Even a highly successful property management business can make improvements, and one of the best ways to revamp your company is to bring in fresh eyes to take a look. Working with a consultant dedicated to focusing on property management companies and the issues they may face can give you important insight for the future.
Two big reasons to revamp your management company are increased success and more efficiency. Those aspects of your company go hand-in-hand with retaining clients and creating the capacity within your staff to add more doors. Getting a fresh perspective makes it easier to feel confident about the work your company is doing so you can have satisfied property owners and happy tenants for the long term.
Real-Time Consulting Services can offer your property management company the benefit of decades of experience and the skills and knowledge to help you make changes that will improve efficiency for the future. Through an analysis of your company's current practices, options and opportunities for growth and adjustment can be found and even created, giving you an essential competitive advantage.
Keep reading to learn how our "fresh eyes" help property managers grow their businesses!
The Value of Revamping Your Property Management Company
Your management company can see significant benefits from periodically reassessing and upgrading its practices. However, doing this involves taking a hard look at how your operations are currently being handled and clearly addressing what's not working.
Many property managers experience issues when their companies get into routines that aren't necessarily the best, but they work "good enough." So, processes or routines that aren't ideal can be misleading if they produce "something" in place of "excellence." Often, these processes stay in place simply because business owners don't dig into what could be a better solution.
However, the right property management consulting services offer a fresh set of eyes on the routines and processes your property management company uses. When you work with a consultant, you gain access to expert knowledge and data you might not otherwise have, along with an outside perspective of what's working and not working for your company.
Among the most significant challenges is keeping up with changing trends in the industry because those changes can happen fast. Additionally, many people resist change and want to keep doing things the way they always have. Even if those ways worked great at the beginning, though, they might not work as well as the industry evolves.
Change is inevitable and required for ongoing success, and sometimes, that requires revamping specific aspects of your property management operations.
Property Management Consultants and the Power of Fresh Eyes
When you're focused on how to grow your property management business, one of the most valuable things you can do is seek out external expertise to give yourself a new perspective. Having outside opinions from an expert helps you see your company and its processes in a different way so you can make the right adjustments for success, efficiency, and satisfied clients.
Management consultants bring new insight to your experiences and can offer innovative solutions you might not have considered. Seeing your company objectively is hard when you're right in the middle of everything, but a consultant will have a completely unbiased read of the situation, providing you with powerful and valuable insight you can use to make changes.
How to Identify Areas That Need Improvement
Finding the areas that need revamping is an excellent place to start, and there are some tips to consider that can make this identification easier.
For example, you'll want to look at any recent complaints from property owners, tenants, vendors, or potential clients. What were they about? Is there a pattern? Taking an honest look at customer feedback can help you identify areas to improve.
The more you know about what people don't like about your company, the more you can look for areas to make changes. Also, talk to your employees and ask them what areas of their daily processes are inefficient or just don't work for them. Gathering data can give you a lot of ideas and can also help you talk to a consultant about the concerns you have.
Many property management companies have common pain points, some of which frequently get overlooked. These include:
- Issues with maintenance and repair
- Retaining tenants
- Finding and hiring contractors
- Advertising properties effectively
- Not having enough time for everything
While some management companies struggle with these areas more than others, nearly every management company has trouble with at least one aspect of keeping everything running smoothly to deliver the best customer experience. Looking at the most significant pain points and then narrowing them down to the specifics you're experiencing can pinpoint issues that need to be addressed through better processes or other means.
Customizing Your Strategies for Success
Your property management business may be similar to others in the industry, but it's still unique. That means you need tailored strategies that are designed just for you.
Working with the right property management consultants can help you find those strategies so you can make changes that help your company operate more efficiently.
Darcy and Christopher Barrow: A Success Story
When a business undergoes a positive transformation, it can make all the difference for that company and the people who operate it. Consider the story of Darcy and Christopher Barrow, who had an excellent experience with Deb and our Real-Time Consulting Services team, changing and improving the trajectory of their property management company.
The Barrows own a boutique property management company in California, and they met Deb at a NARPM conference. Their company was successful already, experiencing year-over-year growth of 20%. However, they found that their day-to-day operations had them stuck on a "hamster wheel" of handling client problems and working nonstop.
They were getting advice from other management companies, but that advice just wasn't working for them. When Deb came in, she looked at the P&L statements, asked plenty of questions, and made some suggestions for reorganization. Additionally, she dove into the systems and structures of the Barrows' company and went through every process carefully and completely.
That helped showcase what was already working properly and could be left alone, and also made it far easier to determine what should be changed by creating more defined procedures. By meeting with each team member and taking a 360-degree view approach to the business, Deb fully customized a strategy for the Barrows to follow.
Staff roles and compensation packages were restructured, coupled with a new key hire and a revamped website. The company was rebranded, and some time-consuming procedures were eliminated. It only took three days for the Barrows to see how they could continue adjusting to what they already had to make it everything they wanted it to be.
A few weeks later, the Barrows were happy to report that their company was operating much more smoothly and with far more independence than in the past. After six months, things continue to get better all the time. According to the Barrows, "We HIGHLY recommend Deb's consulting services to any property management company looking for in-depth insider insight, smart change, and a collaborative plan of action."
Implement Change Effectively for the Best Success
When focusing on how to grow your property management business, it's crucial to implement changes smoothly. That reduces problems in switching to something new and helps adjust as you go along, so you can course-correct fast if something isn't working. Even good change can be daunting, and it takes time to make sure it's being handled in the best possible way.
To manage transitions and get past the resistance to change that can come along with it, here are some tips to consider:
- Start small unless you face a crisis requiring significant, immediate correction.
- To get them on board, make it clear to employees why the changes are needed and essential.
- Let your tenants, property owners, vendors, and others know what you're adjusting, and give them a timeline.
- Address proper training so everyone understands the changes properly.
You don't have to adjust everything overnight or change processes and procedures that are effective, efficient, and working well. It's not about change for the sake of change. Instead, it's about increasing the efficiency and success of your property management company for the long term.
Measure Your Success and Adapt as Needed
When you're in the middle of revamping efforts and working with a consultant, you'll want to carefully track the results of your efforts. Property management consulting services can help you do that, but it's vital that you take tracking seriously. The more valuable data you have, the more easily you can see what's working and what might not be.
With some support and guidance, you can continuously adapt as the market changes, allowing you to improve your property management practices on an ongoing basis. Once you know what areas need change and make adjustments, you can continue adapting as the market changes.
Get the Property Management Consulting Services You Need for Success
Fresh eyes and a new perspective are both highly valuable when you're planning to revamp your property management business. You don't have to tackle big changes alone or spend any more time wondering why you're not seeing the success you hoped for. If you're a property manager or business owner looking into how to grow your property management business, working with a consultant can give you the extra boost you need for success.
Ready to get started on the journey to a better and more successful property management company? Schedule a free consultation today, and let Real-Time Consulting Services give you the fresh perspective your company needs for increased levels of ongoing success!
We will review your business plan and make sure you are on track.