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      Launch your Autohost - Hostfully Integration

      We will refer to this page to launch your integration with Hostfully.

      Table of Contents

      1. Quick Refresh: Learn about the Autohost Process Flow

      2. Update your Listing's Marketing Material

      3. Enable Listings on Autohost

      4. Enable New Message Flow on Hostfully

      5. Handle Pre-Existing Reservations on Autohost

       

      Quick Refresh: Learn about Autohost Process Flow

       

      Autohost Process Flow

      To learn more about the process flow, refer to this help center article. 

       

      Update your Listing's Marketing Material

      Now that you've learned about the verification process you will introduce to your message flow, it's time to present it to your guests, too. You must communicate to your guests that they will be asked to complete a verification process to confirm their reservation and receive their check-in instructions.

      For tips on how to do this, refer to the article Sample Messaging for OTAs. It offers guidance on how to explain the purpose of the Autohost verification process.

      Be sure to do this for all marketing material that guests read. This includes:

      • The description section of your listing is on the different OTA platforms.

      • The Rental Usage Agreement

      • The House Rules

      • The FAQ page

       

      Enable Listings on Autohost

      Log on to Autohost, and go to Listings > Select ALL or desired listings (if preferred) > Bulk Edit > Set listings as ACTIVE.

      Now, let's import your pre-existing reservations from your PMS into Autohost:

      1. On Autohost, go to Screening Assistant > Import > Click START IMPORT under Import Reservations.

      2. Next, go to the Reservations page. Confirm that the number of reservations imported into Autohost matches the number of reservations you have on Hostfully. This will tell us that the import was successful. If the numbers do not match, wait a few minutes, and refresh the page. 

       

      Enable New Message Flow on Hostfully

      1. Log on to Hostfully, and go to Integrations. Locate 'Autohost" and switch the toggle ON. 

      2. Next, go to Templates & Triggers > Triggers.

      3. Enable the new Trigger for AH Check-In Instructions by assigning it to your desired listings/properties and booking channels/sources. Deselect said listings from the old/existing Trigger.

      4. Enable the new Trigger for AH Booking Confirmation by assigning it to your abovementioned listings/properties and booking channels/sources. Deselect said listings from the old/existing Trigger (if applicable).

      5. Enable the new Triggers for AH Reminder 1 and AH Reminder 2 by assigning them to your abovementioned listings/properties and booking channels/sources.

      6. Double-check to ensure that steps 1 to 5 were completed correctly. Do not skip this step

      7. If you've read this far, you've probably been sitting too long. Go for a walk! 

      Handle Pre-existing Reservations

      At last, let's decide how you'd like to handle the pre-existing reservation.

      Pre-existing reservations include guests who will arrive today or in the future. Current guests will not appear.

      With that said, you have two (2) options on how to handle these reservations:

      Option 1: You can decide to manually approve all pre-existing reservations and start fresh.

      If you chose this option, here are the steps you will take:

      1. On Autohost, go to the Reservations page.

      2. Click on a reservation to view the reservation details tab, and click Approve.

      3. You will be prompted to enter a reason. Proceed to enter "Import" as the reason (see image below) to indicate that this reservation has been accepted as part of the integration import process.

      4. Save your entry by clicking Change Status.

      5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each reservation.

      Screenshot_How to Manually Approve Reservations on Autohost

      Option 2: You can decide to screen these pre-existing reservations by manually sending a brief message to the guests of these reservations through your inbox (i.e. PMS, OTA, or email - whichever communication tool you typically use). The intention of this message is to communicate to the guest that your guest screening process has recently changed. Therefore, the guest is required to complete the Guest Portal in order to verify their reservation and receive access to their Check-In Instructions.

      Here is a template copy you can use for this message: 

      Hi [$GUEST_FIRST_NAME$], we look forward to hosting you!

      [$PROPERTY_NAME$]
      Date:[$LEAD_CHECKIN$]
      Check-In Time:[$LEAD_CHECKIN_TIME$]
      Check-Out Time: [$LEAD_CHECKOUT_TIME$]

      We have recently updated our guest verification process. Please take a moment to verify your reservation by visiting our Guest Portal below and filling out the requested information: 
      https://verifyhub.org/[$LEAD_UID$]

      We thank you for you understanding and cooperation. 

      Thanks,
      Your host

       

      Note that each guest reservation will have a unique URL for their Guest Portal (see image below for context). Therefore, be sure to send this URL to the guest.

       

      So, here's how to do this:

      1. On Autohost, go to Reservations. Click on the pre-existing guest reservation that you would like to screen.

      2. At top of the page, you will see a module with the header Guest Portal Link.

      3. Copy and paste the URL under this header into the message you plan to send to the guest.

      4. Send a message to the guest and stand by. 

      You did it! You have just employed a systematic and ethical guest screening process. To help you apply your learnings from this implementation, bookmark and read the following article with your team: You're Live... Now What?