Migrating to a new PMS can be a daunting task that can be an absolute nightmare for your business. This post will help you understand some of the common pitfalls and benefits of buying a property management system.
Understand the Costs
I have talked to many clients that did not fully understand ALL the costs that go with migrating from one PMS to another. The costs are not just upfront & monthly software costs but also transaction fees & implementation labor costs.
Setup Software Fee
Professional Service Setup Fees
Transaction Fees including Payment Processor, Booking Engine, Channel Management, or Integration Fees to use other third-party solutions.
The timing of payments should also be explained in the contract, but here are a couple of questions you will want answered
When is the setup fee due?
Upon successful implementation or when I sign?
Are software fees paid monthly or annually?
What discount is there for annual prepayments?
How does pricing for new properties work?
When are transaction fees charged?
Checkout or the time of Booking?
How are transaction fees calculated?
Do they only apply to rent or fees as well?
Do fees only apply to confirmed reservations or canceled reservations too?
What Setup Services Are Provided?
A lot of software providers claim support for when you buy their software, but you need to understand what exactly that support provides.
Is it a generic email or support hotline, self directed videos, or a dedicated implementation manager?
If there is a dedicated implementation manager you need to know how many hours of their time to expect. This amount of time should also be included in your contract to protect yourself.
What Tools Are Available?
The most difficult part of cutting between systems is transferring all outstanding reservations, Trust Accounting, & future availability between the two systems.
Make sure there are upload tools to help automate this process or make sure this is handled by the implementation manager if this is included with your setup fees.
Cut Over Process
Ensure there is a Cut Over date set and that everyone understands at what date you must move between one system to another and how you will move the following between the two systems.
I would suggest doing this outside of high season and at month-end to make the trust accounting cut-over simpler.
API & Integration Process
Integration is often an afterthought for property managers as they migrate, but I would suggest you understand the integration process & support in the buying process.
Here are a couple API questions to ask prior to purchase?
Do I have an API support person or is it a ticketing system?
What response time can I expect?
What is the process of migrating my OTA listings and my website?
What is your API uptime?
What is your API outage process?
Does your API have an SLA (Service Level Agreement)?
This is a contractual term that requires the API requests to respond in a certain amount of time. Typically 3 seconds.
Is there a rebate if your API does not live up to its standards?
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