What is service?

Is this really such a difficult question? Service, perhaps put simply, is the provision of a

sequence of activities providing a benefit for the consumer. Good service would be

understanding a clients wants, agreeing on the provision of these wants and providing them to an acceptable level.

Your service offering

What is your service offering? Do you know what your clients want? Have you ever asked

them? Typically clients want agents to obtain the greatest financial return, whilst maintaining

their property and keeping a happy tenant.

Identify the service that you offer a client, document this together with the standards the every

member of your team must uphold in terms of activities and communication. Your service

offering and standards are the backbone to your business; they must be deeply embedded into your brand and your culture.

Corded windows compliance - How does it affect your agency?

There has been a big increase in the number of enquiries in regards to Corded Window Compliance, with Agencies asking us what they need to do.

We can all probably agree that something is required to prevent strangulation of young children.

Since 2001, eleven children have lost their lives due to strangulation of a cord attached to a fitted blind or window.

Due to this potential hazard, particularly affecting young infants and toddlers the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘ACCC’) have updated the current legislation nationwide in relation to Internal Corded Windows. As of the 01/01/2015 all new installations of any window coverings or blinds in domestic dwellings must be met with the new mandatory safety standards.

This new legislation states that any loose cord within the residency cannot form a loop 220mm or longer at less than 160cm above floor level, and that all coverings must be installed as per the installation instructions in order to meet the necessary requirements for cord safety. Cleats or similar devices that are used to secure or wound a cord are strongly recommended but must be attached to wall or other structure measuring at least 160cm above floor level.

Landlords or agents failing to comply with the new legislation are in breach of the ‘Trade Practices Mandatory Safety Standards’ and can face loss of license and penalties up to $220,000 for individuals and $1.1 million for companies, as well as the possibility of compensation claims.

The Legislation is specific to New Installations of window coverings and, at this stage, there has been no sunset clause that is requiring all existing properties to meet the code.

SATS have looked at all the legislation to make sure that the comprehensive service that we currently offer, not only meets current legislative requirements, but also the changes that are anticipated in the future.

We are already providing this comprehensive service to many agents across Australia and as well as to some Government housing contracts.

The SATS Corded Window Compliance Program is $99inc GST that includes an Annual inspection, including all fixtures and fittings, and also an additional inspection at Change of Tenancy, to ensure the property is safe for ingoing tenants and their guests.

Article provided by SATS

Please contact 1300 416 667 or visit https://www.sats.com.au for an Australia-wide service.

Don't just expect the unexpected... Plan for it!

I recently heard a trainer use the phrase “property management is a series of predictable surprises.” True, isn’t it? In property management, new business, leasing and life in general for that matter, we can often sense when things are going to go wrong, or can recognise the warning signs of issues you’ve seen before. Do you take the necessary steps to prepare or prevent the occurrence? Or do you simple hope it won’t get to that ‘dreaded point.'

When there’s a fire at hand, we put it out and rush on to the next problem without taking the time out to look at our internal processes and what we can learn and put in place to ensure the same issue doesn’t recur over and over. Taking the time out to review what went wrong and how to avoid it happening again is essential for business success as it ensures we minimise errors and conflict, whilst staying as efficient and productive as possible, and importantly, that our service to our clients is constantly improving.

When I am coaching and consulting with clients across the country, part of my role is help clients to review their systems and look for the tell tale signs of potential issues such as higher arrears, prolonged bond refunds, escalated complaints over lagging repairs, vacancy levels creeping up, loss of managements and more. So based on what I’ve learnt, what can you do within your business to ensure the same recurring issues don’t keep happening?

• Seek feedback – if you aren’t already surveying your clients, it is essential to ask them for both positive and negative feedback to work out how to improve what you do and avoid issues recurring.
• Complaint/Issue Log – Keep a complaint log detailing actions taken, errors paid out, if review of process is required (free template available here)
• Review – create a review process where your procedures (and complaints) are reviewed periodically (can be a team effort). Remember what worked 10 years ago may not work today.
• Scenario Planning & Contingency Training – from the above results decide what additional training can be provided to the team either internally or from a training provider to cover not just the hard skills but soft skills such as communication and conflict resolution.

As I’ve said before, always remember (as spoken by Catherine Devrye), the most “expensive words in business are, we’ve always done it that way”. 

Do you have outcome based conversations?

