By Alister Maple-Brown CEO at Rockend
Communication. It’s the difference between a ho-hum property manager and an amazing one. But how can you possibly be a great communicator if you’re constantly up to your eyeballs? Your inbox is stuffed with emails waiting to be answered and you have a list of voicemails that defies comprehension. You need more time!
Everyone’s time is limited. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, we all have the same number of hours and minutes in our day and it’s a constant battle to get everything done. That’s why it’s so important to communicate in the most efficient and effective way possible - because no one has a second to waste.
As the saying goes, the customer is always right. And these days customers don’t hesitate to flaunt their power – perhaps never more so than when it comes to communication. Let’s take property management. Assisted by technology, landlords and tenants alike wield their influence over the level of communication they expect from their property manager. They want a communications process that’s immediate, personalised and convenient – and they want control.
We’ve all been conditioned by the online tools we use throughout all aspects of our everyday lives to expect control.
Take social media. When we set up our social media profiles, we select our preferences – what type of posts do I want to see, what kind of alerts do I want to receive and who do I want to be connected with. It’s all about ‘me’ and what ‘I’ want.
It’s no different when it comes to property management. Your clients want to be in control. They expect to be able to find the information they want, when they want it. But faced with emails, alerts and push notifications coming at them from all directions, communication overwhelm can make them turn off. There’s just too much ‘noise’ for them to deal with, so they don’t. Now there’s a communication role reversal. They don’t want to go looking for the information they want. They expect you to tell them.
But won’t that take up even more time in my day, I hear you ask. No. Enter automated alerts.
The beauty of automated alerts is that you can define trigger points for particular communications to go out. Whether it’s arrears, inspections or maintenance, automated alerts can help you take control of the communication process and alleviate your workload.
It goes without saying that automated alerts are only effective if they’re read by the recipient. So what’s the best method of communication to ensure cut-through? Drumroll please… SMS!
Not convinced? Well, consider this. SMS has a massive 98 per cent open rate. Impressive, huh? It puts email, with its 20-30 per cent open rate, to shame. Even more impressive is that approximately 90 per cent of SMS messages are read within the first three seconds of delivery.
These days, we all carry a mobile phone with us everywhere we go. Whether we’re taking photos for Instagram, posting a status update to Facebook, checking the weekend weather, reading the latest news or simply calling a friend, our mobile phones are never far from reach. This means your automated SMS alert is almost certainly going to be read.
Look at PropertyTree. SMS functionality is fully integrated with the Automated Communications platform, so you can effectively ‘set and forget’ and let PropertyTree do all the hard work for you. A tenant hasn’t paid their rent? No problem. An SMS will go out to remind them to pay. Time for a periodic inspection? Easy. Send an inspection notice to the tenants and the landlord via SMS. It’s easy – and effective.
But let's not discount good old email. Sometimes email is simply more suited to the type of communication. That’s OK. You can automate your email alerts too with PropertyTree’s Automated Communications platform. There’s even the option of sending an SMS to alert someone that an important email is waiting to be read.
Property managers are experts at what they do. Landlords rely on them to manage one of their biggest investments. Tenants rely on them to keep a roof over their heads. There are a multitude of tasks and responsibilities that come with managing a residential property, which means the value of a property manager is significant.
That’s why using tools like automated alerts is so important. They save time. Far from detracting from your client communications, they allow you to have a better quality of interaction. You’re free of being bogged down with routine and mundane communications. You have time for those important discussions with your landlords about how they can maximise their investment. You can work on finetuning your systems and processes. And you can spend more time building your business.
See. Now you do have more time.
Developed by Rockend, PropertyTree is Australia and New Zealand’s first cloud-based property management solution. You can experience PropertyTree firsthand with a free demonstration by calling 1300 778 733.