Great article Jodie!!!

Margaret www.dmrealty.com.au

Thanks Margaret - it's actually one I wrote a little while ago and never did anything with and came across it last night and thought, gee, I should post this!  I have a few, so will start posting them.

That's a great article. I found the PM/BDM/Admin teams an interesting concept, they could be headed by the most experienced member of each team. Does anybody here have experience with this?The part about communication is very important too. What sort of ongoing communication are you doing (other than newsletters)? e.g. would you call them even when nothing special is happening? How often do you think this should be?

So great to have your insights in a blog post Jodie.  This quote rings true for me "but we all know that the number one reason why owners leave is because they don’t receive enough/if any communication."

Hi Jodie,  A very attention grabbing, interesting and informative blog.  Thank you.  Cheers Linda

Great Article. Very motivating. A message for the whiteboard will be

"When things do go wrong, look for the lessons in the failure"

Thanks for the Post.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your comments.  Yes, in my previous agency, we did actually have those positions under their own banner.  For eg, the accounts person was our Ops Manager and looked after the Admin Team - he previously worked as the West Farmers Admin Manager so it made sense for the admin team to work under his management.  The admin was so tightly run because it wasn't up to Property Managers to do - they could concentrate on running their portfolios and customer service.  We only had 1 BDM, but the intention was, as we found suitable candidates we would employ them and put them under the BDM that we had.  Because my current role presented itself, I was only at my previous position for 12 months, but I do know that they still operate this way and it works for them. 

The only issue that I felt that we needed to overcome in this situation, is that the admin team didn't in some cases understand the urgency around certain tasks, or couldn't distinquish between what was urgent and what wasn't.  We overcame this by setting timeframes around all tasks with all teams' input and anyone needing an admin task completed sent an 'outlook task' and put the due date on the task (in accordance with the timeframe set) which meant that the admin team didn't have to concern themselves with timeframes.  It also meant that we could set KPI's around the admin that was being completed as we could easily see when tasks were overdue.  We could also easily see workflow.  We used Console and because it integrates with outlook, it worked well for us.

Re: the customer service experience.  I've recently developed a contact sheet that is given to the owner upon appraisal as a type of promise that outlines all contact points for the owner.  For eg. contact at points in the lease renewal process, the arrears process, at the time of taking over the management etc...this allows us to set expectations but also exceed them by adding in a couple of extra points that they weren't expecting.  We're also very aware that not all contact is good contact, so we ask our owners for eg, how they liked to be contacted and when too.  This is something that I intend to roll out shortly.  I hope this helps!

Hi Jodie

What a fantastic article. I especially liked the paragraph on hiring for attitude.  I firmly believe that with the right attitude you can achieve just about anything!

Warm Regards/ Cheryle

Thanks for the insights Jodie. Asking the owner how much contact they want is a good way because everyone is different, e.g. some may be professionals and don't want you to bother them about every little thing.

Great article Jodie - I was interested in what you had to say about offering a better experience to customers. Part of that is understanding the customer experience that you currently deliver and what you need to work on. Establishing a regular feedback process in your business is the first step in developing that understanding.

Of course receiving all of this feedback is just the first step - you understand more about the experience you are delivering – now what?

Communicate with your customers – ensure they understand that you are listening and acting on their feedback – and that their feedback makes a difference.

Recognise & reward high performers in your teams while identifying area's that need attention and improving them.

By developing a reputation for delivering high quality service to your customers you will retain clients & create advocates for your business, driving new business opportunities.

I'd be interested to know what people do now in their business to listen to customers?

Phil

...And of course (small plug) if you are looking for a solution to help, why not check out RealSatisfied!

Fantastic article - it's interesting that because management often don't invest time or interest into the PM department, when something goes wrong or someone leaves it turns into 'damage control'.  When in fact alot of things can be avoided by the points you have listed.

My experience is definately employing someone on attitude rather than experience. Part of damage control is 'quick we need someone who can hit the ground running', when in fact you are taking someone on with a pre-established mind set who is often not open to change.  I much prefer to nuture and train someone from scratch.