Do you have outcome based conversations?
by Hermione Gardiner

When you become aware of a conversation you must have with someone, especially an unpleasant or tough conversation, your mind usually comes up with a whole list of things you DON’T want to happen. Thoughts such as “I don’t want them…”

·         to get emotional

·         to lose it and get angry

·         to personally attack me

·         to make a complaint about me

Rather than focusing on what you don’t want to happen, focus on what you DO want the outcome of the conversation to be. In property management it’s important to go into every conversation, whether it’s unpleasant or confronting, with an outcome in mind.

Outcome based conversations are not just essential for property managers, leasing consultants, new business consultants and anyone on the front line dealing with the client. They can also be used when having conversations internally within the business and also in your personal life!

When you worry about what you don’t want to happen, or are not sure of the outcome you are trying to achieve, you end up giving the other person all the power. When you stay focused on what you do want you’re more likely to stay in control of the situation and achieve your desirable outcome.

A lease break doesn't have to be a headache

Hearing the words “I want to break my lease” can bring fear and terror into even the most experienced property manager. These words can almost always predict a headache in one way, shape or form and it can become a stressful situation for the tenant, landlord and of course us as the property manager.
It seems that tenants, and even landlords, breaking their leases are becoming far more common these days. The break of lease situation is not something we are immediately taught to handle, and has traditionally been left unspoken about as nobody wants a client to break their lease.
I learnt very quickly from some mistakes I made when dealing with a lease break, so this week I ran a webinar on this exact topic to share everything I have learned to make the situation the least stressful as possible. In preparation for my webinar session I delved down into how to best handle a break of lease situation, create a procedure and communicate this effectively to your tenants and landlords to reduce stress for all parties involved. 
Beyond the legislation side of things, a few of the main points to take away included:

• A strong procedure – Your break lease procedure needs to be set in stone and consistent across all staff in the business. I need to be able to walk into your business and sit in the property managers seat and know exactly how to deal with it at every step of the way. When you know the procedure it makes it much easier to train on it, communicate it to your clients and leaves less room for grey area.
• Transparency – Being transparent to all parties on their obligations and risks is key, ensuring the person breaking the lease agrees to all the terms in advance in writing and is aware of any risks. Why not even provide the tenant with a break lease form from the sign up meeting (along with a normal vacate form) so the tenant knows exactly what they need to do if a situation does arise. This also keeps communication lines open and hopefully they will be open to talking to you ahead of a potential lease break, and know that you have a process to deal with it.
• Communication – You may think you communicate well normally, however in a break of lease situation you need to step this up even further. Lease breaks are one situation where you need to over-communicate with both parties. Remember to keep both the landlord AND the tenant updated across the leasing process.
• Understanding – Remembering that generally speaking, no one has started their lease planning to break it. There are some really difficult and challenging situations that cause people to have to break a lease - financial, relationships, relocations and more. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and do what we can to make it less stressful. When they are getting fired up, remember where they are coming from and it will help you respond in a better way.
• Keep good records - Keep records of everything from copies of notices down to the number of enquiries received each week, price reductions, reasons for applications not being accepted, comparable properties and more. Keep everything in one place (for a free copy of my checklist on what evidence to keep in-case the break lease escalates click here)
•  Mitigating Loss - Our main duty in the break of lease situation is to minimise any potential loss to landlord and mitigate the tenants potential loss. This means that the methods we usually rely on to get a property leased may not be sufficient. What more can we be doing to assist in finding a replacement tenant? Additional marketing? Rent reduction with the tenant paying the shortfall? 

Would you want to receive YOUR newsletter?

Our clients and members often ask us for assistance with developing their monthly e-newsletter or e-marketing for property management. We can easily help them with content and ideas, we even have an e-book full of great investor tips they can use. However it is the execution and delivery of a regular, ongoing successful newsletter (that actually grabs people’s attention, has a purpose and keeps them reading each month) that is the challenge.

The concept of the newsletter has become somewhat washed out in our digital age (much like the plethora of junk mail and pamphlets that go straight from the letterbox into my bin each week). I can’t even tell you how many “newsletters”, “updates”, “blogs” and “specials”, come in each morning. Today I had over 30 new emails of this nature.  What happened to most of them? Terminal deletion - never to be seen again.

When we see similar subject lines and the same content over and over again we are naturally bored, closed off and less likely to open the email at all. I’m sure you don’t want this for your e-newsletter and e-marketing so it is important before pressing send each month to put yourself in your readers shoes and consider:

• Would you want to receive this newsletter?
• Would you open it?
• Would you read it?
• What benefit would you get out of it?
• Does it educate, inform and excite?
• Would you pass it on or share it with friends and family?
• Would it direct you to do more business with you?
• Would it strengthen your relationship?
• Does it direct traffic to your website?

