How Properly's Process Management Tools Save SF Shannon Hours Each Week
SF Shannon, a St. Louis property management company overseeing 450+ apartments, shares how Properly's automation, visual checklists, and PMS integration transformed their operations.
How Properly’s Process Management Tools Save SF Shannon Hours Each Week
Challenges: Outdated Cleaner Communication
Time management is critical for vacation rental businesses managing multiple properties. SF Shannon, a St. Louis-based company overseeing more than 450 apartments, faced inefficiencies in coordinating housekeeping services.
Owner Karen Karabell describes their initial situation: “We didn’t have a good system for keeping track of cleaning tasks. In fact, we primarily relied on phone calls and a group message thread to manage our service providers and monitor the status of our VR properties. Needless to say, it was incredibly tedious.”
Despite maintaining quality standards and avoiding housekeeping complaints over a decade, the company experienced occasional oversights — such as misplaced keys — that triggered costly service callbacks. The business needed a systematic approach to task management and accountability.
Solutions: Digital Transformation
After evaluating emerging technologies at industry conferences, SF Shannon selected Properly for its advanced features and innovation leadership.
The implementation delivered several key capabilities:
Automation and Scheduling: The platform eliminated manual communication requirements through automated task assignment and progress tracking, featuring calendar views displaying upcoming reservations.
Visual Checklists: Customizable, property-specific checklists ensure consistency. Karabell notes: “The visual checklists are invaluable…it’s still great that we can give them checklists to refer to, to ensure nothing gets missed.”
PMS Integration: Seamless connection with SF Shannon’s Escapia system automatically synchronizes reservations between platforms.
Customer Support: The implementation team provided responsive assistance integrating systems effectively.
Benefits: Operational Efficiency and Guest Experience
The system eliminated administrative overhead significantly. Karabell states the platform is “saving us hours of dull admin work each week,” while unexpected guest complaints “have become almost unheard of.”
Real-time property visibility now enables flexible check-in accommodations. Customers receive immediate confirmation of property readiness rather than requiring direct cleaner contact.
Scalability
The marketplace feature allows recruitment of additional service providers without extensive training overhead. Detailed checklists communicate standards clearly, enabling rapid onboarding while maintaining brand consistency across expanded operations.
Karabell observes: “We’re perfectly positioned to scale up the VR side of our business if we want to…so much of the process is automated that managing the expanded team won’t demand any additional overhead.”
Looking for tools to put these ideas into practice? Explore Properly’s solutions:
- Autoscheduler — automates turnover scheduling so nothing falls through the cracks
- Properly marketplace — find trained, badge-verified service providers near your property
- Skills library — train your team with photo-guided modules for every task
Ready to automate your rental operations?
Join 10,000+ hosts who use Properly to automate turnovers, verify quality, and deliver five-star stays.