Handing over your inbox is the hardest part of working with a virtual assistant, because it is the part guests see. Done well, they never notice the change. These are the things worth agreeing before the first reply goes out.
Write the house rules down
Check-in times, parking, door codes, the bins, the quiet hours: the questions guests ask every week. If they only live in your head, a VA has to ask you each time, and you have saved nothing. Writing them down once is also what lets a second person cover when your VA is away.
Agree how you sound
Some hosts sign off with a first name and an exclamation mark; some are brief and formal. A few reply templates in your own words are enough for a VA to answer the way you would. Whether you tell guests you work with a VA is up to you.
Decide what needs you
Most messages are routine. Some are not: a complaint, a refund request, a damage report. Agree which kinds come straight back to you, so the VA answers the routine ones and passes the rest on with what you need to decide. See how guest communication works.
Set limits on pricing
If your VA is also looking after rates, agree what they can change before they start: how far a nightly rate can move, and when a minimum stay can be dropped to fill a gap. Pricing then moves inside limits you set, not on someone else's judgement. See how pricing and revenue work.
Ask for a summary, not a feed
You want to know what happened and what needs a decision from you, not a copy of every message. A short summary is the difference between delegating the inbox and supervising it.
Keep access tidy
Your VA should work from accounts the company controls, with two-factor authentication, rather than from your own login on a personal device.
How it works with Allkempt
Onboarding is one call to go through your properties, then an onboarding specialist takes your VA through your listings, house rules and the way you write to guests. VA support is from £3 an hour, and your first two weeks are free. See how our VA services work.
Questions
Do guests know they're talking to a VA and not me?
Messages go out from your account, in your voice, using the house rules and reply templates agreed during onboarding — so from the guest's side it reads as your property rather than a third party. Whether you tell guests you work with a VA is your decision; nothing on our side announces it.
What access do you need to my accounts, and is it secure?
Only enough to read and answer guest messages and to update rates and availability. Wherever a platform allows it, we ask to be added as a co-host or team member on Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo rather than using your password. Your VA works from a company-controlled account with two-factor authentication. If a VA moves off your account, their access is removed and their replacement is added; when you stop the service, we remove all of our access.
What happens when my VA is off sick or on holiday?
A second member of our team is briefed on your account as backup, and your listings, house rules and templates are documented during onboarding rather than kept in one person's head. When your VA is away, we arrange cover — you don't need to find anyone or explain your properties again.