Blog / Property Management

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Imagine a world where property management and sales departments work together in one agency. This will soon be a reality when an enhanced version of Complete Data is released later this year.

Coordinated by Forsyth Business Development Manager Shanon Campbell, the new version of Complete Data will allow real estate office staff to work from the same information for the same ultimate goal – to service the client. Technicians are working on the improvements now for release around June.

“Real estate is about building relationships with your clients,” Ms Campbell said. “Property managers and sales people are quite often in two completely different departments and they don’t really work together because they’re using different software and databases. The property management department quite often doesn’t know what the sales team are doing and vice versa, even though they are actually talking to the same people,” she said. So to fix this problem, the new version of Complete Data will contain the information needed by all real estate departments so they perform their individual roles as part of an overall agency team.

Tracking conversations

Since the departments often use different software to record their dealings with clients, there is no tracking between the two to match up what is being said. “Say an investor comes to an open house and they have five properties in management with that office, but the sales person isn’t aware of it and that investor feels like they should be aware of it,” Ms Campbell explained. “This software is going to make it so the sales people do know and they can make them priority clients and make them feel special. It’s basically improving their relationships within the company so they don’t go to another agency.”

Protecting their patch

Money is another dividing factor between the property management and sales departments. Sales people want to sell the property, while the property manager wants to keep the property. “The sales person’s idea is to sell it and make a commission, whereas the property manager wants to retain the property so they can continue to manage it. That means they’ve got different agendas, but they’re talking to the same people,” Ms Campbell explained, saying the new software should help the departments work closer together as a team and negotiate a suitable payment structure so everyone benefits.

Same Industry, different laws

While both property management and sales staff work within the same industry, they are governed by different laws and this adds to the divide between the two departments. A system which explains relevant laws covering the sales and the rental processes will enable agency staff to become more educated about the systems and procedures necessary to ensure the law is followed.

In the case of a property being sold while the tenant is still living there, the sales person may not know the intricacies of the notice period and how much the tenant needs to know about the marketing plan. Often this is left to the property manager to sort out. “There is nothing stopping the sales team printing off the necessary forms and putting it all in the file so the property manager knows exactly what is going on without them having to do it themselves,” she said.

Constant Contact

Another way to bridge the gap is to encourage regular meetings between the two groups where they can keep each member of the team up to date. “They need to be using the same databases and pool all the data into the one space where the property manager and the sales team can gain access,” Ms Campbell said, explaining this would be very useful when a sales person is speaking with an investor and could say, ‘I see you’ve just put a new kitchen in your property. I’ve got something brand new coming up; are you interested in purchasing this property and using it for depreciation?’.

The database will include all contact with agency staff so anyone can see the information such as sales letters, comments and property reports. If a sales person is showing a buyer through the property and they ask how old the kitchen is or about white ant damage, for instance, the agent will be able to look at the database and tell them when the kitchen was installed and when the damage was treated. “They could even give them a copy of the invoice to prove that it has actually been done,” Ms Campbell added.

Property managers and sales people approach their jobs from two different angles because one role is more system and procedure focused than the other. “Sales people are out there talking to people, negotiating and they’re usually quite poor with their paperwork skills; property managers are natural time managers because they have to be,” she said, adding that if the two department databases were merged and information could be found with the click of a button, the process would be smoother. “It’s just basically building a relationship with the clients and making sure everybody is on the same page,” Ms Campbell concluded.

Tips to make it work

In her 19 years in real estate, Ms Campbell has worked across all areas of the business, starting with reception and property management and then moving into office management, business development and property sales, as well as teaching real estate at TAFE. Her tips to get the property management and sales departments working well together are:

• hold regular meetings with both departments
• use the same database
• negotiate commission and wages so people don’t feel they have to protect their income and there’s more of a team environment - “everybody shares a piece of the pie”
• have procedures and policies all staff can access so they know what the other department is doing.

 

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