Simplify your operations: Systemizing and leveraging technology

You may have come here because your operations are growing. Perhaps you just hired your first RTM or your team is continuously expanding. I have experienced first-hand how many companies, from portfolios of less than 100 doors and others closer to their first thousand doors, are struggling to streamline their operations. This has a huge effect especially for their remote members who may not have the same opportunity to learn one-on-one from more experienced peers at the brick and mortar office.

No matter if you are the only person on your team planning to hire your first employee, or if your team already has two dozen employees. This is a challenge all Property Managers need to embrace and the sooner they start to work on this aspect or their business the bigger their investment will grow.

Here are two real scenarios I have experienced:

RentSimple hired their first RTM before the pandemic. The first thing they focused on was proper training and documenting their application process down to a tee. They did it right and moved on to the next process – leasing. They kept rinsing and repeating with all the other processes. Fast-forward two years and they have 120+ properties, two new RTM team members who onboarded flawlessly, each better than the one before since their processes only became clearer and more organized.

Operations were running efficient, their system assigned new tasks for each person responsible of completing them, emails to owners and tenants were being sent on the date planned and nearly nothing was missed. From client onboarding, making sure they transferred the funds to AppFolio, collecting keys, paperwork and the likes; to smooth turnovers where tenants were dropping off the keys, collecting their deposit with little hassle and complaints on deductions were rare. Properties were ready in a matter of days before the first showings began.

It was all good at RentSimple after they worked their ass off to implement this new strategy.

Now let me tell you about company number two, Krystle Properties, a big company in California with over 800 properties and 24 employees to date (currently looking to hire their next employee.

Three persons in their team are remote. They started with the first about a year ago. They realized that they need more oversight, especially now that they learned it’s essential to hire more RTMs. How are they going to make sure that their people are properly backed-up? How will they know work is actually getting done and owners and tenants are being taken care of? These are BIG questions that cannot remain unanswered.

I met with the VP of Property Management of this company earlier this week and as we were discussing their current challenges I asked him one of my favorite interviewing questions: If you could change one thing about your company right now, what would it be?

His answer? “Go back in time and have established these procedures that we are establishing now – years ago”. Now, they are in for a good challenge. They want to reduce their average vacancy time from 33 to 21 days. They need to centralize their KPIs from multiple software and platforms, improve owner and tenant satisfaction. Their company is growing at a fast rate and they plan to keep hiring more RTMs in the near future.

So, what’s the solution?

A system that allows you to organize, document, and delegate your tasks.

How can you do it?

It is simple and it can be done in 6 steps.

Besides keeping your team aligned, documenting establishes a clear path for everyone and removes confusion between stakeholders by having a point of reference everybody can consult anytime. Let’s look at what these steps are:

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1. Choose a process to map: Go for anything you want. I suggest you start with the most simple and easy process.

2. Enumerate all activities within that process and assign the people responsible: Brainstorm a list of each step that takes place during the process and write down the person who is responsible for it.

3. Establish a step sequence: Go through the process and make sure the steps are in order.

4. Implement a new system: This is where you must figure out what the best system is for you. It could be something as simple as a flowchart or something more elaborate where you can track tasks, completions, and deadlines.

5. Polish up the last details and share with your team: Call a team meeting and bring everyone on board – Get their feedback.

6. Analyze areas of improvement : Use the feedback from your team and with everybody´s opinion make any changes necessary.

Remember: This process can be done again and again. You may find that it makes sense to make more changes down the line. The goal here is that you test it out. Your team must be encouraged to look out for things that stand out. It is healthy to question things and if something needs a change in one, three, or six months – do it!

Here is the system I recommend

LeadSimple

This platform is specific for Property Management and has pre-made templates to simplify the process of documenting your operations. It’s easy to set up, and they have a team of dedicated specialist to help you if you ever need a hand. Furthermore, it integrates with your PM software making things much smoother.

Here you can learn more about what it can do for you. This is not an endorsement but a tool I have used and know that is one of the best for Residential Property Management.

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