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One of the nation’s best property management offices admits it was called ‘crazy’ when it implemented its new office hours, but the director has stuck by his decision.
Principal and director at MAP Real Estate Michael Furlong told Residential Property Manager that after attending the Leading Property Managers of Australia (LPMA) conference last year, he decided to amend the office opening hours.
“We’ve changed how our staff are available to the general public so we’re currently open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday,” he said. “While this cuts down our accessibility by two hours each day, it’s one of the main reasons for our success, I believe.”
As the winner of last year’s prestigious Property Management Company of the Year, Mr Furlong has been invited to speak about what it takes to succeed at the 2014 LPMA conference.
“The reason we’ve done it is we’re trying to give property managers control over when they’re able to be accessed by tenants and landlords. It gives us an hour in the morning and an hour at night of uninterrupted time where they’re not available to the public,” he said.
According to Mr Furlong, property manager workload is a direct reaction to work as it comes in.
“This means property managers are always under stress because as things keep getting added to the pile, they don’t have time to do any productive work; it’s all reactionary,” he said.
When he proposed the idea, Mr Furlong claims he was called an idiot and was told his customers would abandon him.
“I like it when people tell me it’s the wrong thing to do - it means that no one else will be doing it too.
“We did it, and it’s worked fantastically well… I don’t know of any other agencies that have done it, but a lot of people in the LPMA group have told me they’re watching us to see how it plays out,” he said.
Mr Furlong confirms the property managers still work normal office hours between 9am to 5pm, but are only accessible between 10am and 4pm.
To see Michael from MAP speak at the 2014 LPMA conference, click here. http://www.lpma.com.au/lpma2014/
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