From guest communication to updating accounts to adjusting pricing, there’s a long list of responsibilities included in hosting on Vrbo. Just like a business owner relies on employees to ensure efficient operations, a vacation rental owner also needs extra hands on deck.
One of the specific roles available to vacation rental owners is a co-host. Adding a co-host to your Vrbo account can be an attractive alternative to appointing a full-time property manager.
Here’s a look at how to make co-hosting work for your business.
The Role of the Co-host
A co-host can be a family member, trustworthy friend, next-door neighbor, or reliable individual with great interpersonal and admin skills. Some of the other qualities that co-hosts should ideally boast include a positive attitude, good time-management skills, and problem-solving skills.
It’s someone who has the expertise to manage a listing on behalf of the property owner.
Typical responsibilities include:
- Managing your Vrbo listing
- Updating the booking calendar
- Adjusting the nightly rate, when needed
- Scheduling cleaning jobs
- Attending to maintenance requests and coordinating with the respective parties
- Communicating with guests
- Writing guest reviews
- Assisting with in-person check-ins
- Dealing with any issues that might arise during the guests’ stay
- Reaching out to Vrbo for support
- Restocking supplies like toilet paper, trash bags, etc.
Most of these responsibilities can be completed remotely. However, in some instances, the co-host’s presence might be required at the vacation rental. For this reason, it’s better to appoint a local as your Vrbo co-host.
Aside from the added advantage of being able to rush to the property in case of a problem, a local can also share recommendations and tips that can enhance the overall guest experience. Sure, Google (or even AI) can share restaurant recommendations too, but first-hand experiences that only a local co-host can offer add a level of authenticity that travelers crave.
What Are the Advantages of Hiring a Co-host?
1. Less stress
Vacation rentals are demanding. Property owners are under a lot of pressure to ensure their property is guest-ready every single time. Then, in between all that, they still need to find the time (and energy) to attract more bookings. Hiring a co-host can alleviate a lot of that pressure. It frees up time that property owners can focus on growing the business.
2. Legal compliance
Some US states require that vacation rentals have an appointed agent who’ll be available round the clock to deal with problems. This person’s name and contact details should be posted in a visible place.
3. More potential revenue
While a co-host will be an added expense to your company, appointing one can actually help you to make more money.
As mentioned earlier, your co-host can be responsible for jobs like responding to booking inquiries and reviews. If you were to attend to all the guest communication too, you’ll have little time left to think about ways that you can grow your business. You can, for example, identify strategies to drive more repeat bookings.
Can You Add a Co-host on Vrbo?
While some online resources claim that it isn’t possible to add a co-host to your Vrbo listing, the vacation rental platform can help you set it up. Well, sort of.
There’s not really an option for co-hosting on Vrbo. However, you may contact them back and let them add the co-host’s details.
The features aren’t at all as elaborate as Airbnb. What Vrbo does is add the co-host’s phone number for authentication so that they can access the account. This means that your co-host will need to use your password and email address.
If you get stuck, you can reach out to phone support who’ll be able to talk you through the process.
Tips for Building a Professional Relationship With Your Vrbo Co-host
First things first, you need to ensure that all parties have a clear understanding of where their responsibilities start and end. Your co-host needs to know exactly what their specific role is and what they will need to take care of beforehand.
It’s best to get it in writing. After all, you’ll be paying your co-host for services rendered, and a formal agreement outlining how payments will be made, the rate, and responsibilities can offer legal protection.
Then, to help keep the lines of communication open, you can use vacation rental software like iGMS. It offers a task management system that you can use to invite support staff to access the software. Their view will be restricted to their daily schedule and responsibilities for each booking.
As the system is permission-based, you remain in control over what they can access. Plus, you can distinguish what, for example, a cleaner and co-host may access.
Aside from restricting access, it’s also easy to get an overview of the different assigned tasks and the status of these tasks. There’s an intuitive dashboard, checklists, and reporting system to ensure all the jobs get completed on time.
Alternatively, if you’re having difficulty accessing Vrbo’s co-hosting feature, you can simply rely on iGMS from the start and assign specific roles to help you manage your bookings.
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