Property managers who prioritise client education and can navigate tough conversations will stand out in the crowd and attract more business, according to a real estate trainer.
On the latest episode of The Property Management Excellence (PMX) Podcast, Real Estate Gym founder Tom Panos and host Alex Whitlock delved into skills that property managers could develop from sales agents to strengthen their client services.
According to Panos, the property managers could collaborate with their sales teams to develop their focus on client education.
“If you look at sales agents, they are constantly educating vendors before they go to market, and when they are on market, they are really good at educating,” Panos said.
“I think landlord education is at a significantly lower level.”
Panos said that landlord education was pivotal to helping property managers develop strong relationships with their clients.
If property managers could improve their ability to educate landlords on key topics such as market cycles and expected maintenance, he said that they could foster stronger, smoother relationships with clients.
Additionally, Panos said that property managers who leveraged their enhanced knowledge stopped being pushed around by landlords and began showing real leadership, helping them achieve the best results.
“When property management starts seeing and thinking like a sales business, that’s when landlords are going to stop seeing PM as a cost, and start seeing you as an asset manager,” Panos said.
Confidence is key
In addition to furthering their ability to educate clients, Panos said property managers should focus on building their confidence, particularly when having tough conversations.
“What PMs need to do is understand the ability to deliver news that sometimes is not so great,” he said.
“When you’re talking about rent reductions and tenant issues, if they can learn to deliver that with calm authority instead of hesitation, you will find your landlord will feel a lot better.”
“Landlords are confused; they don’t want someone coming across who is needy, unsure or uncertain; they want leadership.”
Panos said the biggest difference between property managers in the UK and Australia was the level of confidence among professionals in the space.
He said that while property managers in Australia were often more subdued, those in the UK saw an opportunity to stand out and increase their market share.
“When I’m in the UK, I can’t tell the difference between the sales team and the property management team,” he said.
Quick tips to improve service
Panos said there were several small changes property managers could implement in the short term to improve their own services.
He said that property managers need to remember that speed can be a deciding factor for many consumers, and that in real estate, “slow = broke”.
“Being first is often the thing you can do that will make the biggest difference,” he said.
When dealing with landlords, Panos said that property managers could build stronger relationships and improve their service by communicating more consistently.
He said that property managers should turn landlord-tenant touchpoints into a system rather than a reactive approach.
“I’m talking about having set and forget, regular updates with them,” he said.
Additionally, he said property managers should work to develop their ability to tell a story with the data at their disposal.
He said that being “data-obsessed” and understanding what it means for the property would go a long way to increasing a landlord's trust.
“It’s about being able to sit there with the client and say, ‘this is the data you need to know’.”
He said the next step was to begin tracking key information, such as vacancy rates, arrears trends, and maintenance cycles, which would give landlords more confidence in their property manager.
Listen to the whole podcast here
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?Make Real Estate Business a preferred news source on Google.
