Technology is not a cure-all for property management businesses that have fundamental problems in leadership, culture, and customer focus, according to a prominent industry figure.
Alex Whitlock, co-founder of Managed and director of REB, has warned that agencies turning to technology as a quick fix for deeper operational issues are making a costly mistake.
“There are some that believe tech is a panacea for all ills in a business,” Whitlock said in a The Property Management Excellence (PMX) Podcast with Blair Dods, who is head of technology and AI at Managed.
“You can roll out Gandalf and tech will solve all problems. But bringing technology in where you don’t have the basis to enhance systems, customer relations, mindset, and vision is very misguided.”
His warning comes as property management agencies face mounting pressure to digitise, with software vendors promoting AI-driven solutions for efficiency problems. Whitlock argues that without the right operating foundations, those investments deliver little.
“In most of the businesses I see, there are inefficiencies, a lack of focus, a lack of leadership from the top,” he said.
“People working in property management businesses do the best they can.”
The real challenge, in Whitlock’s view, runs deeper than any tool can address. He argues that property management has long been treated as a secondary function within real estate agencies – a stepping stone rather than a core value proposition.
“Property management is treated largely universally, with the exception of some outstanding businesses, as a stepping stone into another area of real estate,” he observed.
“And that’s the fault of the principal, because the principal determines the culture and the business. You cannot expect the people who work in the business to drive the culture.”
Whitlock sees the industry heading toward a structural shift where few, larger, better-run property management businesses could dominate this space. He said that those that survive and scale will be the ones that reshape their customer proposition first – with technology playing a supporting role, not a leading one.
“Technology will play a part, but it’s not going to do it overnight. Property management in its purest sense as a value proposition to an owner will be immovable. Those businesses will scale, and they will scale quickly.”
Managed was built to help next-generation agencies win market share fast. It is the only comprehensive property management platform that exclusively delivers secure, instant, and automated direct payments from tenant to landlord, eradicating the need for a trust account.
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