on various tasks for workload management.

While reports took 2+ hours earlier compiling manually from multiple sources, the centralized database now generates analytics overnight. Managers can spend just 30 minutes skimming insights over breakfast instead of data crunching.

Estimated Time Savings

Let’s summarize the time typically spent previously on some key manual tasks:

• Guest communication: 30-60 min
• Cleaning coordination: 2 hours
• Maintenance management: 1-2 hours
• Booking workflows: 1 hour
• Scheduling/Calendar: 30-60 min
• Data reporting: 2+ hours

That’s over 10 hours per week spent!

With Airbnb, estimated time savings are:

• Guest communication: 15 min (75% reduction)
• Cleaning scheduling: 1.5 hours (25% reduction)
• Maintenance requests: 45 min (50% reduction)
• Check-ins/Check-outs: 30 min (100% reduction)
• Calendar coordination: 30 min (50% reduction)
• Dashboards/Reporting: 30 min (85% reduction)

Total savings come up to 18.75 hours per week – almost 3 hours daily! This time can now be used for value-adding tasks like direct guest interactions, strategic expansions, team training etc rather than repetitive document tasks.

Conclusion

Efficiency is critical for success in the competitive short-term rental industry. As seen above, automating manual processes through a comprehensive property management platform like XYZ saves managers approximately 20 hours every week previously spent on tedious documentation work.

The centralized system seamlessly handles communication, cleaning scheduling, maintenance logging, guest check-ins, operations monitoring, and business reporting – freeing up time for tasks with higher commercial impact. Data-driven decision making also helps optimize performance over periods of time.

If you’re spending 10+ hours weekly still coordinating cleaners over calls or transcribing maintenance details into notes, it’s time to let technology help streamline operations. Investing in the right software can significantly boost productivity and let you scale business with greater control and lower costs.

Overall, automating workflows through a professional management system should be a priority for any Airbnb business aiming to thrive in today’s competitive, efficient market.