Building and developing a regular ongoing successful e-newsletter doesn’t have to be a cumbersome process. But in this day and age you do have to be doing it well in order to stay at the front of your clients mind, easily communicate with them on a bulk scale and to be seen as the experts. It doesn’t have to be rocket science however so take a look at our e-Newsletter Procedure – usually only available to our members – which breaks creating a successful e-newsletter down into 10 steps. 

Got a property that won't lease?

Tearing out your hair with a property that won’t lease? Freaking out at the days on market creeping up? Having trouble convincing an owner to reduce their prices? You are not alone. Many of our members and clients around the country are experiencing some tougher times in leasing at the moment and are frustrated in getting their owners to reduce their rents to meet market conditions.

If the property is in good condition, marketed correctly, and available to be shown, as agents we usually know it’s the price that needs to shift. Price adjustments typically aren’t easy and often you will feel like you’re fighting against your owner at this stage of the property management process (despite the fact that effectively you are both on the same team, both wanting to get the best possible rent in the least amount of time).The important word to note here is “possible”.  Securing the best possible rent doesn’t always mean the highest rent the property has ever received. What this means is securing the best possible rent for that particular point in time, given market conditions, tenant options and situation.

The first problem is that often landlords have an assumption that the rent should continually be going upwards. There is a lack of education to these clients surrounding the time of year, market conditions, recent data, and a realistic comparison of their property to others on the market.

The second issue is that because the rental market moves so quickly, the price from a few weeks ago may not be accurate today - but we aren’t educating them along the way so they know this, we assume they know what we know, and it’s usually weeks into marketing the property before we start to speak to the owner about reducing the price to meet market conditions.

In markets like this it’s often not enough to rely on your normal renting tactics – list property online, take enquiry, show apartment, receive application, hey presto -  apartment rented!
You may need to use a few new tactics to communicate smarter with the owner to ensure you can get faster results:

1. Use your data – There is a plethora of data available to you in the property management world that is underutilised at all stages of the leasing process. Days on market, vacancy rates, registered tenants, properties leased by your agent, properties leased by other agents, number of comparable properties currently on the market, properties leased by agency each week, applications, enquiries, property visits. Data doesn’t lie and can be used to paint a very effective picture to your client from the get go, sharing this data means they can go on the journey with you & be more prepared to agree on price adjustments. Most of us have access to this information, but it’s how you use it that will make a difference.

2. Know your numbers – Know exactly what it will cost the owner to wait one more week for a tenancy. Being able to explain the cost of having no rent coming in versus dropping a few dollars a week over the course of a 6 or 12 month tenancy may help them see how important it is to get a tenant in rather than wait for the top dollar in rent. One of my favourite pieces of dialogue surrounding this comes from Andrew Reece of Inspect Real Estate “Mr Landlord – your property is currently rented for $0 per week..” that should get them thinking...

3. Preset your adjustment dates In relationships we all hate to hear the words “we need to talk”. And the same negative emotion can surround the discussion with the owner around “we need to reduce the price”, especially framed weeks into the marketing campaign. Explain to the owner from the initial stages of leasing that you conduct regular reviews of the market and WILL be recommending price adjustments along the way to ensure we achieve the best possible rent for you in this market in the least amount of time. Using the words adjustment, rather than reduction should help your cause too.
These are some points you can use to improve your process surrounding price adjustments in order to get a faster result, but there are many more great ways to think outside of the box to get your properties leased faster. We have a handy checklist guide to give away to you this week.

Click here to get your free copy of the “It Won’t Lease Checklist” and good luck! 

Communication for the Google Generation

It’s no surprise miscommunication is common in this day and age where more of our conversations take place over email, text or facebook message. A simple exclamation mark can indicate the writer of the message is either excited or surprised or angry. Whatever the intended tone was, the interpretation or meaning can be left open to the mood, mindset and setting of the reader and it’s no wonder the intended tonality can easily lost.

Even I myself have re-read my own texts or emails to ponder if it would have been interpreted the wrong way. I’ve certainly seen the perils of digital communication in both personal and professional situations where the meaning of what was trying to be said did not quite come across the way it was intended, or god forbid the message sent to or copied onto the wrong person – cue damage control.

