Property management is a great industry, however, it is also widely known as one that is commonly neglected by real estate business owners in favour of the sales department.
Property managers don’t necessarily want to work for a boss that has had property management experience, but they definitely want to work for one who cares about what they do for the business! We recently posted a Facebook status asking property managers what they would say given 5 minutes with a room full of bosses.
1- Spend a week in our shoes!
Come and join property managers for a week. Come out and do some inspections, deal with some maintenance, come along to a tribunal/court hearing, and experienced property management at its coal-face. You’ll learn to appreciate and understand the property manager’s job a whole lot better.
2- Employees come first!
Sir Richard Branson said “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” It cannot be argued that service by Virgin is anything short of excellent. Perhaps the industry needs to learn something from Sir Richard!
3- Your team is your greatest asset!
When a principal looks after their team, their asset gets looked after too, and when it comes time to sell, it will be in the best shape and value it can be. Reward your team and take them out to lunch every now and again. Let them know you appreciate everything they do and watch how hard they work for you.
After a tough day, it’s important to know that the boss cares!
4- A property manager must be rewarded differently than sales
Property management is not just about bringing in new business. That’s just a small slice of the pie. It’s also about repairs, inspections, chasing late rent and so much more. Simply giving incentives based on rent roll growth can be short-sighted. Instead, create incentives based on a holistic approach, and reward for meeting other performance indicators, not just new growth.
5- Be willing to get rid of bad business!
Nothing says ‘I don’t care’ more from a boss than – when presented with a request to remove a bad client, and the boss says ‘they might want to sell one day’ and wants to retain them.
Finding 100 bad clients is easier than finding and keeping one high-quality property manager. However, a boss that is willing to remove a bad client tells their property manager they do care about their opinion and well-being. Principals will get so much more respect from their staff when they do.
