Knowing your business often comes down to knowing your customers. Even more than that, though, it requires you to know what your customers want and how you can deliver it to them. You need to be able to operate your business efficiently so that you can free yourself up to serve your customers consistently. How do you do that?

Knowing your business often comes down to knowing your customers. Even more than that, though, it requires you to know what your customers want and how you can deliver it to them. You need to be able to operate your business efficiently so that you can free yourself up to serve your customers consistently. How do you do that?

While there may be countless variables that shape and affect your short-term rental business, one of the most important is how you organize and manage your rentals. This will impact every guest experience that you oversee so there is no overstating its importance. You could try to take care of everything yourself, running around from one place to another and always jumping onto the next task before you have even finished with the last one.

You could do that. There is a better way, though. By finding your perfect vacation rental property management company, you can take your short-term rental business to another level and set yourself up for long-term financial success and stability. At a time when there are more than 275,000 property management businesses in the US alone, however, you have your work cut out for you Here are five methods for finding your perfect vacation rental property management company.

1. Understand What Each Company Offers

You should always ask the hardest questions first when you are considering striking a deal with another business, and property management businesses are not the exception.

Go over the services and features that each property management company is offering and get a feel for the difference they try to make for their clients. 78% of property managers say they comprehend the value of customer service, but less than half of those are confident they are acting on their comprehension. Don’t end up with someone second-rate!

2. Make A List Of Everything You Want From Your Company

An even wiser track than looking down the list of service offerings that each property management company has presented? Go into your meetings with the property management companies equipped with a list of your own. Before you ever sit down with anyone or accept any calls from prospective property managers, get a clear idea of what you want and what you will not accept. You know better than anyone what your pain points are in your business. Come up with a wide-ranging set of solutions that your perfect property management company will be able to deploy.

3. Refuse To Settle

After you have come to a conclusion about what you want from your property management manager and what they will need to do to impress you and win your business, adhere to the terms that you have laid out for yourself. This is your opportunity to give yourself a gift, to respect the decision that you have made about what a smoothly-running, well-prepared business of yours is going to look like.

You should not settle for anything less than a property management company that checks off all your boxes and puts you entirely at ease. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to “cast a wide net,” browsing through as many potential property managers as you can. For this and more, Cohostmarket.com may prove to be useful too.

By enlisting one of the world-class, skilled property managers on the platform, you can take advantage of years of experience and insight, offering your guests a level of service that may not be logistically possible otherwise. The experts on Cohostmarket.com can create a major advantage for you over your competitors – both by freeing you up to focus on other areas of your business and streamline your booking process.

4. Set Up Some Meetings

Only once you are confident that you have lined up multiple property management companies with which you could be happy, set up some meetings. These meetings could be in-person, or they could be online conversations. Either way, brainstorm some questions that you can ask beforehand, focusing on the business that you envision for yourself and what you will expect of your property management company. Some questions you may ask are:

• What is your experience?
• What do you focus on as a property manager?
• How do you ensure effective communication?
• When are you available to your clients?

5. Be Clear About Expectations

Like any other relationship, the professional bond that you form with your property management company will come down to give and take. Speak freely early on so that there is a minimum of confusion between the two of you. The more honest everyone is about what they want out of the professional bond, the more productive it is going to be in the long run. If you expect grade-A work, you need to be upfront about that. Do not assume anything! If you are in doubt, bring it up and talk about it.

Making The Decision

When you have gone through the meetings and reflected on all your prospective property management companies, there is only one thing left to do: make your decision. Depending on your personality type, this is either the hardest part of the process or the easiest part of it. Wherever you stand, take the decision seriously, approaching it knowing that it will affect your business and thus your livelihood from here on out. Once you feel comfortable that you have come to a decision, though, trust your instinct and follow through on it. As long as you have followed these methods, you should be happy with the way things turn out.

A vacation rental expert and entrepreneur, Morgan created CoHostMarket, an online platform where homeowners can connect with local or virtual property managers, and runs in more than 190 countries.