Being the self-confessed systems nerd that I am, I have a few personal systems in place to help reduce the potential risk of miscommunication or conflict (which sometimes may take me a minute longer in the moment) but saves future Hermione some grief after pressing that send button.

• Remember the old school telephone – Quite often in our professional world we feel conversations need to take place in writing to be official. However it’s amazing how much more can be resolved and covered in a shorter period of time, with far less chance of miscommunication if you just pick up the phone and call the person!  Follow up the key points of the conversation in an email or the notes of your CRM software.
• Don’t play tennis – If you send an email, receive one back, and cannot close the conversation with the return email back to them then it’s time to pick up the phone. If you’re finding yourself in contact email tennis conversations you’re wasting time and maximising your chances of miscommunication
• Include contingency plans – when sending an email or a text offering a solution to a problem, or updating a client, or confirming information, be sure to take a moment longer to include the next steps or contingency plan. This will save you receiving an email back asking “so what happens next?”
• Take 1 minute more – take one minute more to re-read your communication from the other person’s perspective to see how they will interpret it – and if you would have additional questions as a result of reading it. If there are more questions raised you should endeavour to include them in your communication to avoid the backwards and forwards, help them understand first go.
• Don’t be sloppy – Abrupt emails with half finished sentences, bad grammar and spelling, abbreviations, all indicate one thing to the person on the other end, that you are far too busy to be bothered with writing back properly. Whilst this might be acceptable for your best friend who knows you and what you mean, in a professional setting this could result in you instantly losing your credibility and ultimately lead to misunderstandings and costly errors.
• Be specific – Saying you’ll come back to someone “soon” is no longer good enough. You need to give specific time responses or expectations from your communication. What you will be doing and when you will do it by.  Remember the definition of “soon” may vary greatly from person to person.

We can’t avoid digital communication completely in this google age, (and I’m here to tell you it’s probably only going to get more digital as time goes by) so these little personal systems will help you to ensure you avoid as much miscommunication as you can. Happy communicating!

Who is wearing your t-shirt?

Who out there is raving about you? Who is singing your praises? Who is recommending people to you when you’re not there to sell yourself or your service? Who is wearing your t-shirt proudly and being an advocate for your business?

Do you have any t-shirt wearers? Do you have raving fans who would happily spread the good word of your business without being prompted to do so? Word of mouth is the most valued means of advertising and a cost efficient way to boost your business and referrals.

For myself, I know when I find a new product or service that I love, I immerse myself in it and find ways to drop it into every possible conversation. I like to share my knowledge and help other people see all of the benefits of said product/service (possibly somewhat annoyingly so). So much so that sometimes I feel I should be on commission for the latest service, app or product I am pushing.

This got me thinking what it is about those products or services that gets me wearing the t-shirt for that brand. Most people think that word of mouth is just about good customer service. But it’s much more than that. Good customer service is of course important for the success of any business, but if you expect customers who are ‘averagely happy’ to talk a lot about you, think again.

The sad reality of business is that people are more likely to talk about you when they are unhappy, than when they are happy or satisfied. We also need to remember the face of “word of mouth” advertising has changed a lot in the last 10 years with the added share-factor of social media and the internet. It’s easier for people to complain about something and for more people to hear it, than ever before. Therefore good customer service generally just reduces the possibility of negative word of mouth.

We need to take extra steps beyond good customer service to get our customers raving about us and singing our praises. So how do you get people to wear your t-shirt and become brand advocates for you? I believe it comes down to one or more of these three areas:

1. Your product or service makes their lives easier, simpler and faster – Your service makes dealings with you easier, having their property managed by your makes their life simpler, receiving information from you makes their life faster. They don’t have to worry about a thing because of your product/service.

2. You make them feel important and valued – you and your company take extra care to ensure your client is taken care of, respected, involved and listened to.  They are made to feel like their opinion matters.

3. Your perks and benefits are worth writing home about – the cool features and bonuses they receive as being a part of your business are worth telling others about, what do you offer that others don’t?
Remember though that the above is futile if you do not do the basics right. No matter how easy you make it, how special you make them feel, or what perks you offer – if you don’t provide the basics required of a service, you may as well not bother as they will not erase bad service.

Take some time out to have a planning session to work out what you can do to turn your customers into raving t-shirt wears and advocates for your business. Put yourself in their shoes and think what it is that would actually make you rave about your service.

Join our webinar on Wednesday – Gaining Referrals in New Business for more great tips on building your business through referrals. 

How do you stay sane when the pressure is on?

