What you'll get from this guide
- How to tell whether your team is still in marketplace-first mode or has shifted to ops-first needs
- The 5 practical signs you've outgrown cleaner-discovery-centric workflows
- A clear decision matrix for when to stay with Turno vs move to ServiceHub
If you manage more than a handful of short-term rentals, you've probably used Turno or at least evaluated it. It's a solid tool for what it's designed to do: connect you with vetted cleaners through a marketplace and coordinate basic job scheduling.
But here's what many teams discover as they grow: Turno is built around cleaner discovery first and operations second. That's not a flaw. It's a product choice. The challenge is that your needs often flip as your portfolio grows. Discovery becomes solved, operations become the bottleneck.
Marketplace-First vs Ops-First: What That Actually Means
A marketplace-first tool is optimized for supply-demand matching. Its core value is helping you find qualified cleaners fast. Scheduling and billing exist, but mainly to support marketplace transactions.
An ops-first tool assumes you've already solved cleaner sourcing. You already know who will do the work. Now the challenge is running workflow reliably: booking-triggered scheduling, reminder sequences, completion proof, invoicing, payment flow, and performance visibility.
Neither model is wrong. They solve different constraints at different stages. The only important question is: which stage are you in right now?
5 Signs You've Outgrown a Marketplace-First Workflow
1. You already know who you're calling
If you rotate through a reliable cleaner roster and haven't needed new marketplace sourcing in months, you've already extracted the core value of a marketplace-first tool.
2. You're manually bridging your PMS and cleaning workflow
If reservation intake, cleaner messaging, day-before follow-ups, and day-of checks are still manual steps, admin load compounds quickly and becomes a scaling tax.
3. Invoicing and payment reconciliation are fragmented
When payouts are split across marketplace billing, transfers, and ad hoc methods, your financial trail becomes error-prone and hard to audit.
4. You still see occasional 'unit not confirmed clean' incidents
Most of these are coordination failures, not cleaning quality failures. Ops-first workflows reduce this with consistent reminders, completion accountability, and clear escalation.
5. Coordination time is consuming your day
If you're spending more time coordinating cleans than managing portfolio-level outcomes, your process is operating in the wrong layer.
What to Automate Next: Booking to Payment
Booking to Schedule
Confirmed reservations should create cleaning jobs automatically using assignment rules (property, timing windows, cleaner fit), without manual job creation.
Schedule to Reminders
Reminder cadence (48-hour, 24-hour, and day-of checkpoints) should run automatically with current property details and access notes.
Completion to Invoice
Once a job is marked complete with checklist and photo confirmation, invoice creation should be automatic at agreed rates.
Invoice to Payment
Payment timing rules (net-7, net-14, on confirmation, etc.) should be set once and run consistently so you only handle exceptions.
Want this running automatically?
ServiceHub automates follow-ups, reminders, and booking confirmations so nothing falls through the cracks.
Decision Matrix: Stay With Turno vs Move to ServiceHub
| Area | Stick With Turno | Move to ServiceHub |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio size | Under 10 units | 10+ units or growing quickly |
| Cleaner sourcing | Still building cleaner network | Cleaner/vendor relationships already established |
| Biggest pain point | Finding reliable cleaners | Coordinating existing cleaners efficiently |
| Integration needs | Basic sync is enough | Need deeper workflow control and automation |
| Payment workflow | Marketplace billing is acceptable | Need unified invoicing and payment flow |
| QC and accountability | Basic confirmation is enough | Need checklists, photo proof, and escalation |
| Coordination overhead | Under 30 minutes/day | 30+ minutes/day and increasing |
Migration Checklist: Move Without Disrupting Cleaner Relationships
Most teams don't delay switching because of pricing. They delay because they fear disrupting trusted cleaner relationships. That's valid and solvable.
In practice, cleaners don't need a major behavior change. Transition burden should sit on your operations setup, not on them.
- Before: Export cleaner contacts, property notes, pay rates, and assignment preferences. Choose 2-3 high-volume properties for pilot rollout.
- During setup: Recreate cleaner profiles and assignments, configure automation rules, and test against historical jobs before live traffic.
- Early launch: Run a short parallel period, send one clear cleaner communication, and monitor the first 5-10 automated cycles closely.
- After launch: Collect cleaner feedback at two weeks and reconcile first-month automated invoicing against your expected totals.
For many ~15-property portfolios, a practical migration window is 2-3 weeks of setup plus about 1 week of parallel running.
The Bottom Line
Turno is a good tool when cleaner discovery and STR turn coordination are your primary constraints. If your cleaner roster is already stable, marketplace-first architecture can become a limiting layer.
At that stage, the question is no longer 'Can we find cleaners?' It's 'Can we run booking-to-payment operations without constant manual coordination?'
If you're evaluating that shift, review the details in our full Turno vs ServiceHub comparison.
Ready to run STR cleaning operations with less coordination overhead?
ServiceHub is built for operators with established cleaner networks who want stronger workflow control from booking to payment.