Blog / Property Management


Gaining Visibility a Digital Revolution in Property Management


Lee Woodward and Joel Davis

By Lee Woodward CEO Real Estate Academy, with Joel Davis Managing Director for Image Property

The most common questions I get asked in my daily dealings with real estate agents and leaders revolve around organisation and implementation. And is it any wonder? We are all so busy but the human brain can only take in and remember so many things at once. Having a logical structure and system in place is the key to sustainable success in any business - real estate or otherwise – because sustainable success relies on being great at the two things so many people struggle with, namely organisation and implementation. In our world, perhaps nowhere is this more important than in property management because of the sheer volume of people and properties to manage, legislation to comply with, and actions to perform on a routine basis.

Whether you manage 200 or 2,000 properties, the process is the same. Gaining visibility around that process is the key. When everyone on the team works from the same blueprint, the result is happy landlords and tenants, a cohesive and productive team, and a steady flow of new business into the agency. So what does a blueprint for success in property management look like? Over the past several months I have worked with property management leaders and leading practitioners to articulate, simplify and refine the ideal property management process and create a digital library of task-aligned resources that property management staff can readily tap into. The result is an easy to follow 12-milestone framework that delivers visibility, clarity, structure and resources on tap.

Image Property Management Managing Director and leading property management trainer, Joel Davis worked closely with me on the Frameworks Digital for Property Management design process. He was also the first to implement the framework into his business. Joel’s team manages more than 2,500 properties so you could say it was the ultimate test for the system.

“The best thing we’ve found with the framework is that it visually lays out the sequence and steps of the entire property management process in a very logical manner,” says Joel. “A BDM (Business Development Manager) or property manager can simply click on the step they’re up to and find the resources relating to that step. And because it’s a live system that’s updated in real time, they know the resource will be current, unlike a procedures manual, that is hard to keep up to date.”

Assets & Resources at your fingertips

In property management we ‘swim’ in four lanes – Generating Business, Letting a Property, Managing a Property and Ending a Management. In many agencies, the property managers must swim up and down all four lanes, whereas in others (typically those that manage a large volume of properties like Joel’s company) the tasks are distributed between BDMs, property managers and sometimes also leasing officers.

"I believe if you're not evolving with the rate of change we’re seeing in this industry, you are going to be left behind, and that's one of the things I really love about Frameworks Digital – the fact that it's a live document that will always be relevant with a good mix of modern technology and modern communication."

Joel says, "In our office we know that our BDMs take care of generating business right up until such time as the holding deposit is received. Then, there is a very clear handover to the property managers. Everybody has their job and everybody nails their job. Frameworks has helped so much in this regard because it has given everyone complete clarity over their job role and duties. I think this will apply even more to smaller companies where a property manager does the lot, because unless it’s laid out plain and simple, as it is in the framework, there is simply too much to remember and that’s when things begin to unravel and problems occur."

Frameworks Digital contains every template, document, spreadsheet, checklist and audio script required for every stage of the property management process. And because it’s a live digital system, it is continually evolving and updated behind the scenes.

Joel says, “I know for a fact that what my BDMs were doing 12 months ago, they’re no longer doing. We do it completely differently now because we’ve learned how to do things better. I believe if you're not evolving with the rate of change we’re seeing in this industry, you are going to be left behind, and that's one of the things I really love about Frameworks Digital – the fact that it's a live document that will always be relevant with a good mix of modern technology and modern communication."

Knowledge is Power

Joel and I have recorded numerous phone call scripts and they’ve all been uploaded and attached to the right task on the system. For example, Repairs and Maintenance is an enormously important part of the property management process because if isn’t managed correctly, the safety of a tenant could be at risk, which could then potentially result in legal action. Frameworks Digital allows a property manager to click on the phone call relating to that important discussion with the landlord, listen to it as many times as they need to and then make the call with confidence.

Joel agrees, “If you've got a landlord who doesn't want to repair something that is required to be repaired, it’s vital that you've got the skillset and the dialogue to overcome those objections. The language and tone Lee and I have adopted in these phone call scripts is concise, effective and leads to the desired outcome."

"The system provides a very clear set of criteria that everyone, including newbies, can follow."

Joel has a team based in the Philippines and those staff members are able to tap into the same system and resources as his staff in Australia. This results in a professional consistent approach across the board, even for processes that may differ slightly from one agency to the next.

Joel explains, “It doesn't matter if you run an office with a portfolio based management style or a task based management style, the jobs within those jobs are the same. And that's what Frameworks Digital is providing you with. It provides the content to do specific tasks. It’s also about consistency. The system provides a very clear set of criteria that everyone, including newbies, can follow."

Frameworks Digital Property Management is now alive and kicking goals within a growing number of property management teams throughout Australia. For a demonstration of the system, contact David Smeeth at Real Estate Academy on 1300 367 412.

Joel began his property management journey with 280 properties. Today Image Property, the Brisbane based company his brother Shannon founded in 2004 and he later joined in 2010, manages more than 2,500. Joel will be consulting to Real Estate Academy and InspectRealEstate as an accredited property management trainer, coach and speaker from early 2018.

 

 


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Lee Woodward and Joel Davis