Short Term Rental Revenue Management

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Short Term Rental Revenue Management

Gary Campanaro
Member since 2025 · 28 posts · 15 votes

I have a price labs account to help me manage pricing on a mountain cabin. 

I know that price labs need to be managed on a daily/weekly basis to help the efficiency of the system. 

I hired a revenue management company to help me with this. 

I sent an email to the company several days ago which was unanswered  asking:  Could you please let me know if you have made any updates to my account regarding listing pictures, titles, details, or pricing?
Additionally, I would like to know how I can track these changes and their results. Is there a way for me to stay informed on our progress?  

My question is am I asking too much of this company with the above inquiry and should I stay out the way and let them do their work?

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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
6mo

How did you vet this company that you hired to make sure they would do a good job and provide what you wanted?

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  • David Cherkowsky
    Investor · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2023 · 92 posts · 52 votes
    6mo

    As someone who also runs a revenue management business, this sounds unacceptable to me. For our clients, we provide a weekly update on key metrics, changes we made to pricing based on these metrics, an explanation of why we made the changes, and metrics that compare them to their peers, so they can evaluate our performance.

    In my opinion, if the revenue management company isn't providing metrics where you can evaluate their performance, they're not doing enough.

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  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    6mo

    How did you vet this company that you hired to make sure they would do a good job and provide what you wanted?

    1Reply
  • Trent Reeve
    Atlanta · Member since 2022 · 716 posts · 645 votes
    6mo
    Quote from @Gary Campanaro:

    I have a price labs account to help me manage pricing on a mountain cabin. 

    I know that price labs need to be managed on a daily/weekly basis to help the efficiency of the system. 

    I hired a revenue management company to help me with this. 

    I sent an email to the company several days ago which was unanswered  asking:  Could you please let me know if you have made any updates to my account regarding listing pictures, titles, details, or pricing?
    Additionally, I would like to know how I can track these changes and their results. Is there a way for me to stay informed on our progress?  

    My question is am I asking too much of this company with the above inquiry and should I stay out the way and let them do their work?


     I am in the same boat. I hired a rev mgmt company this year. the only time i hear anything is when i reach out asking questions, and I usually have to ask 2-3 times first. And this is one of the "big name" companies in rev mgmt.

    1Reply
    • John RacinePro Member
      Rental Property Investor · Casselberry, FL · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 78 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Trent Reeve:
      Quote from @Gary Campanaro:

      I have a price labs account to help me manage pricing on a mountain cabin. 

      I know that price labs need to be managed on a daily/weekly basis to help the efficiency of the system. 

      I hired a revenue management company to help me with this. 

      I sent an email to the company several days ago which was unanswered  asking:  Could you please let me know if you have made any updates to my account regarding listing pictures, titles, details, or pricing?
      Additionally, I would like to know how I can track these changes and their results. Is there a way for me to stay informed on our progress?  

      My question is am I asking too much of this company with the above inquiry and should I stay out the way and let them do their work?


       I am in the same boat. I hired a rev mgmt company this year. the only time i hear anything is when i reach out asking questions, and I usually have to ask 2-3 times first. And this is one of the "big name" companies in rev mgmt.


       Oh man, I keep seeing and hearing that. I don't know how these companies get so mig and treat customers like that. I remember working in hotels and the constant training I would present on communication. It's these things I focus on as I build out my str management business. Just makes no sense to operate the way so many do.

      0Reply
  • Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6mo

    I have a fractional revenue manager looking over my 65 unit portfolio.  I get answers within 24 business hours or less, as well as recommendations (solicited and unsolicited) for tips with optimizing my listings.  I think this should be standard.

    [email protected]813-563-0877
    Vacation Rentals of Florida53 Reviews
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  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6mo
    Quote from @Gary Campanaro:

    I have a price labs account to help me manage pricing on a mountain cabin. 

    I know that price labs need to be managed on a daily/weekly basis to help the efficiency of the system. 

    I hired a revenue management company to help me with this. 

    I sent an email to the company several days ago which was unanswered  asking:  Could you please let me know if you have made any updates to my account regarding listing pictures, titles, details, or pricing?
    Additionally, I would like to know how I can track these changes and their results. Is there a way for me to stay informed on our progress?  

    My question is am I asking too much of this company with the above inquiry and should I stay out the way and let them do their work?


     They might be in the revenue management business, but it sure sounds like they are not in the customer service business. I'd move on.

    [email protected]806-672-7102
    SMOKY MOUNTAIN FALLS INC.51 Review
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  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 996 posts · 1k+ votes
    6mo

    We do monthly reports. Kudos to those that do weekly!

    If you want to try and do it on your own, here are a few quick things you can do in Pricelabs that will get you half way there, and be a lot better than just turning on pricelabs and putting in a base price.

    1) Set up a comp set, pay the extra 10 bucks for the market dashboard to use it

    Blows my mind that almost no one does this. Pricelabs doesn't know the difference between a crappy 4br home and a good 4br in the same market. So if you're the good one, why do you want your prices affected by the crappy one?

    Go to the neighborhood data tab and find 10 TRUE comps. This part is important, don't lie to yourself and comp out properties that are better than yours because you're emotional.

    Now when you go into the market dashboard (pricelabs charges $10/mo extra unfortunately) you can pull all the same reports you normally would, but using your comp set for the data instead of entire market data. So now you can price against your ACTUAL comps, not sullied by data from properties that aren't relevant to you.

    2) 80/20 rule. 

    Well, that's what I call it at least. As a general starting point, take your comp set, and in high season set your rates to the 80th percentile within your comp set.