The week ahead of a conference is one crazy time for us here at Real Plus. So it seemed appropriate to discuss how to stay sane during the craziest, busiest times in this week’s blog. Imagine for a moment those times when the clock is ticking and people are counting on you, which wire should you cut?! The red or the blue!?

Whilst most of us don’t have to deal with the life or death dilemma of diffusing a bomb, everyday situations can sometimes feel like this. The landlord is breathing down your neck, you have three ingoings to complete before tomorrow, the computer you’ve been writing your report on just crashed, you’re running late for your open for inspection – our property management dilemmas can often be just as stressful relatively.

Learning how to remain calm in times of stress will not only have immediate composed effects, it can also over time, help you lead a happier healthier life. Here are our steps to take to keep your cool when the heat is on:

• Identify the Stress – Is your heart racing because some crazy driver just cut you off? Or is it really because of the major tribunal happening tomorrow. Think for a moment, what is really bothering you?
• Choose your response – Even if you can’t change the source of your stress, you can choose how you respond to it.  The appropriate response should depend on what’s causing it, most things can be resolved. Ask yourself some questions, will this matter in a week, a month, a year? How much control do I have of the situation?
• Take Action – Face your stress source head on as soon as you’re ready. Getting stressed or sitting around worrying or procrastinating isn’t going to resolve anything. Sometimes the hardest part is just getting stuck into it, once you’re into it you’ll be far less stressed and wonder what you were so worried about. 
• Make a Plan – Sometimes resolving a situation will take several steps, or you may have several things to get done. Write out a plan with attainable goals and time for completing each task. Then, just take one step at a time and just put one foot in front of the other.  (Think about how you can plan better for next time)
• Shake it Off – If a situation is beyond your control, or if it is not that important, then no use worrying about something you can’t change. Try deep breathing, distracting yourself with something else that makes you happy, visualise relaxing things, physically remove yourself from the location of the stress.
• Become Realistic – If you continue to be stressed, perhaps you aren’t setting yourself realistic goals or timeframes for completion, or expectations with your clients. Sometimes it can be hard to accept that we can’t do everything. Reduce the expectations on yourself either from yourself or those around you and learn from your experiences.
  
  Hope you stay cool as a cucumber next time the bomb is ticking! 

Are you getting real with yourself?

Pardon the pun, but here at Real Plus HQ, the theme of this week has been all about getting real! (Though of course our aim is that everyone gets the Real Plus property management platform into their lives.) What we have been focusing on this week is getting real with ourselves and helping our clients and members to get real with themselves too.

What do we mean by this? Very often in life or work there are things we complain about, wish we had, wish we were, could do, could be, or could change. The stories we tell ourselves about why it can’t happen, how long it would take, why we can’t change and blaming it on other people and external factors are what keep us trapped in this negative cycle.

The key to positive change within yourself, your work, and life in general starts with being honest with yourself. So for today’s blog let’s start by being honest with ourselves. It’s almost the end of July, where are we at with what we wanted to achieve this year? Are we on track? Have our goals diminished into the too hard basket? Have you been trying hard but not reaching your goals? Be brutally honest with yourself. You’re not fooling anyone except you.

Once you’ve taken an honest look at where you are versus where you want to be, tell yourself honestly what you need to do to get there.

If you’re not reaching your new business target, what can you do to fit more prospecting time into your week?

If you’re trying to lose a few kilos, what can you do to plan your eating and exercise better?

If you’d committed to work life balance but are still in the office at 7pm every night, what can you do to ensure you leave on time?

If you are trying to grow your rent roll but are not getting anywhere, what additional resources or training do you need to get there?

At Real Plus one of our office mantras is that we are not allowed to use the word “CAN’T”, so remember, there is no can’t, it is all achievable, you just need to find a way.

The truth can often be a little uncomfortable but it’s important to be honest and to “Get Real” with yourself as often as possible. In doing so, you ensure you are constantly moving forward towards your goals. So as this week wraps up, ask yourself honestly, did you achieve what you wanted to achieve this week?

If so, congratulate yourself and plan forward a bigger and better next week. If not, that’s okay, but it’s time to take a moment to ask yourself “why not?” Instead of blaming external factors, get real and look inside for the real answer. You may be just surprised at what you can achieve next week and beyond.

Are you getting the most out of conferences & training events?

Illustration: Oscar Ramos Orozco

With conference season in full swing, and of course ARPM 2014 (Australasian Residential Property Management Conference) just around the corner it is important to make sure that the time spent away from the office is both productive and effective. If you’re going to spend money to sacrifice a significant portion of valuable time that could be spent taking action, then we’d better make it worthwhile!

