Online Vacation Rental Management Software Tools for busy people!

I use MyVRZone and there is no doubt it is a HUGE part of our success with bookings. Not only does it streamline the booking and management process incredibly well, I have found a number of ways to use it to enhance my marketing effectiveness. For example I just created an email template and used it to quickly send off a follow-up email to fourteen inquiries from the last two weeks about a special offer they are eligible for that will soon be expiring... and one of them emailed back to book their dates in March, just like that. A good use of 30 minutes of time.

I currently have 18 customizable email templates that I have created for my own use within MyVRZone, and I built many of these off of the 16 ready-to-go ones that come with MrVRZone.

The automation MyVRZone provides allows me to manage like a pro without doing a ton of work. Our customers book and pay for their reservations completely online with automatic reminders and confirmations sent out, and when they have made their final payment, they automatically receive three emails from me:

1. one with all arrival information
2. another separate one with their custom Resort Lock code
   (automatically generated within MyVRZone from their reservation details, I don't even have to visit the Resort Lock site to generate it) and their alarm system code - all sent separately from the email with the villa address, and finally
3. one with departure/check-out details plus a link to a PDF of my home manual.

At the same time as these are being generated and sent, I have a set of custom maps with directions to and from the airport, the parks, stores, etc., a PDF of instructions for the alarm system, and the home manual (eight files in all) which automatically become available for viewing and download at my customers "Guest Zone" web site just prior to their arrival, and the emails that are automatically sent contain direct links to these files as well as to their Guest Zone.

It used to take me at least an hour for every booking to generate and send all of these email, even from my own templates... now it happens automatically without me having to do anything!

As for customer service, I can tell you emphatically that Neil has the MOST responsive customer service I have ever seen, in any venue. And I know because I am probably his most demanding, pain-in-the-ass customer. Neil's customer service leaves me feeling like I have had a part in helping to evolve MyVRZone to suit my needs. I continue to find ways to incorporate it into what I am doing, and Neil is right there as an active partner.

MyVRZone may seem a little intimidating at first glance, but this is because it is so powerful. It really is easy to use, and the learning curve is not difficult because Neil has peppered everything in the site with pop-up guides to help you along the way.

I have my MyVRZone availability calendar, my rates, and my MyVRZone inquiry form embedded in my own website, along with a link to the free MyVRZone site created for my house by MyVRZone for those web surfers who can't view my graphically intense main site. It is seamless and professional.

Is MyVRZone perfect? Truthfully, no... I don't use its customer survey and review system because I find it too limited and confining for my purposes, but if you asked me if I would bet money that some day I will be using it then I would put the money down. I have explained to Neil what I am after and I know (based on past experience) that he will eventually evolve and improve the system until it exactly takes care of my needs.

A last piece of icing on the cake is a booking I received from one of MyVRZone's partner listing sites which you get listed on for free and only pay a small commission if a booking results, plus a referral fee that I received for sending a booking to another of Neil's customers through the included automated referral system.

If you think I must be on Neil's payroll for such an enthusiastic review, I'm not, but I am also incredibly grateful for the superb product and service that Neil provides, all for only 10 bucks a month, and that does make me an evangelist for his services. I must admit though that I have mixed feelings about praising what he does so much... Neil deserves all the success in the world, but part of me wants no one else to use his system so I can keep all of its competitive advantages to myself!