    In the low season, set it to the 20th percentile within your comp set.

    The idea here is to maximize ADR in high season, and maximize occupancy in low season. As a simple example, in your comp set of 10 properties, if the market occupancy is 90% in high season, you want your ADR in the 80th percentile so you're still one of the 9 out of 10 that gets booked, but at max ADR.

    In low season when occupancy is 30%, you want to make sure you're one of the 3 of 10 getting booked, so you're pricing 20th percentile to not price yourself out of that group.

    Obviously there is a ton more than you can do, but that is the one good starting point that will have the biggest impact.

    BONUS TIP: You can pull the actual occupancy rates of your comp set in high/low season to adjust the 80/20 rule to match actual occupancy, about 10% down from the actual occupancy from each season.

    Cosmic Vacations4.9175 Reviews
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  • Mike GrudzienPro Member
    Lender · Eugene, OR · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6mo

    Fire them!

    0Reply
  • Chizoba Ani
    Virtual Assistant · Abuja, Nigeria | Remote · Member since 2026 · 75 posts · 28 votes
    6mo

    You’re not asking for too much at all, its a very reasonable expectation.

    You should be getting some level of communication and visibility into what is being done, especially when it comes to pricing and overall performance....

    0Reply
  • Gary Campanaro
    OP
    Member since 2025 · 28 posts · 15 votes
    6mo

    Hi Everyone,  This forum is amazing, thank you all for your insight and help with this issue.  I appreciate all the views and advise presented which helped me resolve the issue and now the communication channel is open and hopefully some results will follow.

    1Reply
  • Stephen Delahoussaye
    Real Estate Broker · Nashville, TN · Member since 2022 · 163 posts · 87 votes
    6mo

    You're not asking too much at all — that's a baseline level of communication any revenue manager should be providing. The red flag here isn't your expectations, it's the silence.

    A few things I'd want from any rev management company on a mountain cabin:

    First, ask for a monthly snapshot showing your occupancy rate, ADR, and RevPAR compared to your comp set. PriceLabs has market data baked in, so they should be able to pull this easily. If they can't show you how your property is performing relative to similar cabins in your area, they're just adjusting prices in a vacuum.

    Second, you should be getting a clear log of any manual overrides they've made. PriceLabs automates a lot, but the value of a revenue manager is knowing WHEN to override the algorithm — holiday weekends, local events, last-minute gaps. If they're just letting the tool run on autopilot, you're paying for something you could do yourself.

    Third, set a 30-day check-in cadence. Not a long meeting — just a quick email with what changed, why, and what's coming up. Any company that pushes back on that level of transparency probably isn't doing enough to justify the fee.

    Western NC mountain markets can swing hard seasonally, so the gap between a passive PriceLabs setup and an actively managed one can easily be 15-20% in revenue over a year. Worth holding them accountable for that delta.

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    • Dale Sutton
      Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 6 votes
      6mo
      Quote from @Stephen Delahoussaye:

      You're not asking too much at all — that's a baseline level of communication any revenue manager should be providing. The red flag here isn't your expectations, it's the silence.

      A few things I'd want from any rev management company on a mountain cabin:

      First, ask for a monthly snapshot showing your occupancy rate, ADR, and RevPAR compared to your comp set. PriceLabs has market data baked in, so they should be able to pull this easily. If they can't show you how your property is performing relative to similar cabins in your area, they're just adjusting prices in a vacuum.

      Second, you should be getting a clear log of any manual overrides they've made. PriceLabs automates a lot, but the value of a revenue manager is knowing WHEN to override the algorithm — holiday weekends, local events, last-minute gaps. If they're just letting the tool run on autopilot, you're paying for something you could do yourself.

      Third, set a 30-day check-in cadence. Not a long meeting — just a quick email with what changed, why, and what's coming up. Any company that pushes back on that level of transparency probably isn't doing enough to justify the fee.

      Western NC mountain markets can swing hard seasonally, so the gap between a passive PriceLabs setup and an actively managed one can easily be 15-20% in revenue over a year. Worth holding them accountable for that delta.


      Yes exactly - the tool is very powerful and can be highly automated, but can also be highly manual. It is only as effective as you decide it to be based on the settings and customisations you apply. Its a great piece of pricing software though.
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  • Dale Sutton
    Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 6 votes
    6mo
    In my experience you should realistically expect a reply if not same day, then next day. With some exceptions for weekends. Hopefully you can have a call with them to sort it out and set some expectations.
    0Reply
  • Dale Sutton
    Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 6 votes
    6mo

    I would be interested to learn more about what the specific services the revenue management company are expected to provide. Pricelabs is an amazing tool, but does require some active monitoring to get the best results. Happy to share more details if you are interested.

    0Reply
  • Gary Campanaro
    OP
    Member since 2025 · 28 posts · 15 votes
    6mo

    After taking advise from some Revenue managers and others on this post. I wrote my revenue manager the following:

    Thank you for the work you have been providing! I just had a few questions and requests. 1) Can you provide me with a monthly snapshot showing occupancy rate, ADR, and RevPar compared to my compset. 2) Who is my comp set? 3) Can you get me a clear log of any manual overrides? 4) on the airbnb log it says rule set applied, can you tell me what rule set you applied, please be more specific. Also can we set up a check in maybe monthly. Maybe just an email or short checkin to go over whats changed, why and what's coming up. Best Regards, Gary

    The reply I received is that they don't provide personal coaching.  Does the above sound like personal coaching or just finding out how they are managing my listing?

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