I’m a huge believer of taking time out to work ON the business instead of IN the business – but we get so busy keeping up day to day that we often forget to put time aside to develop and improve our service, systems and ourselves - time purely committed to getting better at what we do and how we do it.

So with this committed time, it’s important to me to be as organised as possible leading into the conference or training event so you can focus, actively listen and take in as much as possible; as well as ensuring that you walk away with tangible outcomes, projects to action and new ideas to implement.

Of course post-conference, we want to feel that we have got value for our money and time spent. So how do you measure the value of a conference? Is it the number of new ideas written down? Is it the number of business cards collected? Old relationships rekindled? Time spent brainstorming with your team? Are you just relieved to sit still and listen to someone else for a change?

The defining points of value may be different for everyone but to assist you in getting the most out of your next property management conference or training event I have a great handy document of the “Top 10 Tips to get the most out of Conferences and Training Events” – simply click here and we’ll shoot it over!

Hearing Vs Listening... You can hear but are you really listening?

As I close my eyes I can recall very clearly my father’s voice as he said to me (on many occasions) growing up, Fiona Ellen Blayney “you’re not listening to me.” I’d protest that I was, even to the point of repeating verbatim his dialogue only to receive the response, “Fiona you are hearing me, I want you to listen”.

Flash forward to 2014 and these words carry far greater meaning in my life, the difference between hearing and listening be that to a client, colleague, friend or family member carry an intense difference which can really define the result of the conversation. In my business world this will certainly impact the advice that I give and the decisions that my clients make.

Over to you for this to be considered. Are you listening to clients? I mean really listening? Or do you hear what they say, pay lip service and carry on brandishing every landlord or tenant with the same brush, the same approach and the same thoughts simply because it is a “similar situation”.

The similarities between events, people and properties should not ensue that you provide same advice, or take the same actions, thinking everyone wants the same outcomes. How do you really define the difference? It’s through listening. A few tips to get you to listen rather than hear…..

1. Close your mouth, and open not just your ears but your mind. Clear the thoughts of previous conversations and situations
2. Stop thinking about how you are going to respond and instead take time to ask questions and dig deeper
3. Get to know the “talker”, when you can understand things from the other perspective you will have a far greater ability to listen
4. Focus! Remove the distractions that prevent you from giving your total attention in the discussion. Turn off emails, social media, and ignore the phone or others attempting to take up your thoughts.
5. Be Real, Be Present. Whilst another person’s perspective may be completely different to yours, you may think them irrational, or unreasonable – remember you are not them! You have not walked a day in their shoes, to them whatever is happening at that moment is significant enough to require this piece of communication, honour it and respect them

These are just five elements of what is the maze that is communication; I truly believe that one of life’s best skills is the art of effective communication. One of my favourite business writers is John C Maxwell, I’d love to give you a copy of the abridged version of his book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. Click here and we’ll send it off to you!

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch the webinar, 'Communication Concepts: Hearing vs Listening'

Set expectations to improve client relationships

With every quality relationship, these guidelines are in place, often we call them boundaries or

expectations and to be effective must be understood and agreed to by both parties. Once you

have created your service offering and guidelines, you must ensure that not only is it known by

your team but also your clients.

 

Not sure if they know? A few questions will help you find out.

• Do you get complaints in your business about non returned phone calls or emails?
• Does your receptionist receive three calls from the same client in one day chasing the property manager?
• Do tenants regularly call following up on repair requests?
• Is your day taken up with 50% or more reactive activities?

If the answer is yes to any one of these questions then communication expectations have not

been sent, understood or agreed with by your client.

 

In order to reverse this, it’s time to review / create a documented set of communication

expectations, and a communication procedure.

1. Set response time scales – minimum standards of communication that clients can expect
2. Set response methods – what methods will be used to communicate, what proactive communication will occur.
3. Review systems – ensure communication points are dotted throughout every procedure keeping clients advised of activity on their property.

 

Feeling like there's not enough hours in the day?

“Many things aren’t equal but we all have the same 24 hours in a day. 7 days a week. We make time for what we truly want.”

Whilst planning for our next webinar on creating an ideal week for property management I came across this quote. It got the brain ticking and the more I thought about it the truer it rang. How often do we hear the phrases “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m too busy” in our property management world?

