Your business relies on a stack of apps, tools, platforms and point-solutions to streamline vacation rental management. Many have valuable built-in automation features to take care of mundane, repetitive tasks. But there are limitations: often these technologies can’t speak to each other, which leaves you in the middle, manually moving information from one place to another.
There’s a better way to use automation and save your energy for higher-value activities. MyVR now integrates with Zapier, a web-based service that connects more than 1,500 apps through workflows, called Zaps, that you can build and customize yourself without the need for a developer.
Each Zap starts with a trigger, an event in one app that sets off a follow-up action in another. For example, a new reservation in MyVR might trigger the input of the booking information into Google Sheets.
By defining a trigger and an action in Zapier's user-friendly interface, you can link MyVR data with the apps you use most, such as Google Sheets, Hello Sign, Facebook, QuickBooks Online and more!
What does this look like in practice? Let’s have a look...
Easily link the apps you use most
To demonstrate the power of our integration with Zapier, MyVR has put together some example Zaps that we highlight below, based on some of the applications our customers use the most.
These are only a handful of the thousands of custom Zaps you can create with MyVR. All you need is a few minutes and some creativity!
Automate accounting with QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is one of the most popular online accounting solutions on the market, making it a critical hub for tracking a business’s income and expenses.
Keeping your books up-to-date is essential, but it can also be cumbersome and time-consuming to do on your own. These Zaps can help you take care of your day-to-day inputs. For example, you can:
- Create a new invoice in QuickBooks Online when a reservation is created in MyVR
- Add income and expense entries in QuickBooks Online when a reservation is created, updated, or confirmed
- Create a new payment and record it as income in QuickBooks Online when a reservation payment is processed in MyVR
- Create a new customer in QuickBooks Online when a customer property is created in MyVR
Improve Facebook ad targeting
Advertising on Facebook and Instagram are an increasingly important way to stay top-of-mind for both prospects and past guests.
One of the most valuable aspects of these platforms is the ability to create a Custom Audience that you can then target with an ad that speaks directly to their needs and interests. By leveraging Zapier, you can:
- Add new inquiries to your Custom Audience to help grow your list of prospects
- Target sponsored ads not just to prospects but also to previous guests, to help encourage repeat bookings
Showcasing your properties on social channels to spark interest from people who are already fans can be an effective way to get direct bookings and new business in an increasingly selfie-driven industry.
Keep guest experience on track with SurveyMonkey
Property managers are obsessed with providing a great guest experience. The best way to keep your efforts on track is to solicit feedback and reviews, and the most effective way to do that is to ask promptly and make the process user-friendly.
SurveyMonkey is a popular cloud-based survey tool, and with Zapier, you can ensure this important task doesn’t fall through the cracks:
- Create a Zap to automatically send a customer feedback survey two or three days after guests check out
Ensure rental contracts get signed on time
New bookings can come from any one of your reservation channels, and every platform processes things a little differently.
HelloSign and Docusign are online platforms that make it easy for users to sign business agreements electronically. By pairing HelloSign or Docusign with Zapier, you can:
- Define workflows to ensure that - however a new reservation is received - a request will be sent for the guest to review and sign the rental contract.
Automatically add guests to your tracking system
Many larger property managers use Zendesk to help track new inquiries and bookings for their rental properties. When you link your MyVR Inbox to Zendesk through Zapier, you can:
- Create a new Zendesk end user profile for guests when they inquire or book
- Create a new ticket whenever an inquiry message comes through MyVR
Stand out with first-class followup
You use MyVR autoresponders to capture more bookings, get information out in a timely way, and build better relationships with your guests. But what do you do to reach out to your guests after their visit? (Once you’ve requested their feedback with a Survey Monkey Zap, of course!)
With popular email platform Gmail, you can further centralize external communications with your MyVR dashboard. Connect Gmail and MyVR through Zapier to:
- Sync messages from “other” sources - like boutique channels and listing sites - with your MyVR centralized inbox
- Sync “other” listings into the correct inquiry formats in MyVR
Lob is a platform for intelligent snail mail, enabling you to create and send personalized postcards, letters, and checks to your guests. Sync Lob with your MyVR account so you can:
- Send a thank you letter to guests after they check out
- Cut a check for the damage deposit once the inspection has been completed
- Send a postcard to past guests as you head into the next season so you can invite them to come back
Simplify the reporting process
Whether you share updates with property owners through Microsoft Office, Google Docs, or PDF, creating a reporting template that you can keep updated through relevant Zaps can help simplify the work and cut the time you spend pulling together reports. For example, you can use Zaps to:
- Automatically create or update an owner statement with the relevant details on a certain date or when a new reservation is captured in MyVR
By integrating with Zapier, MyVR further enables your business to better manage manual workflows outside of the MyVR platform, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks regardless of your bandwidth.
