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Our top 14 property management goals for 2020

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No time to write a New Year resolution list? Too busy to consider New Years property management goals? No worries, check our list below. Take what suits and leave the rest.

From property management growth to work-life balance, we’ve written our top 14 property management goals for property managers and principals in New Zealand (why not 10 or 20 you ask? – Well, that’s just how many we could think of :>). Anyway, here’s the list:

  1. Vow to make monthly, weekly, and daily to-do lists in the new year.You’ve started your annual list but you need to also break this down into bite size chunks. Whether you’re trying to live a healthier life, achieve a better work-life balance, communicate with your clients more or grow your rent roll, progress starts with small bites.
  2. Post regularly on social media.The importance of social media in this day and age cannot be understated. It is used for a variety of things including increasing brand awareness, nurturing potential customers, communicating with tenants, and more. Check out our 10 social media tips for property managers.
  3. Reach out to local businessesand form mutually beneficial partnerships. For example, you could host an event at a local cafe and they could promote your event on social media. This is great for brand awareness and deepening your relationship with the community.
  4. Stop and smell the roses.Always remember to take time out for yourself and appreciate the things you love.
  5. Update your profile picture on your website, social media channels, and listing portal pages. Please, please, turn down the beauty filter to less than 5 so that people will actually recognise you when they see you
  6. Create a VLOGto promote your personal brand and set yourself apart from other property management companies. Here are some great real estate marketing video ideasand the best video apps to use.
  7. Nurture relationshipswith tenants and owners to increase retention. The new growth hack for 2020for property managers is customer retention. Build processes that increase customer engagement and customer happiness. Check out our top 10 customer retention strategies for property managers.
  8. Start a newsletter.1 to 1 communication is the best but can be very time-consuming. Creating a newsletter allows you to keep in touch with landlords and tenants making sure they are aware of important issues.
  9. Outsource.Not everything in property management needs to happen in-house. You can outsource many property management jobs including trust accounting, social media, SEO, and experts who will do a better job than you ever could. We have a long list of consultantswho can help with finding the right person for whatever job you have.
  10. Build a culture of transparency and inclusivityto ensure your team feels supported. After all, poor company culture can cause even the best property managers to leave. Read more on why property managers leave.
  11. Get 8 hours sleep.Sleeping more results in better health in all aspects of your life and it will reduce property management stress. You can use an app like Headspaceor Slumber to guide you. It’s life-changing!
  12. Trust accounting matters!In New Zealand, trust accounting is not required but it is accepted best practice for professional property managersworldwide. If you aren’t already operating a trust (I know, I know many of you already are!) then perhaps 2020 is the time to change.
  13. Become a lifelong learner.Change is inevitable and continuing to learn and upskill yourself and your team will keep you fresh and on top of the game. Plan to attend some real estate conferences subscribe to some property management blogsor register to be part of our Group Coaching programme.
  14. Drink less alcohol.We all like a drink at the end of a hard day. In 2018, however, a new study published in The Lancet concluded that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Any amount, even just one, results in a loss of healthy life.

Finally, be sure to print and posterise your office with all your property management goals. This will hopefully help you to keep on track.

 

Get testimonials

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Obtain individual testimonials from as many clients as you can. These are great to show potential clients to help you win trust. Below is a template you can use when emailing clients for testimonials.

{Date}
Dear [Client]
Thank you so much for your valued business, I do hope that our working relationship can continue for quite some time.

As you know my position in the company is all about new potential clients that are introduced to {company name}, As I value you as a client, I would appreciate your feedback that I can pass onto them. I would like to use your comments as a testimonial to help convince future clients that they can benefit from working with {Company name}.

To help you get started, I’ve included a few questions, but please feel free to write whatever you would like.

  1. Before you started working with {Company Name}, what concerns might have prevented you from engaging our services?
  2. After you started working with {Company Name}, what has pleased you the most about our services, or stood out the most?
  3. Would you recommend our service, and if so, why?