In property management we often feel overwhelmed as we battle between our ongoing day to day routine tasks as well as the huge variety of incoming urgent tasks. When these urgent tasks come in and take over our days it can feel like things are piling up in the background while we put out these fires.

While we are putting out the fires we are growing increasingly more stressed at the work piling up in our inboxes and in-trays that is less important. The seemingly less important tasks (that can often lead to further problems) can fall to the wayside, get pushed back or swept under the rug. And we all know what happens when we sweep things under the rug, the cracks will start to show sooner or later.

When the cracks start to show this leads to more urgent issues that need to be resolved and mitigated. Our stress levels increase even more. The busy hours turn into busy days where we are pedalling just to keep afloat and avoid the next angry phone call....

Starting to sound familiar? I’m starting to feel anxious thinking about it. Don’t despair. This is normal... it’s property management but it’s also life! It’s important to come back to this quote when things start to spiral into “I’m so busy” land or “I don’t have enough time” world. We all have the same hours in our day. It’s about how we plan them out.

When things are spiralling it’s time to take time out to create a plan, and figure out how to best use the hours you do have in a day. We are more likely to get more things done if we have a plan to aim for hence why it’s important to work towards an ideal week. Creating an ideal week in property management isn’t just about a fixed week that you’re supposed to stick to each and every week. It’s about continually redesigning the ideal way your days and weeks will run, depending on your circumstances, priorities, distractions and situation.

How do you do this? I invite you to sit with me for an hour next week and I’ll show you some ways to create an ideal week in property management, make time in your day for what matters most, get more done, feel more productive, and be less stressed. We’ll have some great templates to offer to everyone who joins us so don’t miss out.

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch the webinar, 'Creating the Ideal Week for Property Management'

Do you have a learning culture in your business?

Having a learning culture in property management will take you one step beyond simply having the skills you need to deliver a good service. It will empower your staff to achieve dramatically improved results compared to traditional businesses. Because as you are enabling staff to anticipate and adapt to change, as well as grow through innovation, they will also become more energetic, loyal and goal orientated.

Creating a learning culture requires a change in the way you see the traditional real estate model – usually heavily focused on sales training. To develop a company wide learning culture, training must become a key focus in the overall business strategy and it needs to be seen as a long term commitment (not a quick fix). A true learning culture continuously challenges its own systems and way of doing things, ensuring continuous improvement for not just the business but the individuals themselves.

Training can be a strong motivating factor for your staff, for some property managers this progress and development will be more important than money, as it helps them grow and gain new skills. It will help their performance at work and make them feel part of something bigger than themselves. Your workplace can become a business that people strive to come and work for.

On a team management level it will also get everyone functioning together, trusting and complementing each other and through having common goals will be able to produce extraordinary results. To be effective, training needs the full participation and commitment of all staff, at all levels – especially you.

To get started on redesigning your learning culture, we have a great analysis tool that can help you to identify where your company is currently at in regards to learning culture, click here to receive the “Learning Culture Audit” checklist!

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch the webinar, 'Team Management Tools'

Are you switched on?

Are you switched on?

by Hermione Gardiner

Our team was switched on this week along with 3000 of Australia’s best agents at AREC 2014. Inspirational speakers from around the world graced the stage with big concepts motivating us to ‘Switch On’, ‘Own it’, ‘Cut to the Chase’, ‘Overcome fears’, ‘ Improve Productivity’, ‘Get Passionate’ and  ‘Get Accountable’. Despite being a sales conference, we found these concepts completely relevant to our property management world where “complacency can kill” (as one speaker aptly described).  

Within the new business space (like sales), we have to be able to switch on and quickly demonstrate our passion and enthusiasm. If we can show the client we are excited about their business we will be better placed to build the relationship and stand out from the competition.

There are always going to be those days when we aren’t feeling so enthusiastic, and we can’t all go to a conference and get switched on every weekend.  So how can we “Switch On” daily and create an energetic experience for every client?  How do we quickly get into that headspace?

One of the conference speakers, Chip Eichelberger, helped us to consider what actions we are taking to bring that desired energy – what are we doing to “switch on and own it”. His simple physical techniques had 3000 people on their feet, energised and fist pumping the air and cheering “YES!” before 10am! Everyone could feel the energy in the room.

So how do you get yourself on your feet and cheering before 10am? How do you get into a passionate and enthusiastic head space? What do you do to fire up ahead of your listing presentation? Are you listening to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ in your car? Are you visualising the smile on your face as you leave a successful meeting? Are you fist pumping the air with a big “YES” to get yourself energised and excited?

