Building Your Property Profiles
After importing your properties, details like listing descriptions, property information, guest reservation data, calendar availability, and up to six months of recent conversations will be automatically imported from your property management system.
After connecting your property management system data, HostBuddy is nearly ready to begin overseeing guest communication. Most information that HostBuddy needs to support your guests comes from the PMS integration.
To enhance HostBuddy's knowledge base, you can add property documents, such as welcome guides and property specific SOPs. Any document related to your property can be uploaded into HostBuddy for guest interactions.
To paste a document from one listing to others in your portfolio, go to the HostBuddy Knowledge Base in the basics section of your property profile by selecting Manage. Once there, click the pen icon next to the uploaded property document. You can copy the file to other properties or adjust the reservation stages that can access the document's information here. By selecting Copy this file to other properties at the bottom of the section, choose the properties where you want to upload the document.
You can also add data manually into the 'Manual Field' sections in the property profile. Start developing your property profile by selecting the pen icon next to the listing on the Properties page.
Resources Page
The first section of the property profile is the Resources Page. Here, you can update the Property Name and the Thumbnail Image used on the Properties Page. You can also manage the knowledge base that HostBuddy uses to respond to your guests and manage your PMS integration.
The property name is automatically generated after your integration with the PMS is complete. You are welcome to change it here if needed. You can also change your thumbnail photo by uploading a new file. We support .png, .jpg, and .jpeg files.
In the property documents section you can upload property documents like welcome documents, SOPs, or any external resource related to your property. We support external resources in .txt, .docx and .pdf.
Also on this page, you can manage the HostBuddy knowledge base, which includes the PMS integration, property documents, and the property profile.
To decide which data sources HostBuddy uses within its knowledge base by selecting the Manage button at the bottom of the HostBuddy knowledge base section. Then, check each box that you would like for HostBuddy to use when responding to guests.
For the past conversations field, you can filter which reservation stages HostBuddy pulls past conversation data from when responding to guests. Do this by selecting the pen icon, choosing the reservation stages you'd like HostBuddy to communicate for, and then selecting Submit. The highlighted reservation phases are those HostBuddy will respond to, while unhighlighted phases will be ignored.
We recommend autofilling the manual data fields with conversation data being included, and then restricting the knowledge base to only use conversation data for current reservations. This helps keep potentially sensitive information hidden from inquiring, past, and future guests.
Manual Data Pages
Although we have most of the necessary information from your property management system integration, along with any property documents you've uploaded into HostBuddy's knowledge base, it's helpful to review our manual fields and add more details. This ensures all your bases are covered. Here is a quick breakdown of each page and the manual fields you can fill out, along with our recommendations.
To expedite the completion of the manual fields, you can autofill property details into each manual field or copy data from other properties to ease your workflow.
Basics Page
The basics page contains information about your property's location. You can include details such as the property type—like house, apartment—or any specific type you have. Additionally, add the street address, unit number, city, and other location details related to your property.
It's important to note that location information is used by HostBuddy to calibrate the time for your property. Ensure your data is accurate to help HostBuddy understand the correct time zone for your property when assisting guests.
Additionally, you may click the pen icon next to each field to control which reservation phases can access each piece of information. For instance, you might choose to make the street address visible only to guests with current reservations and allow the city to be accessible to all reservation phases, including inquiring guests. This ensures HostBuddy keeps sensitive data confidential while communicating general knowledge.
Listing Details
The Listing Details page lets you input all your essential property information, policies, and rules. This page allows you to specify details such as cancellation policies, booking requirements, and check-in/check-out times and procedures. You can also include vital information like access and parking instructions, as well as any other important property aspects that may be relevant to guests. Our Autofill feature should automatically populate much of this information for you if you've previously utilized it. In cases where fields appear blank or incomplete, take the time to manually fill in the necessary details.
Like the resources page, you can select the pen icon next to each field to manage the confidentiality of information during specific reservation phases. Highlighted information will be accessible for communication through HostBuddy, while non-highlighted information will not be accessible. By default, all fields are set to be accessible.
Amenities
The Amenities page is where you can expand on the items and services you offer at your property. Here, you can indicate amenities like air conditioning, pools, or free on-site parking. To provide more details about each amenity, click the pen icon. You can add troubleshooting instructions or item locations, allowing HostBuddy to guide your guests effectively. Additionally, you can set confidentiality for amenities based on the reservation phase, similar to other sections of the property profile.
Pro Tip!
Try adding URLs that are linked to troubleshooting videos or shared images (Google Drive works great) of your properties. HostBuddy can share them when working through issues or questions with your guests.
Extras Page
The Extras page is a space for you to add blanket information. One field focuses on noteworthy property features not covered by our manual fields. It's ideal for detailing specific amenities or property features that aren't in our other fields. You can also explain certain details to give your guests more insight. The other field is for any important instructions not mentioned previously. Here, you can add your own SOPs to guide HostBuddy on handling issues or common questions outside our categories.