Looking to optimise the revenue of your short-term rental business, but not sure of the best approach?
In this post, we’re talking about vacation rental revenue management for short-term rentals. At OVO Network, we use a variety of analytics to inform pricing decisions. Our revenue managers utilise and collect both historical and ongoing data to maximise bookings and revenue for our owners.
Read on to discover best practices when it comes to effectively managing the revenue of your rental business.
How do I optimise my revenue?
If the main focus of your rental business is to achieve the highest possible income, there are a range of steps you can take. These include:
1. Making your property available
One of the easiest ways to ensure you achieve a maximum yield on your investment is to make your property available at times when the rental prices are the highest and it is in the most demand. This means:
- Ensuring your property is available for guests as much as possible in general.
- Planning renovation work or upgrades to take place outside of peak weeks.
- It’s also advisable to book owner stays outside of peak season, too.
2. Being flexible
Potential guests who are presented with more flexible options will be more likely to book. Here are some options to use this vacation rental revenue management technique to your advantage:
- In low season, make your calendar as flexible as possible, with any day arrival and any length of stay, for example. You could also look to amend your cancellation policy to reflect more flexible conditions and thus encourage more bookings.
- In high-season, try and achieve week-long bookings if you can. If the property is still empty a few weeks before arrival, you can then go in and adjust your terms to allow for greater flexibility. Keep an eye on your calendar and aim to remain one step ahead at all times.
- To maximise bookings, set the shortest booking notice possible – one day is best, or a maximum of three. (Remember, before making this decision, do confirm your property manager and cleaning team’s availability!)
- Be dynamic with your pricing and adjust it when required.
- Aim to optimise your booking volume in the low-season and focus on profit in the high-season. To attract low-season bookings, make sure your minimum price is attractive, or that you invest in attractive extra facilities such as a hot tub.
3. Make guest experience a priority
Happy guests often turn into repeat guests, and spread the word to others via online reviews and word of mouth. So make sure you do everything you can to ensure that they thoroughly enjoy their stay. This includes:
- Carefully checking your property’s presentation (including photography and descriptions) and making sure that it accurately represents your offering.
- Boosting your online ratings by giving people what they expect and therefore increasing the possibility of both new and repeat guests. (Chase guests to upload a review online and make sure you reply to each review online.)
- Working with an experienced guest and property manager, who prioritises guest satisfaction and contributes to the overall success of their holiday and, in turn, your rental business.
Why should I work with OVO Network?
There’s a wealth of ways in which OVO Network can help you with vacation rental revenue management.
- Firstly, we know our guest base incredibly well and are always on hand to advise on facilities we know they’ll enjoy.
- We collect and analyse a diversity of data to help inform our decisions and optimise owners’ revenue. This informs things like timely pricing recommendations, based on occupancy rates, demand and booking pace.
- We advertise rental properties on a variety of popular platforms and OTA’s for maximum visibility and exposure. These include Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, (Abritel and HomeAway), TripAdvisor and OVO Network itself.
- We also use additional listing sites such as Chalet Montagne, as well as social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook which redirect to OVO Network for bookings.
- Our channel management system automatically synchronises property information, prices and calendars between the OVO Network system and the third-party platforms we connect to. This ensures a consistent presentation of our properties across these platforms and synchronises availability which avoids the risk of double bookings.
- Our experienced marketing team work closely with both SEO and PR specialists to expertly optimise our content.
- Our account management team collect guest feedback and presents it on your property’s website to encourage bookings and showcase guest satisfaction.
If you want to earn more from your Alpine rental property, OVO Network can help. Learn more about our offering and try our rental calculator on our add your property page or get in touch with one of our friendly sales team advisors who are happy to help.
Want to learn more about running a holiday rental business in the Alps? Sign up for our Alpine Property Newsletter to receive tips on running your holiday rental business, expert opinions and the latest industry news.