It’s important to know your own “ON” switch so that you can walk into every listing presentation fired up and ready to go. If you can master that attitude and energy, we’ll help out with the rest.  

 What’s your “ON” Switch?

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch New Business Bootcamp 9 - Listing Presentations part 2

When do I get my bond back?

When do I get my bond back?

At Real+ we often like to take a moment to think about things from the tenants perspective. This allows us to not only improve the property management process to make things as streamlined and easy for us as possible, but also gain a greater perspective of understanding when communicating and dealing with tenants.

This week I took a moment to think about things from the tenants perspective at the time of vacate, final inspection and bond refund.  I took a moment to think back to the times I have myself vacated from a property, what my expectations were compared to what happened, and then put that into perspective as to how I had handled vacating tenants as a property manager. This vacate stage seems to be one property management function that is handled quite differently from agent to agent.

Some questions I felt went unanswered as a tenant (despite my own property management knowledge, and the receipt of a generic vacate letter) were around when they planned to show prospective tenants through the property, whether I was supposed to drop the keys to their office, when I would be meeting them for the vacate inspection, and most importantly (the most common frustration of tenants and hardest things for a property manager to guarantee):

• How long would it be until my bond was refunded?

Most tenants are relying on and budgeting on that money for some purpose so understandably they get frustrated when it’s not as easy as keys back, bond back. As a property manager, I know I couldn’t guarantee a time frame for the tenant as to when they would get their bond back, it depended on whether they’d returned the property in good condition, if it was clean, if extra work was required, if all the keys were returned, how quickly the landlord confirmed it wass okay to release the bond etc. So many variables.

If we can’t 100% guarantee the time frame, what can we control? How can we avoid an angry tenant at the vacate inspection? Well not only can we control how we communicate the process, but also how we provide expectations to the tenant across the vacate process. This will help alleviate some frustrations. Often we know what the process is and what the tenant can do to ensure they have the best chance of a speedy bond refund, however we are not communicating this to them each time.

Next time instead of sending out the generic vacate letter, why not provide the tenant with an outline of the process and what steps they can take to ensure their bond is refunded as quickly as possible! We have created a handy checklist you can provide to your tenants when they are vacating called the “How to ensure a Speedy Bond Refund Tenant Checklist,” click here for your copy.

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real TV where you can watch our webinar on Condition Reports!

So you think you can grow your rent roll?

We see one very common goal amongst many property management businesses across Australia and New Zealand.... Rent roll growth! And why not?

There are many different reasons a business will choose to grow - growth, asset value, profit, sales farming, ego and more... Whatever your reason it’s importantly to firstly be sure of that reason – to establish your WHY before setting your goals, as this will affect the strategies and plans you put into place to get there.

Once you’re sure of your WHY and have set your goals –you will either go down the path of organic growth or potentially look at the acquisition of a rent roll – or perhaps a combination of the two. Which is the better option for you? Well again this will depend on your WHY but it is also vital to weigh up the pros and cons of each strategy.

Organic growth – where a BDM is put in place to prospect, appraise and grow is the most common way of growing your rent roll. The great thing about this option is that you can control quality, location & fees of properties, potentially avoid bad landlords and problem properties – however this option can be a slow way of growing due to the time taken in building landlord relationships and placing a new person on board the rent roll may not be profitable until numbers start to grow.

However more and more agencies are looking to purchase a rent roll as a fast way to grow. According to Harcourts the benefits of buying a Rent Roll include:

Pros
·         Increased size gives business momentum
·         Increases cash flow
·         Irons out fluctuations of a sales department
·         Eliminates a competitor from your local area
·         Increases networks and database
·         More opportunities for sales department
However they advise we must also consider the cons:
·         Landlord rejection
·         Buying existing issues
·         Potentially poorly run portfolio
·         Integration/transition issues

If purchasing a rent roll is something you have considered at some stage this is not something to rush into. There are many factors which need to be considered and it is strongly advisable to have an expert guide you through the process.

Lucky for you, we will have expert Matt Ciallella joining us from MC Rent Roll Broking for our next webinar. He will be on board to take us through all the considerations and variables you will need to consider when purchasing (and selling) rent rolls. Register for the live session here – or Real+ Members can watch the recorded webinar on their Real+ Platform at anytime. 

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real+TV where you can watch our webinar 7 Secrets to Buying & Selling a Rent Roll with our special guest presenter Matt Ciallella from MC Rent Roll Broking.