Thank you for your time, and thanks again for your business. Please let me know if there’s anything further I can do for you.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.
Kind regards,
{Name}
{Position}
{Company Name}

On your website

Add these testimonials on your website homepage. Then use them as content on your social media.

Referrals

If you have prospects that have similar needs to a previous client (who has written a testimonial) and then refer them to that client testimonial and better still allow them to speak with them directly.

Facebook reviews

On Facebook people can give you a star rating. For clients that write a positive testimonial and are on Facebook then ask them to rate you on Facebook.

Google reviews

When you get a google review for your office, Google recognises this and places a flag on the Google map when people are doing a search. For example, if you do a search for Real Estate Perth in Australia, the below comes up. Companies with a review or even just a Google+ account will come up first. The company with the most reviews will be placed with a higher ranking.

 

Follow up procedure

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Rent roll growth is difficult and to build a successful property management company takes time. One strategy discussed in a previous blog is have a information evening. After the evening is over and you’ve collected the contact details of all attendees, it is important to follow up with attendees. There are a number of ways to collect contact details but one we suggest is to run a contest giving away a prize. If you have sponsors then you can include giveaways and prizes from them. The next day (or within the next week) you should follow up by calling them. the following is a suggested procedure:

1) Check what their position is related to your company and organise to visit them at their place of work.
2) If they are interested then send through a copy of any video or photos that were taken on the night.
3) Once you have selected the winner then announce it in your newsletter, and social media and contact the winners directly.
4) Don’t forget to connect with them via social media and add them to your newsletters and CRM.

It is important to schedule some future activity, for example, a personal email, call, or message. It often takes more than 5 or 6 contacts with an individual prospect before they make a decision to purchase.

Rent roll growth – Love calls

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One of the rent roll growth strategies that you can establish is making what we call “love calls.” These calls are made outside the realm of managing the property. Calls that an owner may not be expecting so we can place a happy vibe to them. If the door opens for you to ask them if they know anyone else that has an investment, have your offer ready for them, you may have a refer a friend and receive offer going.

– Christmas call

– Easter call

– Anniversary call

– Improvements call

– Lease is coming up call

– Promotional night call (invitations)

The Hidden Asset In Your Business

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Have you ever thought to borrow against the value of your rent roll asset?  It’s entirely plausible for you to do so as your rent roll has a market value and for the high majority of rent rolls around the country, they hold no little to no debt.

Some smart tax advantageous options around borrowing funds against your rent roll asset include purchasing a rent roll itself to aid with the growth of your business.  Perhaps you would like to invest in a larger or more centralised commercial building for your business. Or simply use the capital value to leverage against to secure an investment, ie; a rental property.

Depending on the relationship you have with your bank and their knowledge around the valuing methodology of a rent roll you can simply discuss your borrowing options directly with them.  Alternatively, send me an e-mail and I will be able to provide you an example of the accredited valuations we provide our clients.

Stand firm on your fees

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Stand firm on your fees

Property managers are too easily scared when confronted with prospective clients asking for a discount. A majority of property managers are still unsure and uncomfortable about defending their fees.

“I will admit, when I was a Business Development Manager, in the early days, I would be going through an agreement and saying it as quickly as I could so they wouldn’t ask me for a discount.”

“Once I knew I had the confidence in the team behind me and I knew we were a good office and we were providing good services that were better than every other agency, I could defend my fees and say, “This is why we are better and this is why you pay X-amount of dollars a year.”

“If you are renting properties five or six days quicker than everybody else, you are potentially saving $300-$400 a year just on filling properties quicker, which is cheaper than a one per cent discount over the year,” he added.

The main reason PMs reduce their fees is fear of confrontation.

“Agents reduce their fees because they don’t know how to defend their fees. It is easier just to say ‘okay’ to get their signature than to say, ‘Well, no, this is what you get if you sign with us and this is why our fees are this price,’” he said.

It is natural and human to be scared of it. A PM commission is not like a bank percentage, which is what most owners think.

Whether it is eight per cent or nine per cent, it is not a bank percentage. We are talking about three or four dollars a week. Break it down to a daily figure if you have to.