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2 Ideas on How Property Managers Can Prosper in Today’s Economy: Part 1

Posted on 21. Aug, 2009 by Jennifer Newton in Business

I believe that property managers have the opportunity to get more clients during this recession so they emerge with an even stronger infrastructure once the economy turns around. Here is the first part of my thoughts on four areas to focus on right now so you can prosper in today’s economy. This article will cover the first two best practices.

#1: Treat your owners so well that they only want to work with you – for the lifetime of their investment

The best service really does matter and in property management we have the opportunity to work with our customers for a very long time and build long-term relationships. The great news is this can be really fun! And when you provide the best service, not only is your business differentiated from your competition but also your fees are unquestionably worth it.

Start at your front desk. The first person an owner often speaks with is the receptionist. It is important for that first interaction to feel good for your owners. Your receptionist should ‘know’ all of the owners and recognize them when they call. Provide your receptionist with a way to easily search through your database so he/she can recognize who is calling and treat them well.

Communicate frequently and proactively. Don’t wait for an owner to ask you questions. Instead find a regular schedule of communication and share with them the ways that you’re improving their investments. When you are proactive you build trust and loyalty with your owners and this is especially important when everyone is worried about their investments in this economy.

• Show them how you’re reducing costs (i.e. emailing owner statements, streamlining processes).
• Show them how you’re investing in technology that improves your business processes which ultimately gives you more time to work on marketing their properties.
• Give them a few examples of how you’re retaining tenants and how you’re marketing their properties to increase occupancy rates.

#2 Provide the same level of service to your residents as you give to owners

This is an important one that is easy to overlook. Residents usually speak to us when they have a problem or need something. But truly what I sell to our prospective clients (owners) is that we’re going to put people in their properties that we would put in our own home. We’re going to send vendors there that we would send to our own houses so that we know the level and quality of the service that they provide. The important part is to provide excellent service to your residents from day one and tell your owners what you are doing so they understand how this differentiates you from your competitors.

It is also a best practice to include a regular surveying process so you can continue to improve over time. For example, when we do lose a resident we ask them to take a survey so we can learn and improve the next time and we share this information with our owners.

Key Message: When we deliver outstanding service we have a better resident who wants to take better care of the property. The residents want to stay with for a longer period and this means more uninterrupted cash flow to the owner. We’ve also found that the better we treat the residents the easier they are to work with!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article when I continue the next two best practices.

Jennifer Newton is the owner of Walters Home Management (www.twhmc.com) a premier property management company located in San Diego, CA.

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Tags: business, communication, owners, resident retention