Skilled people and great tools form the cornerstones to any business, as property management software experts John Goddard and Alister Maple-Brown from Rockend know.
More than 12,000 people across 3,000 businesses use Rockend software. The company was started in 1979 by Tony Maple-Brown and developed accounting solutions, before moving on to property and strata management systems. Rockend’s core product is Rest, which was recently supplemented by the cloudbased Property Tree system and now Rockend is looking at releasing sales software too.
CEO John Goddard has been with Rockend for seven years and credits the company’s success to leadership and motivated, supportive people. Rockend employs 100 people and they pride themselves on customer service, ID More than 12,000 people across 3,000 businesses use Rockend software. The company was started in 1979 by Tony Maple-Brown and developed accounting solutions, before moving on to property and strata management systems. Rockend’s core product is Rest, which was recently supplemented by the cloudbased Property Tree system and now Rockend is looking at releasing sales software too. CEO John Goddard has been with Rockend for seven years and credits the company’s success to leadership and motivated, supportive people. Rockend employs 100 people and they pride themselves on customer service, something Mr Goddard said was backed up with ongoing certification from the Customer Service Institute of Australia and winning the National Small Business Award for Customer Service Excellence.
As the son of Rockend founder, Alister Maple-Brown was learning the ropes long before he joined the company 10 years ago. This, coupled with his experience working for a high tech company in Silicon Valley during the Internet boom, gave him an excellent understanding of the ins and outs of software businesses.
The Internet has changed the business landscape dramatically over the past decade, and Rockend has embraced this by constantly reviewing and updating its products to ensure they offer what real estate agencies need to compete in the marketplace. Mr Maple-Brown said everything hinged on access to information.
“We’re becoming more and more expectant of access to data 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of where we are and regardless of what type of equipment we have on us,” he said.
“One of the mantras at Rockend is automating mundane tasks and creating efficiencies. With software that is online because it’s always on and because it's able to leverage the Internet, the whole concept of users being alerted to information and information being pushed is very powerful in this day and age.”
To help their customers operate under these requirements, and leave space to grow and make a profit, Rockend recently launched Property Tree, a trust accounting system designed for property managers to manage a rental portfolio that is accessible at any time and from anywhere. “The future is online. Not just for our business, not just for our customers' businesses, but for all businesses and for all individuals,” Mr Maple-Brown said.
Property Tree, which was launched in beta initially, tracks owners, properties, tenants, tradespeople and all transactions between these entities, including bank reconciliation. “It allows property managers to manage their portfolio, comply with legislation and do it with the ease of not installing any software, not having to upgrade any software, not having to worry about servers or any of that type of complexity,” he added.
Not only does this help customers in terms of limiting initial outlay for servers and software, but also helps with operating costs, so the bottom line looks better. “The Internet is providing all of us with further ways of connecting with each other and Property Tree, while it’s a platform that will allow our customers and real estate agents and developers to build a portfolio, will also allow them to become more efficient within their offices,” Mr Maple-Brown said, adding this product was particularly popular with new businesses.
Many of Rockend’s newest customers are starting out so Mr Goddard has seen what it takes to launch and run a successful business. “You have to have a very clear plan. Now the plan is one thing, but then it’s how you implement it. So the most important thing is understanding how you want to run that business,” he explained, adding people, KPIs, technology and training must all be factored in.
The ideal size of a rent roll is widely discussed amongst property managers and Mr Goddard weighed into the debate, making a few interesting points for managers and principals to consider. Agencies with 5,000-6,000 properties on their rent roll obviously make a lot of money from that business, but for those who were looking at a smaller figure to manage, he pinned the ideal number at around 420.
“I reckon between 300 and 400, because then you start getting scale in a team and a good culture,” Mr Goddard explained.
“But we have some clients who operate in the high-end markets managing properties where the rent may be $2,000 or $5,000 a week and they don’t need a lot of properties on that rent roll, so you can do very well with a smaller base and be a boutique operator. You don’t have to be big, but big is generally better in most businesses,” he said.
In Australia, the property management pie is cut at 80 per cent of all leased properties managed professionally and the remaining 20 per cent managed by the owners themelves. This scenario is reversed in New Zealand, and Rockend has challenged Kiwi property managers to grow their businesses. “We believe that’s the wrong way round and we want to try and help the Kiwis to get closer to the Australian model. If they do that, they can grow their business and their industry,” he said.
With Rest serving 3,000 businesses and Property Tree another 60 and growing, Rockend has now set its sights on expanding into sales software. “I think we have to have our own product at some point and we are working on that. We have a range of options and we could bring product to the market pretty quickly. It’s an area that’s exciting,” Mr Goddard revealed.